Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 71, Saturday 19 July 2025

The Prophet Isaiah depicted in the iconostasis in Arkadi Monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Gregory (ca 394), Bishop of Nyssa, and his sister, Saint Macrina (ca 379), Deaconess, Teachers of the Faith.

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, 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.

‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 2-3; see Matthew 12: 19) … reeds at the small lake by the North Beach in Arklow, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 14-21 (NRSVA):

14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16 and he ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smouldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’

The Prophet Isaiah (right) and Saint John the Baptist … a window in Saint John’s Church, Wall, near Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

As we continue our daily readings in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we see how Jesus is becoming a figure of controversy. We saw yesterday how he was accused by Pharisees of condoning the disciples breaking the Sabbath on the part of his disciples (Matthew 12: 1-8). Immediately afterwards he went to a synagogue and, in spite of a challenge about healing on the Sabbath, he went ahead and cured a man with a ‘withered hand’ (Matthew 12: 9-13).

Following this, Matthew tells us that ‘the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him’ (Matthew 12: 14), because his is a severe threat to their authority.

Jesus, aware of this plotting, disappears from sight for a while. He does not go out of his way to confront people or to create trouble for himself and does not deliberately engineer his own suffering and death.

At this point, Saint Matthew compares Jesus’ behaviour with a Biblical and quotes a passage in Isaiah (42: 1-4) to portray Jesus as fulfilling of the Spirit of God campaigning for justice for peoples everywhere.

Second Isaiah, or Isaiah 40-55), often referred to as ‘Deutero-Isaiah’ or the Book of Consolation, was probably written during the Babylonian exile, between 540 and 515 BCE, offering comfort and hope to the exiled people. This section contains beautiful poetic passages, emphasising God’s mercy, faithfulness, and the promise of salvation. It foretells the coming of a ‘Suffering Servant’, the Messiah, who will bring salvation not only to Israel but to all nations.

This is the longest Old Testament citation in this gospel (verses 18-21), although it does not correspond exactly to either the Hebrew or the Septuagint reading of that passage.

Isaiah 42:1-4 describes God’s servant, chosen and empowered by God’s Spirit, who will bring justice to the nations. This servant will be gentle, not resorting to loud public displays, and will not extinguish even the smallest hope. He is going to establish justice on earth and be a light to the nations, guiding those in darkness:

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

For Saint Matthew, Jesus is the servant whom God has chosen, ‘in whom my soul delights’. He is no demagogue and ‘will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street’. Instead, he goes about quietly, tolerant and understanding of the weak, so gentle and kind in his behaviour that ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’

This reading, then, emphasises the meekness of Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, and foretells the extension of his mission to the Gentiles. His message, demanding thought it may be, does not crush people. Justice comes through compassion – like care for the bruised reed – not through the exercise of power and violence.

Christ will always intervene on behalf of the weak, and in a way that is sensitive to them, and that takes the limelight away from himself. His concern for justice will bring hope to all people.

In these days, we are so in need of this assurance that Christ will patiently bring justice to victory.

The Prophet Isaiah (left) and the Prophet Jeremiah (right) in a window in Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 19 July 2025):

The theme this week (13 to 19 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Shaping the Future: Africa Six.’ This theme was introduced last Sunday with a programme update from Fran Mate, Senior Regional Manager: Africa, USPG.

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 19 July 2025) invites us to pray

Lord God, we pray for Bishop Vicentia and Bishop Dalcy within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Thank you for their passionate leadership and trust in you. May many be blessed by their ministry.

The Collect:

Lord of eternity, creator of all things,
in your Son Jesus Christ you open for us the way to resurrection
that we may enjoy your bountiful goodness:
may we who celebrate your servants Gregory and Macrina
press onwards in faith to your boundless love
and ever wonder at the miracle of your presence among us;
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:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory and Macrina to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity V:

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘He will not break a bruised reed’ (Matthew 12: 20), ‘a bruised reed he will not break’ (Isaiah 42: 3) … reeds in the breeze in Killarney, Co Kerry (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

Saint John the Baptist Church in Blisworth and the absentee rector who fled his debtors to Paris

The Church of Saint John the Baptist in Blisworth was built in the late 13th century but dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

During my stroll through the Northamptonshire countryside earlier this week, I visited a number of pretty villages and small towns, including Blisworth, Shutlanger, Stoke Bruerne and Roade.

