Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 23, Thursday 12 March 2026

‘If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?’ (Luke 11: 18) … a gargoyle at Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We have reached the half-way point in Lent, which began three weeks ago on Ash Wednesday (18 February 2026). This week began with the Third Sunday in Lent (Lent III, 8 March 2026).

I am staying at the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk. I am speaking later today at the Ecumenical Pilgrimage to Walsingham which began on Tuesday (10 March) and continues until tomorrow (13 March).

This ecumenical pilgrimage has been organised with the support of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius and the Society of Saint John Chrysostom and is in its 100th year. I have been invited to speak today on ‘A Priest along the Way of a Pilgrim’.

Today’s programme begins with an Anglican celebration of the Eucharist in the Shrine Church or Catholic Mass (Ordinariate Use) with the Little Sisters of Jesus, and Scripture Meditations led by the Revd Samuel Harris of the Church of Scotland in the Shrine Church, and the morning includes a talk by Father Michael Lambros of Saint Mary and Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church, East London; and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts served by Father Stephen Platt of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. The afternoon programme includes sprinkling at the Holy Well in the Shrine Church and my talk, ‘A Priest along the Way of a Pilgrim’. In the evening, Monsignor Keith Newton is in Conversation with Father Mark Woodruff.

Before today begins, however, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The Temptation of Job in the Purgatory Window by Richard King of the Harry Clarke Studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 11: 14-23 (NRSVA):

14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ 16 Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? – for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. 19 Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. 22 But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.’

Giovanni da Modena’s fresco of the Last Judgment in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna was inspired by Dante’s descriptions of the Devil and Hell (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Luke 11: 14-23) is laden with images of demons, Beelzebul, Satan, more demons, exorcists and still more demons. And we read of a kingdom divided against itself that becomes a desert, houses falling on houses, castles being plundered, and strong men abusing their strength.

What is your image of the Devil?

For many people today, he is old hat and the stuff of superstition. For others he is a figure of fun: the gargoyles gushing out rainwater from gutters on cathedrals and churches; the logo for Manchester United; or the impish black-and-red costumes of children at Hallowe’en or some adults at Carnival in Continental European cities in the days before Lent.

Many of our cultural images of the Devil come not from the Bible but from Dante’s Inferno, which influenced John Milton’s Paradise Lost, other poets, including TS Eliot’s The Waste Land, as well as frescoes, paintings, and stained-glass windows throughout the world.

But the Devil appears in many forms throughout the Bible.

The word satan in its original original Hebrew term sâtan (שָּׂטָן‎) means an ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary,’ and refers to both human adversaries and a supernatural entity. The word is derived from a verb meaning primarily to obstruct or to oppose. When it is used without the definite article (satan), the word can refer to any accuser; when it is used with the definite article (ha-satan), it refers specifically to the heavenly accuser: the Satan.

Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in two books of the Hebrew Bible: Job 1 and 2 (10 times) and Zechariah 3: 1-2 (three times); satan without the definite article is used in 10 instances.

These occurrences without a definite article include the Angel of the Lord who confronts Balaam on his donkey (Numbers 22: 22); and the Angel of the Lord who brings a plague against Israel for three days after David takes a census (II Samuel 24).

The satan who appears in the Book of Job is one of the ‘sons of God’ (Job 1: 6-8) who has been roaming around the earth and who tortures Job physically, mentally and spiritually, to see whether Job will abandon his faith. But Job remains faithful and righteous, and satan is shamed in his defeat.

The English word devil, used as a synonym for Satan, can be traced through Middle English, Old English and Latin to the Greek διάβολος (diabolos), ‘slanderer,’ from a verb (diaballein) meaning to slander, but originally meaning ‘to hurl across’ or ‘to back bite.’ In the New Testament, the words Satan and diabolos are used interchangeably.

Another name in today’s Gospel reading, Beelzebub, means ‘Lord of Flies,’ and is also a contemptuous name for a Philistine god and a pun on his name meaning ‘Baal the Prince.’ Some critics in today’s reading accuse Jesus of exorcising demons through the power of Beelzebub.

Satan plays a role in some of the Gospel parables, including the Parables of the Sower, the Weeds, the Sheep and the Goats, and the Strong Man.

In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Judas betrays Christ because ‘Satan entered into’ him (see Luke 22: 3-6; cf John 12: 13: 2) and Christ implies Satan has authority to test Peter and the other apostles (see Luke 22: 31).

In Saint John’s Gospel, Satan is identified as ‘the Archon of the Cosmos’ (ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου), who is to be overthrown through Christ’s death and resurrection (John 12: 31-32).

The Letter to the Hebrews describes the devil as ‘the one who has the power of death’ (Hebrews 2: 14).

In the Book of Revelation, Satan is first the supernatural ruler of the Empire. In that book, we also come across Abaddon, whose name in Greek is Apollyon, meaning ‘the destroyer,’ an angel who rules the Abyss (Revelation 9: 11).

The vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, 10 horns, seven crowns, and a sweeping tail (Revelation 12: 3-4) is an image inspired by the apocalyptic visions in the Book of Daniel. A war then breaks out in heaven, and Michael and his angels defeat the Dragon who is thrown down. This dragon is identified with ‘that ancient serpent, who is called Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12: 9) and the accuser.

This identifies him with all the images of satan in the Hebrew Bible, from the serpent in Eden, to Job’s tempters. Later, the chained and imprisoned Satan breaks loose from his chains in the abyss and wages war against the righteous. But he is defeated and cast into a lake of fire (see Revelation 20: 1-10).

The three synoptic Gospels describe the temptation of Christ by Satan in the wilderness (see Matthew 4: 1-11, Mark 1: 12-13, and Luke 4: 1-13), and, each time, Christ rebukes Satan.

Too often we reduce temptation to small things in life. The one real temptation facing Jeff Difford, the slick pastor in the television series Young Sheldon, is greed in the form of wanting a new combined toaster and microwave oven. He resists that temptation for a day or so, and when he gives in, he asks for forgiveness.

But this is a fatuous and fraudulent presentation of temptation. True temptation can come in small ways, but it can also come in dramatic ways, leading to the abuse of privilege, position and power, in the church, in business, in politics.

There is real evil in the world. It is 81 years since the end of the Holocaust and World War II. Yet racism is rampant, open Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise, with the US attacks on Iran, the world is close to war yet again, peace seems impossible in the Middle East, and the rule of law is being undermined in the US, moment by the moment.