My journey began by taking the bus from Northampton to Blisworth, a picturesque village on the Grand Union Canal, about half-way between Northampton (8 km, 5 miles) and Stony Stratford (11 km, 7 miles).

Blisworth is known for the Blisworth Tunnel, one of the longest tunnels on the English canal system, for the annual Canal Festival every August, and for the Blisworth Arch, a railway bridge built by Robert Stephenson in 1837-1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway.

Blisworth has many traditional local stone cottages, often thatched and some dating back to the 18th or even the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Blisworth has a population of 1,800 to 2,000 people, with a few small businesses. There are many traditional local stone cottages, often thatched and some dating back to the 18th or even the 17th century.

The Walnut Tree Inn was once the Blisworth Station Hotel. The Royal Oak is the village pub; a second pub, the Sun, Moon and Stars, closed over 50 years ago, and a third pub, the Grafton Arms, is now a private house. The only shop is a small supermarket, post office and newsagent.

Iron ore and limestone were quarried at Blisworth in the 19th and 20th centuries. The iron ore was sent by canal or railway to ironworks in Staffordshire. The limestone quarry near Rectory Farm is now a nature reserve.

Inside the Church of Saint John the Baptist, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The main building of note in Blisworth is, of course, the parish church, the Church of Saint John the Baptist. It was built in the late 13th century but dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries, although there may have been an earlier church on the site.

The 13th century church consisted of the chancel, with the nave extending to only three bays, with both north and south aisles. Between 1320 and 1340, the nave was extended to the present length of 61 ft 6 in. The north aisle was also extended, but the three bays of the south side remained as original.

Both the north and south doorways date from the 13th century with characteristic edge rolls. The tower followed later in the 14th century. The chapel at the east end of the south aisle dates from the 14th century, and now contains the table tomb of Roger Wake and his wife Elisabeth Catesby.

There may have been a mediaeval stone sedilia in the south wall of the chancel, but this has not survived.

The chancel, high altar and east window in the Church of Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The five-light East Window with unusual tracery may have been added in the 14th century when the east and north walls of the chancel were rebuilt or refaced. Three large windows were inserted in the chancel in the 15th century, but two of the small original 13th century windows in the south side were left untouched.

There are two large windows In the north wall of the chancel, one with some panels of mediaeval stained glass that have survived since the Reformation.

The first stained-glass window in the chancel dates from 1872, and is a memorial to the late squire and his wife, George and Mary Stone. The East Window contains a memorial to Revd William Barry and his wife Frances and may date from 1885.

The large window on the south wall is a memorial stained glass in memory of a son of the rector, who died at the age of nine.

The blocked north doorway in the chancel is known as the ‘priest’s doorway’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

A blocked north doorway in the chancel is often referred to as the ‘priest’s doorway.’ It is not known when this was blocked. This door was only used it by the rector and members of his family, who has a private pew in the chancel. The ‘priest’s doorway’ was blocked up when the organ was installed in 1889, and the choir was moved into the chancel.

There are blocked low side windows on both north and south sides of the chancel. These so-called ‘Low Side Windows’ are a common feature of local parish churches but are now mostly blocked up.

A wooden rood screen was built in the 15th century, but all that remains of the rood loft is a rood loft stairway on the north side of the chancel arch.

All that remains of the rood loft is a rood loft stairway on the north side of the chancel arch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The church also has two squints. The north squint was obscured by the 1888 organ until it was moved in the 1970s. A carved wooden architectural boss was found in the 1970s hidden in the south squint when it was opened up. Both squints are angled so that a priest in each side aisle might see all that was happening at the altar.