As I watch the daily rantings of the kleptocracy that has taken grip of the institutions of democracy and justice in the US, I cannot but help find parallels in the parable contained within today’s Gospel reading: ‘When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters’ (verses 21-23).

Yet there is hope too: demons are cast out, those who were once silent finally find the power to speak out, the strong and the mighty are exposed as plunderers and despoilers, kingdoms find they are divided against themselves and become desert, and houses fall on house.

And when these things happen, as they shall happen, we must hope for signs that the kingdom of God is to come among us.

Saint Michael and the Devil … a statue by Jacob Epstein at Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 12 March 2026):

The theme this week (8-14 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Biblical Sisterhood’ (pp 36-37). This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by Dr Sanjana Das, PhD feminist theologian, advocate for the dignity and rights of trafficked and migrant working women.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 12 March 2026) invites us to pray:

God of courage and compassion, awaken in us the honesty to examine our own actions. Forgive the times we have looked away or acted without thought. Help us to shop, eat and live in ways that honour the labour of others, and uphold dignity and justice for all.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Merciful Lord,
grant your people grace to withstand the temptations
of the world, the flesh and the devil,
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Eternal God,
give us insight
to discern your will for us,
to give up what harms us,
and to seek the perfection we are promised
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘When the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed …’ (Luke 11: 14) … a sculpture in the Llotja de la Seda or Silk Exchange in Valencia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 5, Sunday 22 February 2026, First Sunday in Lent

‘The devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple …’ (Matthew 4: 5) … a gargoyle at Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began this week with Ash Wednesday, and today is the First Sunday in Lent (Lent I, 22 February 2026). After our marathon journey that began in Heathrow on Ash Wednesday (18 February) and that included stopovers and connections in Muscat and Kuala Lumpur, we have settled into our flat in Kuching and I hope attend the Cathedral Eucharist in Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, Kuching, later this morning (8:30). In all, Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, which is a five-minutes walk from our flat, has six regular Sunday services: Holy Communion in English, 6:30 am; Sung Eucharistic in English, 8:30 am; Bahasa Malaysia Service with Holy Communion (McDougall Hall, Level 3, Parish Centre), 10:30 am; Mandarin Service with Holy Communion, 10:30 am; Iban Service with Holy Communion, 2 pm; Evensong with Holy Communion in English, 5:30 pm.

Before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The Temptation of Job in the Purgatory Window by Richard King of the Harry Clarke Studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 4: 1-11 (NRSVA):

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ 4 But he answered, ‘It is written,

“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”.’

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,”
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone”.’

7 Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”.’

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; 9 and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ 10 Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him”.’

11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Giovanni da Modena’s fresco of the Last Judgment in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna was inspired by Dante’s descriptions of the Devil and Hell (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

We are going to meet some interesting, unusual characters in the Gospel readings on the Sundays in Lent this year.

They include:

1, The Devil, who appears as the serpent (Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7) and the Tempter (Matthew 4: 1-11) in this morning’s readings (Lent I: 22 February 2026)

2, Nicodemus, who comes to meet Jesus in the night (John 3: 1-17) next week (Lent II: 1 March 2026)

3, The unnamed Samaritan woman at the well (John 4: 5-42) two weeks from now (Lent III: 8 March 2026)

4, The women at the Cross (John 19: 25b-27) on Mothering Sunday (Lent IV: 15 March 2026)

5, Lazarus who is raised from the dead (John 11: 1-45, Lent V: 26 March 2020)

All these characters, as we meet them along the journey through Lent, prepare us for meeting Christ when he arrives in Jerusalem and we come face-to-face with him at his Passion, Death and Resurrection.

What is your image of the Devil?

For many people today, he is old hat and the stuff of superstition. For other people he is a figure of fun: the gargoyles gushing out rainwater from gutters on cathedrals and churches; the logo for Manchester United; or the impish black-and-red costumes of children at Hallowe’en or some adults at Carnival in Continental European cities in the days before Lent.

Many of our cultural images of the Devil come not from the Bible but from Dante’s Inferno, which influenced John Milton’s Paradise Lost, other poets, including TS Eliot in his The Waste Land, as well as frescoes, paintings and stained-glass windows across the world.

But the Devil appears in many forms throughout the Bible.

The word satan does not occur in today’s reading from Genesis. Instead, the tempter is a talking serpent.

The original Hebrew term sâtan (שָּׂטָן‎) means an ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary,’ and refers to both human adversaries and a supernatural entity. The word is derived from a verb meaning primarily to obstruct or to oppose. When it is used without the definite article (satan), the word can refer to any accuser; when it is used with the definite article (ha-satan), it refers specifically to the heavenly accuser: the Satan.

Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in two books of the Hebrew Bible: Job 1 and 2 (10 times) and Zechariah 3: 1-2 (three times); satan without the definite article is used in 10 instances.

These occurrences without a definite article include the Angel of the Lord who confronts Balaam on his donkey (Numbers 22: 22); and the Angel of the Lord who brings a plague against Israel for three days after David takes a census (II Samuel 24).

The satan who appears in the Book of Job is one of the ‘sons of God’ (Job 1: 6-8) who has been roaming around the earth and who tortures Job physically, mentally and spiritually, to see whether Job will abandon his faith. But Job remains faithful and righteous, and satan is shamed in his defeat.

The English word devil, used as a synonym for Satan, can be traced through Middle English, Old English and Latin to the Greek διάβολος (diabolos), ‘slanderer,’ from a verb (diaballein) meaning to slander, but originally meaning ‘to hurl across’ or ‘to back bite.’ In the New Testament, the words Satan and diabolos are used interchangeably.

Another name, Beelzebub, means ‘Lord of Flies,’ and is also a contemptuous name for a Philistine god and a pun on his name meaning ‘Baal the Prince.’ Some Pharisees accuse Jesus of exorcising demons through the power of Beelzebub.

Satan plays a role in some of the parables, including the Parables of the Sower, the Weeds, the Sheep and the Goats, and the Strong Man.

In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Judas betrays Christ because ‘Satan entered into’ him (see Luke 22: 3-6; cf John 12: 13: 2) and Christ implies Satan has authority to test Peter and the other apostles (see Luke 22: 31).