The tower was added at the end of the 14th century and terminates in a battlemented parapet without pinnacles. The earliest mention of bells is in 1552.

The present porch was built in 1607.

Among the tombs and monuments in the church is the tomb of Margaret Blackey, wife of Lyonel Blackey, sergeant at arms to Elizabeth I and James I. It reads: ‘She lived a maid eighteen yeares, a wife twenty, and widow sixty-one and dyed the 20th January 1683 in the 99th yeare of her age.’

The table tomb of Roger Wake and his wife Elisabeth Catesby at the east end of the south aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Major changes took place in the 19th century, when the church was restored in 1856 by the Northampton architect Edmund Francis Law. He arranged the pews, replaced the roof and covered the floor with encaustic tiles.

The Elmhirst family of Blisworth House gave the carved reredos and the raised oak floor in 1910. The Victorian altar or communion table was then encased within an oak super-structure made to carry new needlework. The 1855 Communion Table was later moved from the case to the south door.

The south aisle was rebuilt in 1926.

The oldest pieces of church plate in Blisworth include a silver Communion Cup made ca 1570, and a paten made about 1636.

Inside the Church of Saint John the Baptist, facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The most notorious and mysterious person associated with the parish is the notorious Revd John Ambrose (1768-1839). He was the Rector of Blisworth for over 40 years from 1797 to 1839, but was often absent during that time. It was said of him that he ‘disgraced a profession which he ought to have adorned, for he was clever and had a remarkably fine delivery … He passed as the natural son of an Irish peer, whose loose morals had descended to him.’

The student records at Oxford say John Ambrose was born in 1768, the son of John Ambrose of London. But later he claimed he was the illegitimate son of an Irish peer, John Blaquiere (1732-1812), 1st Baron de Blaquiere, and the singer and actress Caroline Ambrosse or Ambrose.

Another illegitimate child of John Blaquiere and Caroline Ambrosse was Henrietta Ambrose Whatley (1766-1852), who was born in Killarney, Co Kerry and was the great-grandmother of the composer Gustav Holst. Could John Ambrose have been born in Killarney too two years later?

Blaquiere was a senior diplomat at the British Embassy in Paris when he was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland (1772-1776). He was an MP in the Irish House of Commons for Old Leighlin (1773-1783), Enniskillen (1783), Carlingford (1783-1790), Charleville (1790-1798) and Newtownards (1798-1801). He was made a baronet in 1784, and was given an Irish peerage as Baron de Blaquiere in 1800 for his support for the Act of Union. Later he was MP for Rye (1801-1802) and Downton (1802-1806). He died in Bray, Co Wicklow, in 1812.

Meanwhile, John Ambrose entered University College, Oxford, in 1784, aged 16, and received the degree BA in January 1791 and MA in June 1791, when his name was spelled Ambrosse. In the intervening years, he married Mary Mahon a soprano of Irish parentage, at Saint James’s Church, Piccadilly, on 3 April 1787, and they were the parents of at least five children.

But questions have been asked about why it took Ambrose seven years to complete his first degree, and whether he spent time in revolutionary France during this time.

The stained glass window on the north side of the chancel includes an image of Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

John Ambrose was ordained deacon by the Bishop John Douglas of Salisbury on 25 September 1791 and priest by Bishop Beilby Porteus of London at Saint James’s Chapel Royal on 22 April 1792. He was a curate in Swindon, Wiltshire (1791-1797), until was presented to the Parish of Blisworth on 19 April 1797 by the patron, George Finch Hatton, whose family owned the Hatton Garden Estate in London and held the title of Earl of Winchelsea.

The Irish-born actor and dramatist Charles Macklin (1699-1797) often acted often on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. When he died on 11 July 1797, he left £50 to Ambrose as a former pupil to preach at his funeral.

Ambrose was known for his interests in hunting and boxing. His last signature in the Blisworth parish registers was for a baptism in 1807. Soon after he fled his creditors, and was said to have ‘died abroad in obscurity and want’, perhaps in Paris. In fact, he spent some time in the debtors’ prisons, firstly in Horsham from 1813 and then in the Fleet Prison in London. By 1825, he had fled to Nantes and he was still there in 1833.

Ambrose was 66 when he married again. His second wife was the much younger Juliana Catherine Colyear and they were married in the British Embassy in Paris on 15 July 1834. She was said to be an illegitimate daughter of Thomas Charles Colyear (1772-1835), 4th Earl of Portmore. They were the parents of at least four more children, including two daughters, Emma and Juliana, who were born in France.

However, Ambrose remained Rector of Blisworth throughout all those years and he returned to Blisworth in 1836 two years after his second marriage to baptise his daughters. He remained in the parish until he died at Blisworth Rectory on 6 June 1839, aged 71, and he was buried in the churchyard.

A memorial tablet in Blisworth church recalls Joseph Ambrose Lawson (1806-1864), who was born in Waterford. Why is this tablet in Blisworth church? Could there be a connection with John Ambrose, perhaps through the Irish peer he claimed was his father?

The Revd William Barry built a new rectory west of the church in 1841 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Ambrose was followed in Blisworth by the Revd William Barry. He seems to have been unhappy with the old Rectory and in 1841 he built a new rectory west of the church with stables and a coach house. During Barry’s 45 years as Rector, he oversaw many alterations and made many gifts to the church, including three pieces of plate and silver.

The four steps and socket stone of a churchyard cross are on the north side of the church, by the path leading to the porch.

To the north of the cross, on the other side of the High Street, is the site of the supposed Manor. The farm there was called ‘The Manor’ in the 18th century, but the seat of the Manor, where the Wake family lived, seems to have been the site of Blisworth House, to the south-east of the church.

The five-light East Window has unusual tracery and depicts the Resurrection (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

• Canon Richard Stainer has been the Rector of Blisworth, Alderton, Grafton Regis, Milton Malsor and Stoke Bruerne with Shutlanger (the Grand Union Benefice) in the Diocese of Peterborough since 2019. The Family Eucharist (Common Worship) is celebrated at 11 am on the First, Second and Fourth Sundays.

The Royal Oak is the village pub in Bilsworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 87, Sunday 4 August 2024

‘I am the Bread of Life’ (John 6: 35) … preparing bread for the Sunday Eucharist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today (4 August 2024) is the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity X).

Later this morning, I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘My Father … gives you the true bread from heaven’ (John 6: 32) … a mosaic in Saint Matthew’s Church, Great Peter Street, Westminster (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 6: 24-35 (NRSVA):

24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ 26 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ 28 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ 30 So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ 32 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ 34 They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

35 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

‘Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness’ (John 6: 31) … in the mountain passes above Preveli on the south coast of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This morning’s reflection:

Some years ago, I took part in the popular television series, Who Do You Think You Are?

I did some of the research on Dervla Kirwan, famous for her roles from Ballykissangel to Smother. The show is still popular many years later, and occasionally I still get messages from America and England from friends and family who have just seen repeats.

But that question, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, goes much deeper than the details that programme unearths about Victorian great-grandparents.

‘Who are you?’

When most of us are asked this question in normal chit-chat, we probably first answer by our name, the name we like to be known by.

Given a second chance, even when we ask ourselves that question, we usually reply in ways that show our most important, our deepest, relationships: Mother/Daughter, Father/Son, Wife/Husband, Sister/Brother, Uncle/Aunt, Niece/Nephew, Grandparent/Grandchild …

Relationships define us, relationships shape us, relationships place us in family, in society and in place … and relationships can sometimes even destroy us, yet they still continue to define us.

But that is how we see ourselves, usually, when we are asked casually, ‘Who are you?’

But there is also a third way of asking and answering that question.