In Saint John’s Gospel, Satan is identified as ‘the Archon of the Cosmos’ (ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου) who is to be overthrown through Christ’s death and resurrection (John 12: 31-32).

The Letter to the Hebrews describes the devil as ‘the one who has the power of death’ (Hebrews 2: 14).

In the Book of Revelation, Satan is first the supernatural ruler of the Empire. In that book, we also come across Abaddon, whose name in Greek is Apollyon, meaning ‘the destroyer,’ an angel who rules the Abyss (Revelation 9: 11).

The vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, 10 horns, seven crowns, and a sweeping tail (Revelation 12: 3-4) is an image inspired by the apocalyptic visions in the Book of Daniel. A war then breaks out in heaven, and Michael and his angels defeat the Dragon who is thrown down. This dragon is identified with ‘that ancient serpent, who is called Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12: 9) and the accuser.

This identifies him with all the images of satan in the Hebrew Bible, from the serpent in Eden, to Job’s tempters.

Later, the chained and imprisoned Satan breaks loose from his chains in the abyss and wages war against the righteous. But he is defeated and cast into a lake of fire (see Revelation 20: 1-10).

Today’s Gospel reading is one of the three accounts in the synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 4: 1-11, Mark 1: 12-13, Luke 4: 1-13) describing the temptation of Christ by Satan in the wilderness.

Satan first shows Jesus a stone and tells him to turn it into bread. He then takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and tells him to throw himself down so that the angels will catch him. Then he takes Jesus to the top of a tall mountain, shows him the kingdoms of the earth and promises to give them all to him if he will bow down and worship him.

In each of these temptations, Christ is tempted to the right thing for the wrong reasons.

What would be wrong with Christ turning stones into bread if that is going to feed the hungry?

What would be wrong with Christ showing his miraculous powers, if this is going to point to the majesty of God?

What would be wrong with Christ taking command of the kingdoms of this world, if this provides the opportunity to bring in justice, mercy and peace?

These are real temptations. Christ is truly human and truly divine, and for those who are morally driven there is always a real temptation to do the right thing … but to do it for the wrong reason.

Each time, Christ rebukes Satan, and after the third temptation he is ministered to by the angels.

Too often we reduce temptation to small things in life. The one real temptation facing Jeff Difford, the slick pastor in the television series Young Sheldon, was greed in the form of wanting a new combined toaster and microwave oven. He resisted that temptation for a day or so, and when he gives in, he asks for forgiveness.

But this is a fatuous and fraudulent presentation of temptation. True temptation can come in small ways, but it can also come in dramatic ways, in the temptation to do the right thing for the wrong reasons, and in the temptation to do nothing.

There is real evil in the world, when we consider the death camps such as Auschwitz and the mass genocide of the Holocaust. Yet the far-right is on the rise not only in Britain but across Europe, with the active support of many insiders in the White House and of Elon Musk, one of the richest people in the world.

Some years ago, during carnival – a time of fun before entering Lent – at a carnival parade in Campo de Criptana, about 120 km south-east of Madrid, participants dressed like Nazis and Jewish concentration camp prisoners while dancing next to a float evoking crematoria. In Aalst in Belgium that same year, some people in the carnival parade dressed like haredim or pious Orthodox Jews but depicting them as ants, others wore fake hooked noses based on Jewish stereotypes, and still others dressed in black uniforms and red armbands imitating Nazi uniforms.

Almost three generations after the Holocaust, there are people who still think real evil in the world is an appropriate theme for carnival floats. How does this prepare us for Lent and the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ?

I was reminded of the temptation to be silent in the face of evil when I visited the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, and the cell of the Revd Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), a prominent German Lutheran pastor and an outspoken opponent of Hitler, was held in isolation.

On the wall of this cell are his words:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.

This Lent, I invite you to join me on the journey, on the pilgrimage that leads to Good Friday, and that leads, of course, to the joys of Easter Day.

Saint Michael and the Devil … a statue by Jacob Epstein at Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 22 February 2026, Lent I):

The theme this week (22-28 February 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Behold, I make all things new!’ (pp 30-31). This theme is introduced today with Reflections by the Right Revd Jorge Pina Cabral Jorge, Diocesan Bishop of the Lusitanian Church (Portugal):

‘The prophetic vision of Saint John, “Behold, I make all things new! ” (Revelation 21: 5), will be the motto and challenge of an impulse for renewal and sustainable growth, for a more consequential Anglican and Christian witness on the Iberian Peninsula, with a desired openness and cooperation with other Anglican jurisdictions in Europe.

‘The two Iberian national churches -- the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (IERE) and the Lusitanian Church, Portugal (ILCAE) – are involved in a proposal for a new Anglican Province as a result of nearly 150 years of shared history. Together, the IERE and ILCAE serve communities across the main regions and cities, with ministries that support youth and women, provide social action, communication, and theological training, and build ecumenical and interfaith relationships.

‘In Portugal, specialised ministries include the Diaconia Secretariat dedicated to social intervention, particularly with immigrants. Also focused on social work, the Church’s two solidarity institutions (AETP in Gaia and the Sagrada Família Social Centre in Queluz) provide services to children and the elderly and support people in situations of economic vulnerability, providing meals, laundry, home help, etc.

‘Among the most important institutions and ministries in Spain are the Atilano Coco University Residence in Salamanca; the Anglican Pilgrim House in Santiago de Compostela; the religious bookshop that the Church runs in Malaga (Proyecto Logos) and the important Radio Anglicana ministry with over one million registered listeners.

‘The proposed vision is to move forward in unity and complete the process by 2030, the year in which these Iberian churches will celebrate the 150th anniversary of their founding synods.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 22 February 2026, Lent I) invites us to pray as we read and meditate on Matthew 4: 1-11.