In my previous roles, in media and academic life, I noticed quite often when people asked one another these questions, and exchanged cards, they spent little time looking at each other’s names on the cards, and more time figuring out their roles.

The questions that are being really asked at these receptions and conferences are not ‘Are you Patrick?’ or ‘Are you a parent/partner?’

The questions being asked, deep down, are ‘What do you do?’ and ‘Are you useful in my network?’

Can you get me more business, more sales, more votes, more media attention?

And then, there is another, perhaps fourth question, when it comes to identity: ‘Where are you from?’

I was asking that question in my reflections on Friday morning.

Where am I from?

The answer connects me with so many shared connections, friends, family members, schoolfriends, memories … why, we might even find we are related!

These are the sort of questions the crowd are asking Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning:

Where are you from? (verse 24)

When did you come here? (verse 25)

What do you work at? (verse 30)

What can you do for me? (verse 30)

Why, like scriptwriters for that television series, they even recall their ancestors and what they did in the past (verse 31).

But, like those people exchanging business cards at a reception, there are few questions about relationship or relationships. They try to define him (‘rabbi’, verse 25), so they can box him in.

Instead, Jesus tries to answer them in term of relationships.

Set aside all those wonders and miracles, he tells them (verse 26). Stop playing the status-seeking game (verse 29).

What is more important than all these is what is in your heart (verse 29).

And did you notice how he insists on speaking of himself in relationship to God the Father, who has sent him?

And then Jesus uses the first of his seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel, ‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6: 35).

These seven ‘I AM’ sayings are traditionally listed as:

1, I am the Bread of Life (John 6: 35, 48)
2, I am the Light of the World (John 8: 12)
3, I am the gate (or the door) (John 10: 7)
4, I am the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11 and 14)
5, I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11: 25)
6, I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14: 6)
7, I am the true vine (John 15: 1, 5)

These ‘I AM’ sayings echo the divine name revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, ‘I AM’ (Exodus 3: 14).

If I am made in the image and likeness of God, how could I possibly say who I am in the ways Jesus says who he is?

Bread: when did I last help to feed the hungry … those who are physically and spiritually hungry?

The Light of the World … when did I last speak out against prejudice, bigotry, hatred and scaremongering, and shine a light into these dark shadows of the world?

The gate or the door … am I welcoming, hospitable, open, an advocate of pluralism, diversity and tolerance in our society?

The Good Shepherd … do I look after people, care for them, especially those people no-one else seems to think is worth bothering about?

I could go down through all seven ‘I AM’ sayings and find they are a very good checklist not just for me as a priest but for any Christian, indeed for any person.

Christ is the bread of life and the light of the world. We must also offer that light and life that Christ offers us to the world.

Would it make any difference if the Church not only preached what it believes, but worked actively to see these beliefs put into practice?

Our response to the love we receive from God – a risky outpouring that is beyond all human understanding of generosity – can only be to love. In the Epistle reading provided for today (Ephesians 4: 1-16), the Apostle Paul begs us to lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, bearing with one another in love (verse 2).

That call to love is not just to love those who are easy to love. It is a call to love those who are difficult to love too, to love all in the world … and to love beyond words. And that should be a good enough definition of who I am.

‘I am the Bread of Life’ (John 6: 35) … an image from Saint Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral, Orlando (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 4 August 2024, Trinity X):

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), is ‘Understanding each other by walking together’. This theme is introduced today with a programme update from the Right Revd Eduardo Coelho Grillo, Anglican Bishop of Rio de Janeiro:

A strong and brave inter-religious movement has been taking place in Rio de Janeiro now for more than 10 years. Under the motto ‘we understand each other as we walk together’, different religious groups have been walking together through some of the most important streets of the city in an atmosphere of trust and respect.

That is a symbolic act of communion in a country historically stained by the enslavement of Indigenous and African peoples. Over 300 years, so-called western Christian society has ‘demonised’ Indigenous peoples and African religious experiences, generating prejudice, scorn and violence. In many places in Brazil, Umbanda and Candomblé religious places of worship have been targets of violence and destruction.

And yet every September, we see this march through Rio de Janeiro as the fruit of greater tolerance, respect and acceptance, as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, spiritualists, and members of the Baha’i, Wicca, Umbanda, Candomblé and other faiths walk together.

There is an increasing wave of intolerance, fundamentalism and religious violence these days in Brazil that has led to disturbing acts of both emotional and physical violence. But we still believe that love overcomes hatred as we have been making clear at public events of ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. We are firmly grounded in the words of Galatians 3: 28.

This reflection is taken from USPG’s Bible study – For such a time as this which can be found at uspg.org.uk/resources/study-courses

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 4 August 2024, Trinity X) invites us to pray with this prayer from the Anglican Church of Canada:

God the Creator, the strength of the people,
we honour you.
Listen to the thoughts of your people.
We respect the truth of your spirit world and care
for your creations to the east, to the south, to the west and to the north.
We honour you by deeds and not words.
We live by the ways you have entrusted to us within the circle of life.

The Collect:

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions
make them to ask such things as shall please you;
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:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have willed that the gate of mercy
should stand open for those who trust in you:
look upon us with your favour
that we who follow the path of your will
may never wander from the way of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord of heaven and earth,
as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
but always to bring our prayers before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘They found him on the other side of the lake’ (John 6: 25) … a summer scene on the Lakes of Killarney, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

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

Saving one Ukrainian monk and bishop brings Orthodox honours to Rector of Killarney

Archdeacon Simon Lumby (left) of Killarney at special celebrations in Ukraine earlier this year

Patrick Comerford

For many years, while I was a priest in he Rathkeale Group of Parishes in West Limerick and North Kerry, the Ven Simon Lumby was my archdeacon. He was also a good neighbour, friend and colleague, and we went on a number of retreats together, including one to Glenstal Abbe.

Simon is the Rector of Killarney, Co Kerry, and when he recently rescued Father Benjamin Voloshchuk, a refugee Orthodox monk-priest from Ukraine who had ended up in Killarney, little did he realise what was going to unfold as a consequence.

Archimandrite Benjamin was then a priest of the Chernivtsi and Bukovyna Diocese in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The monk was about to be ‘transported’ or moved without choice to Westport, Co Mayo, along with the other Ukrainian refugees in their hotel in Killarney back in October 2022. In all, 135 Ukrainian refugees were housed in Hotel Killarney and they were given just two days’ notice that they would be relocated to Westport.

Archdeacon Simon was quick to respond, and moved the refugee monk into his Rectory in December. Then, to his surprise, shortly after moving in, Father Benjamin was called back to Ukraine in early January and was told he had been chosen to become the bishop to the Ukrainian refugees and diaspora in Europe.

There are 32 communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 11 countries in Western Europe today, with a large number of priests from the church meeting their spiritual and pastoral needs.

Because the war in Ukraine means the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has an increased presence across Europe, the Holy Synod of the church decision to elect a bishop to look after Ukrainian parishes abroad and supporting people who have found themselves outside Ukraine forcibly as a consequence of the war.

The decision to elect a new bishop was taken on 20 December last, and Archimandrite Benjamin was nominated as the Bishop of Boyarsky, Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, and administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishes abroad.

The jewelled pectoral cross presented to Archdeacon Simon Lumby in Ukraine in recognition of his work with the Ukrainian community in Killarney

The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovsky), Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, consecrated the new bishop in the Pochaiv Lavra or Monastery. The church itself is formally known as the Church of Venerable Agapitos of the Kyiv Caves in the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The lavra or monastery belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but for centuries it has been the most spiritual centre in western Ukraine for all the different Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches in Western Ukraine, despite their differences and divisions and recent controversies.

Before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy and the consecration of the new bishop, a special rite took place when the bishop-elect proclaimed his faith and made vows to keep the tradition of the Church. A deacon then offered wishes for long life to the primate, priests, the Church, the people, and the prospective new bishop.