‘Then the devil left him …’ (Matthew 4: 11) … a sculpture in the Llotja de la Seda or Silk Exchange in Valencia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven;
by it you nourish our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love:
teach us always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread,
and enable us to live by every word
that proceeds from out of your mouth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Heavenly Father,
your Son battled with the powers of darkness,
and grew closer to you in the desert:
help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer
that we may witness to your saving love
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Testerday’s Reflecgtions

Continued Tomorrow

‘ … and suddenly angels came and waited on him’ (Matthew 4: 11) … two angels by Eric Gill support a bishop’s coat-of-arms in Jesus College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

23 million digits in numbers, 23 million metres fundraising, 23 million sq metres in Tuscany, and 23 million blog hits by today

‘Tuscany … a world of wine’ … Tuscany covers 23,000 sq km or 23 million sq metres (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Once again, this blog continues to reach more and more readers as it reaches the milepost of 23 million readers this evening (12 February 2026). This follows soon after passing the landmarks of 22.5 million earlier this month (4 February), 22 million hits late last month (20 January), and 21.5 million hits a week before that (13 January). At the end of 2025, this blog had 21 million hits by New Year’s Eve (31 December 2025), with almost 2.5 million visitors throughout December (2,423,018).

So far this year, there have been about 2 million hits or visitors for 2026 by this evening. This means, this blog has passed the half million mark twice this month, twice last month, and five times in December.

I began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers – a number reached within the past week alone. It then took more than another year before this figure rose to 1 million by September 2013. This blog reached the 10 million mark a year ago (12 January 2025), almost 15 years later. In the 12 months since then, another 11.5 million hits have been counted.

Throughout last year, the daily figures were overwhelming on many occasions. Seven of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog were last month alone, four were last January, and one was last month:

• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 261,422 (13 January 2025)
• 166,155 (15 December 2025)
• 146,944 (14 December 2025)
• 140,417 (16 December 2025)

• 122,398 (17 December 2025)
• 116,911 (30 December 2025)
• 112,221 (13 December 2025)
• 106,475 (27 December 2025)
• 106,169 (16 January 2026)
• 100,291 (10 January 2025)

The latest figure of 23 million is all the more staggering as half of those hits (11.5 million) have been within less than a year, since 10 March 2025. The rise in the number of readers seems to have been phenomenal throughout last year, and the daily figures are overwhelming at times, currently running at about 40-50,000.

With this latest landmark figure of 23 million readers, I once again find myself asking questions such as:

• What do 23 million people look like?

• Where do we find 23 million people?

• What does £23 million, €23 million or $23 million mean?

• What would it buy? How far would it stretch? How much of a difference would that much make to people’s lives?

The Statue of Dante in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A collaborative computational effort uncovered the longest known prime number, it was announced back in 2018, and it is over 23 million digits long. The new number was given the name M77232917 for short.

Prime numbers are divisible only by themselves and one, and the search for ever-larger primes has long occupied maths enthusiasts. However, the search requires complicated computer software and collaboration as the numbers get increasingly hard to find. M77232917 was discovered on a computer belonging to Jonathan Pace, an electrical engineer from Tennessee who had been searching for big primes for 14 years. It is nearly one million digits longer than the previous record holder, which was identified as part of the same project at the beginning of 2016.

The 23 enigma is a belief in the significance of the number 23. The concept of the 23 enigma has been popularized by various books, movies, and conspiracy theories, which suggest that the number 23 appears with unusual frequency in various contexts and may have a larger, hidden significance. Since the 1990s, the free techno and raver counterculture has adopted it as a symbol.

There are about 26 million Sikhs globally, of whom 23 million live in India where they are less than 2% of the 1.4 billion population. Sikhism is the world’s fifth-largest organised religion.

Taiwan and Sri Lanka each has a population of about 23 million people.

23 million metres is 23,000 km and 23 million sq metres is 23,000 sq km.

Tuscany in central Italy has an area of about 23,000 sq km. Tuscany is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, has many protected nature reserves and UNESCO World Heritage sites and is the second-most-popular Italian region for tourists in Italy, after Veneto.

The main tourist attractions are in Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena and Lucca. Tuscany was the home of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, the Medicis and Michelangelo … and is the home of the Uffizi … and of Chianti and Montepulciano.

23,000 sq km is also the approximate size of Belize and of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-east Germany, also known by its anglicised name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania.

Rob Goliah (36) from Nottingham has cycled 23,000 km ( million metres) from Melbourne in Derbyshire to Melbourne in Australia. He took six month to cycle 23,000 km and visited 22 countries along the route, setting out on 29 June and arriving on 26 December.

Then last weekend, large crowds gathered at Sydney Opera House on 7 February to celebrate the end of a Roscommon man’s two-year charity cycle across the world. Fergal Guihen’s mammoth ‘Rossie to Aussie’ 23,000 km challenge has taken him through 28 countries and three continents over the last two years since leaving Arigna, Co Roscommon, on 10 March 2024.

His journey aimed to raise awareness and funds for both the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation and North West STOP. His fundraising cycle has raised more than €150,000 to date. He travelled the full length of three continents and 28 countries. ‘What I originally believed would take one year ultimately became a two-year adventure and, without question, the toughest thing I have ever done’.

In 2025 alone, the EU allocated a total of €23 million in humanitarian aid to UNRWA for the delivery of assistance in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. The EU remains critical to UNRWA’s ability to provide Palestine refugees in the occupied West Bank access to urgent shelter support and essential services.

A very rare sketch of a foot by Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel sold earlier this month for a record €23 million at a Christie’s auction in New York. The recently discovered drawing was part of a study for the Libyan Sibyl on the ceiling of the chapel in the Vatican.

I am one among more than 23 million adults in the UK who have not learnt the lifesaving skill of CPR. Almost half of UK adults (43 per cent) have never learnt CPR, according to new figures that suggest as many as 23 million are yet to learn the skills to save a life.

Schizophrenia affects approximately 23 million people or 1 in 345 people (0.29%) worldwide. The UN Population Fund states that a further 23 million girls risk being subjected to this violence over the next four years. An estimated 23 million miscarriages occur every year worldwide, meaning 44 pregnancy losses each minute.

In September 2025, Greek authorities estimated that at least €23 million in EU agricultural subsidies were fraudulently claimed, marking a major, ongoing scandal involving 1,036 cases of illegal payments. The fraud involved false declarations of land and livestock by non-farmers, and is being investigated by Greek police and the EPPO.

The Olympic freestyle skier, Eileen Gu has become one of the world’s highest-paid female athletes, earning $23.1 million last year, according to the Forbes rankings in 2025 of the highest-paid female athletes, listing her after tennis player Coco Gauff with around $33 million, followed by Aryna Sabalenka at $30 million and Iga Swiatek at $25.1 million.

Conor McGregor has been boasting this month Donald Trump is exploring a $23 million investment in McGregor’s business interests … I can only start to imagine how they deserve each other and how well matched they are.

And 23 million minutes is 43.8 years, or roughly 383,333 hours or 15,972 days. In other words, if this blog was getting one hit a minute, it would take almost 44 years to reach today’s 23 million mark.

So, yet again, this blog has reached another humbling statistic and a sobering figure, and once more I am left with a feeling of gratitude to all who read and support this blog and my writing.

Once again, a continuing and warming figure in the midst of all these statistics is the one that shows my morning prayer diary continues to reach up to 70-90 people each day.

It is almost four years now since I retired from active parish ministry, but I think many of my priest-colleagues be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 500 to 600 people or more each week.

Today, I am very grateful to all the 23 million readers of this blog to date, and in particular I am grateful for the faithful core group among you who join me in prayer, reading and reflection each morning.

Vineyards, vines, groves and terraces near San Gimignano in Tuscany (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Prebendal House in Aylesbury is a reminder of church estates and of an 18th century radical MP

A glimps of Prebendal House and its communal gardens from Parson’s Fee, near Saint Mary’s Church, Aylesbury (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I was in Aylesbury for an hour or two the other day, more by chance than intention. But the town centre is always a charming place to visit with its timber-framed buildings, cobbled streets and an impressive mediaeval parish church, Saint Mary’s.

Many people are a little surprised that Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire, and not Buckinghamshire – or, perhaps, even Milton Keynes. Names can still be deceptive: Buckingham Hospital is in Buckingham, but the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital is in Aylesbury.

The name Aylesbury is thought to be derived from ‘Aigle’s Burgh’, meaning hill town or fort. A number of pre-Roman settlements in the area are believed to date back to ca 650 BCE, and Aylesbury later grew up inside these defences.

There has been a church on the site of Saint Mary’s Church since the 12th century. It was extended throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, and the 15th century perpendicular west window is still in situ. The church was completely restored by Sir Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) in the 19th century.

Aylesbury was made the new county town of Buckinghamshire by Henry VIII in 1529. At the time, Aylesbury Manor was owned by Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, and it was said the king made the change to buy the approval of the Boylen family. The town was given a charter and borough status in 1554 by Mary Tudor to show her appreciation for its loyalty when Aylesbury declared her queen against the competing claims of Lady Jane Grey.

The town played a key part in the English Civil War. The Battle of Aylesbury was led by Oliver Cromwell’s cousin John Hampden, and was fought on nearby Holman’s Bridge in 1642.

As the centre of local government, a starting a period of building development in Aylesbury in the late 18th century, with many civic and residential buildings.

Prebendal House on a street named Parson’s Fee is associated with the Prebendaries of Aylesbury (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Walking through the cobbled streets to the south and west of Saint Mary’s Church, I glimpsed Prebendal House, a large Grade II*-listed Georgian house set in communal gardens in a private enclave at the end of a street named Parson’s Fee. This is a charming street with timber-framed cottages and runs between Castle Street and Church Street, within the historic Conservation Area of the old town.

Aylesbury remained a feudal manor until the 13th century when new smaller landholdings were formed. These new small manors created by royal grant were often known as fees: Aylesbury had several fees, including the Castle Fee held by the principal lord of the manor of Aylesbury; Otterer’s Fee, granted to the king’s otter hunter; and Church Fee, endowed to the church. Aylesbury had a small degree of autonomy as a prebend of the Diocese of Lincoln, and the Church Fee, which was controlled by the priest of Aylesbury, and Church Fee came to be known as Parson’s Fee.

As its name indicates, Prebendal House was originally associated with the church, and it has later associations with figures of national importance. A Saxon nunnery may have stood on the site in an earlier age. The prebendaries of Aylesbury can be traced back to Ralph in 1092, when the prebend of Aylesbury was attached to the See of Lincoln.

However, the first record of Prebendal House dates from 1656, when it was a stone and timber building. The house was built in several phases, and elements from each phase survive within its fabric. Many of the original interior spaces retain their period fixtures and fittings. The cellars seem to have survived from a 17th century house that was the precursor to the 18th century house.

The present house was built in the early 18th century and extensively modified by its most notable resident, John Wilkes (1725-1797), MP for Aylesbury in 1757-1764. Wilkes came into possession of an estate and income in Buckinghamshire in 1747 when he married Mary Meade (1715-1784) and he lived in Prebendal House from the mid-1750s until he died.

Wilkes was a radical politician and spent time in the Tower of London in 1763 when he was accused of seditious libel after he published inflammatory pamphlets attacking George III and prominent members of his administration. He was released after 15,000 people marched the streets of London in the ‘Wilkes and Liberty’ marches.

Wilkes is remembered as a defender of freedom of speech and personal liberties, and is known for his charitable donations. He was associated with Sir Francis Dashwood of West Wycombe and the infamous Hell Fire Club at West Wycombe Park and the Hell Fire Caves.

The entrance gateway to the Prebendal House is a Grade II listed building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Prebendal House is a handsome stuccoed building, and the entrance has grand classical proportions with a portico of ionic columns. The house had been a school and then offices before it was converted into apartments in recent years, but most of its original fabric has been maintained.

A communal hallway with a cantilevered staircase and intricately carved panelling leads to the second floor of the house. The interior features include generous ceiling heights, arts and crafts fireplaces, far-reaching views over Saint Mary’s Church and out to the surrounding countryside and the Chiltern Hills.

Access to the house is by a brick-built gatehouse, incorporated by John Wilkes during his time at the house. The communal gardens of about 1.25 acres include ancient trees and mature planting.

Prebendal House was a school before being converted into apartments (Photograph courtesy Chancellors, Aylesbury)

Nearby, at Prebendal Court to the north of Prebendal House and facing onto Nelson Terreace, a plaque placed by the Aylesbury Society on an apartment block in the development recalls how an Iron Age hillfort ditch dating from 650 BCE was excavated on the site in 1985.

The findings suggest the site of Prebendal House represents the southern continuation of the western line of the Iron Age and later Saxon defensive circuit. The remaining deposits and structures were associated with the construction of Prebendal House and the landscaping of the gardens from the 18th century onwards.

As for the Prebendaries of Aylesbury, they continued to hold office for centuries. They included Roger de Wenesham who became Bishop of Lichfield and died in 1257.

Percival de Lavinia, who was Prebendary of Aylesbury in 1285, was also the Archdeacon of Buckingham in 1270. His brother Ottobuono de’ Fieschi became Pope as Pope Adrian V on 11 July 1276, but died on 18 August 1276 before even being ordained priest. In the Divine Comedy, Dante meets Adrian V in the fifth terrace of Purgatorio, where Adrian V is being cleansed of the vice of avarice.

John Hacket (1608-1670), who became Prebendary of Aylesbury in 1623, was appointed Bishop of Lichfield after the restoration of Charles II, and was responsible for rebuilding Lichfield Cathedral.

Since John Pretyman died in 1842, the Prebendaries of Aylesbury have been honorary canons. But for many centuries before that they had no associations with Prebendal House.

A plaque at Prebendal Court recalls an Iron Age hillfort ditch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Lawrence’s, Towcester, a mediaeval church with a cadaver tomb and where a Pope was once the rector

Saint Lawrence’s Church in the centre of Towcester is close to the Market Square and the Town Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

When I was visiting Towcester in Northamptonshire earlier this week, I learned how the local parish is sending ambulances to Ukraine, filled with medical supplies and other aid, including clothing, blankets, and disability aids, and other essential items.

The initiative is led by Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, and the Tove Benefice, which have been working to acquire and fill ambulances with supplies for Ukrainian paramedics. The fundraising initiatives have included a Vicarage Fete and Open Gardens, concerts and hosting families.

In Saint Lawrence’s Church on Monday, I saw yet another ambulance being filled with medical equipment. The ambulance is due to leave Towcester on Sunday (23 March), when Steve Challen from the Tove Benefice and Alex Donaldson begin a 1,350-mile drive to Lviv.

Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, stands on the site of a previous Saxon church and an earlier Roman building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Lawrence’s Church stands in the centre of Towcester, on Chantry Lane, close to the Market Square and the Town Hall, and near the Castle Mound and the River Tove.

The mediaeval rectors of Towcester included Pope Boniface VIII, who was the rector of before his elevation to the papacy in 1294, and Archdeacon Sponne, the great benefactor of Towcester, whose table tomb and cadaver effigy is one of the most unusual sites in the church.

The church stands on the site of a previous Saxon church, built possibly on the site of an earlier Roman building, possibly a temple or basilica, although there was also a bath house in the area, and small fragments of Roman pavement were found next to the church’s boiler room.

The Saxon church was rebuilt in the Norman period in honour of Saint Wandregisile. Its most famous incumbents were Benedetto Gaetani who became Pope Boniface VIII patron of the great Florentine artist Giotto, and Archdeacon William Sponne the town's great benefactor.

Saint Lawrence’s has a 12th-century Norman transitional ground plan and foundation, probably laid over a Saxon 10th-century stone building.
The oldest portion of the church, dating from ca 1200, is in the Early English style of architecture. The east part of the chancel, with the crypt, is in the decorated style.

The Cross Keys of Saint Peter on a hassock in Saint Lawrence’s … Benedetto Caetani, the Rector of Towcester, became Pope Boniface VIII in 1294 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Benedetto Caetani (1235-1303), the future Pope Boniface VIII, was the Rector of Towcester before he was elevated to the Papacy in 1294 in succession to Celestine V, who had abdicated.

He was born in Anagni, 50 km south-east of Rome, studied canon and civil law in Italy, and became a canon successively in Anagni, Todi, Paris, Lyons and Rome. He accompanied Cardinal Ottobuono Fieschi to England in 1265, and became the Rector of Towcester.

He was consecrated in Rome as Pope Boniface VIII on 23 January 1295. He was a patron of Giotto, commissioning him to work on frescoes in Saint Peter’s Basilica and other churches, and Giotto depicted Boniface VIII in a fresco proclaiming the first Jubilee Year in 1300. Dante places him among the simoniacs in the eighth circle of Hell, Malebolge, in his Divine Comedy. He also founded Sapienza University in Rome in 1303.

The most unusual fixture in the church is the cadaver tomb of the town’s benefactor, Archdeacon William Sponne, who was the Rector at Towcester in 1442-1448.

The chancel, high altar and east window in Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Four decades after Sponne, the church was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style in 1480-1485, when it was enhanced with a new tower, a finely decorated west door, the roof was raised to accommodate a clerestory and new aisle windows were added. Permission to quarry stone from Whittlewood Forest for this restoration was granted in 1483 by Edward IV – his wife Elizabeth Woodville was from nearby Grafton Regis. The grant was later confirmed by Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The church has a chancel, vestry, north and south chancel chapels, a nave, north and south aisles, a south porch and west tower.

The five-bay chancel has a five-light perpendicular east window, three-light Decorated windows on the north and south side, and three-light clerestory windows with cinquefoil-headed lights and four-centred heads. The chancel has 17th century tie-beam trusses and purlins.

The vestry on the north side has a chamfered Tudor-arched north door. The chancel chapels continue into the aisles that overlap the chancel.

There is a projecting stair turret to the former gallery of rood screen between the north aisle and the chancel chapel.

The Sponne Chapel in the south chancel in Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The sanctuary is raised over a stone-vaulted crypt, and has a tomb recess to the east and an aumbry on the north side. The mid-19th century chancel arch incorporates two Romanesque shafts and with lozenge and zig-zag decorations.

The nave has four-bay arcades with octagonal piers, polygonal responds and double-chamfered arches, and three re-used 13th century capitals.

At the west end of the nave, there is a triple-chamfered tower arch.

The chapel in the south chancel or Sponne Chapel has a wide ogee-arched niche and a Pelican in her Piety painted on the back wall. The fragments of 15th century stained glass in the east window of the chapel include Sponne’s heraldic arms moved from Talbot Inn, previously the Tabard Inn, once owned by Sponne’s charity. His arms are surrounded by fragments of green drapery and canopy work.

The octagonal font has a panelled bowl on crocketed nodding ogee arches.

The octagonal font in Saint Lawrence’s Church has a panelled bowl on crocketed nodding ogee arches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The tall three-stage west tower has a many-moulded west doorway, a deep hollow-chamfered surround with an ogee-arched hood mould within a panelled recess and old double-leaf studded doors. There is a three-light Perpendicular window above. The tower has a peal of 12 bells and a chime of nine bells that many regard as among the finest in the Midlands. The bells were moved in 1994 from Todmorden in Yorkshire.

The Caroline courtier Sir Robert Banastre of Passenham paid for reroofing the chancel in 1640.

The church was restored in 1835-1836, and again half a century later in 1883 by John Loughborough Pearson (1817-1897), who was the architect of Truro Cathedral (1879-1910) and the Fitzrovia Chapel (1890), London. He also added the two towers at the west end of Bristol Cathedral and designed additions to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1890.

The monuments in the church include an alabaster wall monument to Jerome Farmore, who died in 1602, with small kneeling figures facing each other at a prayer desk in scalloped niches, flanked by Corinthian colonettes.

The table tomb and cadaver of Archdeacon William Sponne, Rector of Towcester in 1422-1448 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The most striking and unusual monument in the church is the table tomb and cadaver of Archdeacon William Sponne, who was the Rector of Towcester in 1422-1448. It is a double tomb chest, with an the effigy of Sponne, dressed as a cathedral canon on top, and his skeleton below, within an arcade.

William Sponne was educated in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, before becoming Rector of Heavingham and Blofield in Norfolk. He became Archdeacon of Norfolk in 1419, and in 1422 he became Rector of Towcester, a post he held until he was succeeded by Thomas Taylard in 1447.

Sponne died a year later in 1448. He had bought the Tabard Inn (later the Talbot Inn) and its lands in 1440 and in his will he left the income to found a chantry and school in Towcester, to help the poor and to repair the footways in the town.

The small college or chantry Sponne founded had two priests, one to say mass for Sponne in the chapel at the east end of the south aisle of the church, the other to teach children of the town.

The carved oak head and hands of Archdeacon William Sponne were missing for a century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Cadaver tombs or table tombs were fashionable between 1420 and 1480, but surviving examples are rare, with only about 150 still in existence. Sponne’s fully clothed effigy in Saint Lawrence’s is dressed in a cassock, surplice and tippet, with fur-lined sleeves and collar.

The head and hands were carved locally of oak, with his face as a portrait. They were removed in 1884 and were lost. Over time the figure has been repainted several times and not always in the same colours. A Sunday newspaper reported a near disaster in the early 1980s when Archdeacon Sponne was repainted and considerable restoration work was needed to repair the damage.

The missing face and hands were rediscovered in the vicarage attics in the 1980s, but the wooden appendages were thought to be replacements. However, radiocarbon dating in 1984 confirmed that the wooden head is the original and the head and hands were restored to the tomb in 1992.

The sides of the tomb are open arches and Sponne’s heraldic arms of are repeated on the ledge. Inside the arches in the lower section is a representation of Sponne’s emaciated corpse, indicative of mortality and evidently meant to teach humility.

The monument was moved from the chancel in 1835 to make room for new pews. When it was moved, it was reported, the skeleton was in a perfect state of preservation, lying on a bed of fine white sand. Within a few hours of the grave being opened, however, the bones had crumbled to dust. The tomb has since been returned to its former position.

The east window in Saint Lawrence’s was erected in 1898 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The large five-light east window with perpendicular tracery is flanked by two three-light windows on the north and south.

The east window was erected, against a backdrop of fierce local opposition, in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The richly painted stained glass window it replaced had been previously donated by John Lovell and Ann Sabin. But, with the support of influential people and the Church Commissioners, the vicar overruled both his parishioners and the diocesan chancellor and raised the necessary funds for a new window.

The window was designed by Harvey Harry Alexander Hymers of Chelsea, and the main scene depicts the Crucifixion. Other images in the window include the four patrons of this islands: Saint George with a dragon; Saint Andrew with a saltire cross; Saint Patrick with snakes under his feet; and Saint David with a dove descending.

Two crowned shields are inscribed the dates 1837 and 1897, and the royal arms are encircled by the Garter.

The west window by Agnes Charles depcicts the Days of Creation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The West Window is a modern window in memory of Emily Moran of Codicote, Hertfordshire, who died in 1968. The window, made by Agnes Charles of Codicote, is designed to be read from the top down, each light separately:

A 1-6: God in Trinity flanked by angels and the redeemed on the seventh day of Creation;
7a: Creation of Adam;
6a: Creation of Eve;
5a: Paradise;
4a: The Temptation;
3a: God confronts Adam and Eve;
2a: Expulsion from Paradise;
1a: Adam delving and Eve spinning (Genesis 2: 7 to 3: 24);
B 7b: First Day of Creation;
6b: Second Day of Creation;
5b: Third Day of Creation;
4b: Fourth Day of Creation;
3b: Fifth Day of Creation;
1-2b: Sixth Day of Creation (Genesis 1: 1-31);
C 7c: The Annunciation (Luke 1: 26-31); 6c: The Nativity (Luke 2: 4-7);
5c: The Baptism of Christ (Matthew 3: 13-17);
4c: The Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 1-8);
3c: The Crucifixion (Matthew 27: 33-44);
2c: The Harrowing of Hell (I Peter 3: 18-20);
1c: Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4).

Before he died in 1976, BJ Moran commissioned his neighbour, the artist Agnes Charles, to make the window in memory of his wife. BJ Moran and Agnes Charles met the former vicar of Towcester, Canon Douglas Curtis, and his wife Susan on a painting holiday in Greece.

BJ Moran died in 1976 and the window was dedicated by Dr Leslie Brown, former Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, in 1982.

The late 17th century vicarage on Moat Lane in Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The late 17th century vicarage on Moat Lane was extended 1854 by the Northampton architect Edmund Francis Law (1810-1882). He also restored Saint Mary’s Church, Roade, in the 1850s and 1860s, Saint John the Baptist Church, Blisworth, in 1856 and Saint Mary’s Church, Badby, in 1880-1881. His other works in the area includes the lychgate on Calverton Road, Stony Stratford (1856-1857).

Law practised in Northampton from 1837, based in Priory Cottage. He was Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor and was Mayor of Northampton in 1859. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1862 on the proposal of Sir George Gilbert Scott. His son, Edmund Law (1840-1904), was an architect in his practice, and he too was Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor.

Interesting details in the vicarage include a datestone with fluted pilasters supporting a frieze, and a panel with the heraldic arms of Sir Robert Banastre, inscribed S/RB/1613.

A datestone on the vicarage with the heraldic arms of Sir Robert Banastre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Beside the church, the Chantry House is a Grade II listed 15th century house that now serves as the Tove Benefice office. The house was built as a house for the two priests serving Archdeacon Sponne’s chantry, which was suppressed at the Reformation. The house was bought back in 1552 by the trustees of Sponne’s Charity for use as a grammar school, and it served as the school and master’s house until 1866.

This two-storey, four-window range house has a studded plank door in a moulded wood surround and a late 18th century doorcase. The projecting tower to the left was originally a stair-turret. The gateway dates from the 15th century.

The Chantry House was bequeathed to the then incumbent, the Revd James Atwell, and the Churchwardens of Towcester by Alice Jenkinson in 1982. After fundraising and renovation work, it opened in 1987 as the parish office, with rooms available for community use.

The Chantry House, built in the 15th century, now serves as the Tove Benefice office (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

• The Tove Benefice is in the Diocese of Peterborough is centred on Towcester and includes the parishes of Bradden, Easton Neston, Greens Norton and Towcester with Caldecote. The Revd Paula Challen is the Rector of the Tove Benefice. There is a service in Saint Lawrence’s Church every Sunday at 9:15 am and a service at 11:15 am in one of the other churches in the benefice.

Inside Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, facing the west end from the High Altar and chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 18, Saturday 11 January 2025

Abandoned houses on Spinalónga, off the coast of Crete, Europe’s last ‘leper colony’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Mary Slessor (1915), Missionary in West Africa, and tomorrow is the First Sunday of Epiphany (12 January 2025), when the readings focus on the Baptism of Christ.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The ‘Leper’s Squint’ and the Arthur Memorial behind the organ in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 5: 12-16 (NRSVA):

12 Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ 13 Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do choose. Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he ordered him to tell no one. ‘Go’, he said, ‘and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.’ 15 But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. 16 But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.

Entering ‘Dante’s Gate’ on Spinalónga … patients did not know what fate awaited them on the island (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Saint Luke’s account of Jesus healing the man with leprosy comes an early point in Christ’s ministry. Matthew says the man approached Jesus as he ‘came down from the mountainside’ (Matthew 8: 1), Mark does not offer a location other than Galilee (Mark 1: 39), but Luke says they are in a city. All three synoptic Gospels agree that the man has faith that Jesus can make him clean, but he is not sure whether Jesus wants to.

This setting, with the man inside the city, challenges the general perception of the regulations in Jewish law concerning people with leprosy. ‘The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be dishevelled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp’ (Leviticus 13: 45-46).

Some historians claimed the Mosaic law excluded people with leprosy from any cities. However, the Talmud only banned them from entering walled cities. We have little information about which, if any, cities in Galilee were enclosed by walls.

It is possible that the man had remained outside the city but came in again, defying the community’s laws, expectations and safety measures, to see Jesus and to seek healing.

Saint Luke says that the man was ‘covered with leprosy.’ As he was a physician (‘the beloved physician’, see Colossians 4: 14), then perhaps Luke could have been more precise in his description of medical conditions. If this man had the form of leprosy now known as ‘Hansen's disease’, this would imply an advanced, near-lethal stage. Those suffering with leprosy can experience sores and ulcers over their face, hands, and body. This would have resulted in great social stigma, as well as much personal suffering.

Today, 95% of the world population is naturally immune to leprosy. As for the 5% who can get it, many of them live in tropical, overpopulated, underdeveloped areas like Brazil, China and India. Nobody really knows or understands how it is spread, but one common factor is prolonged close contact with someone who has it. You do not get it from hugging someone with leprosy or share a meal with one. And for those who do contract leprosy, there medical treatments in developed countries that can cure leprosy.

Even so, people with leprosy – then and now – are often cast out from society, rejected, feared, despised, neglected and scorned.

I have visited the island of Spinalónga, in the calm Bay of Mirabello and off the north-east coast of Crete. The island is still remembered as Europe’s last active leprosy colony.

Spinalónga was transformed into a leprosy colony in 1903. Until then, Crete’s leprosy patients had often lived in caves or were banished to areas known as meskinies, away from their families and civilisation, without appropriate or adequate medical care.

At his own personal expense, the Greek Prime Minister, Eleftheríos Venizélos, sent a doctor to India and the Philippines to learn about the latest methods of treating leprosy, but subsequent governments did little to change the conditions of the inhabitants.

There were two entrances to Spinalónga: the ‘lepers’ entrance’ was a tunnel known as ‘Dante’s Gate’ because fretful patients did not know what would happen to them after their arrival. Once on the island, they received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. But they were forbidden family visits, fishing was prohibited, and letters were callously disinfected before being posted. The residents ran their own shops, cafés and bazaar, but they were forbidden to marry, and children born on the island were soon separated from their parents.

Little was done to change those conditions even when the discovery of a new drug in America in 1948 offered the hope of a cure. Spinalónga remained a leprosy colony for nine more years, although these advances in medicine meant isolation was no longer appropriate, and care remained rudimentary. The priests who lived with the people were often their most vocal advocates, and the Brotherhood of the Sick of Spinalónga led to many of their demands being met.

The colony finally closed in 1957. The last inhabitant to leave the island was a priest – he had stayed on until 1962 to continue the traditions and rites of the Greek Orthodox Church, in which a dead person is commemorated at intervals of 40 days, six months, a year, three years and five years after death.

There are no souvenir shops on the island, no trinkets to buy and take away. But as I left, I had many questions:

Who do we isolate in cruel ways today?

Who do we cast outside our community, pretending they pose the risk of contamination?

Who, like the priests of Spinalónga are going to speak out for them in the Church today, and to stay with them long after death?

A healing touch … a sculpture facing the main entrance to Milton Keynes University Hospital (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 11 January 2025):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘The Melanesian Brotherhood Centenary’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a Programme Update by Ella Sibley, Regional Manager for Europe and Oceania, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 11 January 2025) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father, we commit the next 100 years of the Melanesian Brotherhood into your hands, praying for continued growth, grace, and impact for your Kingdom.

The Collect:

O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
the bright splendour whom the nations seek:
may we who with the wise men have been drawn by your light
discern the glory of your presence in your Son,
the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Creator of the heavens,
who led the Magi by a star
to worship the Christ-child:
guide and sustain us,
that we may find our journey’s end
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Baptism of Christ:

Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Healing prayers … the window ledge in the chapel Dr Milley’s Hospital on Beacon Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org