During the Liturgy, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine, for the government, for prisoners of war, and for God’s mercy on the people, especially refugees. Afterwards, Bishop Benjamin was handed a hierarchal crozier, and then as bishop he blessed the people for the first time.

In recognition of his instrumental role in pioneering the spiritual support of Ukrainian Orthodox refugees in Ireland, Archdeacon Lumby was invited to attend the consecration in the lavra as a guest of honour of the new bishop. Later, he was invited by Archbishop Onuphryi to the celebratory meal at his residence. There, the Rector of Killarney was given a unique award when he was presented with a jewelled pectoral cross in honour of his work and for giving Bishop Benjamin a welcome in his home.

Last Saturday morning (25 November), the archdeacon was a guest at the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy in Saint Mary’s Church, Killarney, wearing his cassock and the cross he had been decorated with. In yet another honour, he was presented with an icon of the Mother of God. This icon is a copy of one in a monastery on Mount Athos and is known for the healing a blind monk received when he prayed kneeling in front of the icon.

Bishop Benjamin has named his congregation in Killarney after this icon, ‘so this is a signal honour,’ Simon tells me. ‘It turns out my cross is the one worn at Mother of God Liturgies.’

The archdeacon’s connections with Orthodoxy have continued to blossom, and he says ‘it’s a delight to sit and watch’ the Orthodox Ukrainian at their Divine Liturgy. He recently spent a few days at the Orthodox Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, where I have often been a guest. Now, he is planning a retreat and pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos early next year.

Meanwhile, on Day 7 of his tour of the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe, Bishop Michael Burrows visited Killarney ten days ago (18 November). There he was joined by members of the Orthodox Community from Ukraine who worship in Saint Mary’s Church, before he then set off to visit the churches and parishes along the Ring of Kerry.

Bishop Michael Burrows with members of the Orthodox Community from Ukraine in Saint Mary’s Church, Killarney

Praying with the Psalms in Lent: 22 March 2022 (Psalms 42)

‘As the deer pants for the water’ (Psalm 42: 1) … at the edges of Muckross Lake in Killarney, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I spent another night in Milton Keynes Hospital last night following my minor stroke on Friday night. I am waiting results this morning of a CT scan yesterday and an MRI scan the day before, and have also seen pharmacists, doctors, nurses and radiographers in the last day or so. But, before this day begins, I am taking some time early this morning (22 March 2022) for prayer, reflection and reading.

During Lent this year, in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 42:

Psalm 42 is the first psalm in Book II in the Psalms, from Psalm 42 to 72. This second book of Psalms is also known as the ‘Elohistic Psalter’ because the word YHWH is rarely used and God is generally referred to as Elohim.’

In English translations, this psalm is often known by its opening words, ‘As a deer (or hart) longs for flowing streams (brooks), so my soul longs for you, O God ’ (verse 1). In Latin, its incipit in the Psalterium Gallicanum is Quemadmodum desiderat cervus, but in the Psalterium Romanum this is Sicut cervus.

The psalm has been set to music in Palestrina’s Sicut cervus, Handel’s As pants the hart and Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42.

In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and most Latin translations, this psalm is numbered as Psalm 41.

The psalm is a hymn psalm. It is one of 12 psalms attributed to the sons of Korah. But, despite this attribution, the text is written in the first person singular. We know the writer lives in the northern kingdom, for he refers to Mount Sinai as Mount Horeb (see 42: 5). He has a deep desire to visit God him in the Temple, but is ill or wounded, and unable to make a pilgrimage from the north to Jerusalem.

He has fond memories of past pilgrimages (42: 4), but he wonders whether his inability to visit God in the Temple means God has forgotten him (42: 9), and ungodly people say he is ill because he is wicked (43: 1).

He now prays that God may come to his rescue, so that he may be able to make the pilgrimage once again.

Some commentatoprs suggest that King David composed this psalm when he was prevented from returning to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, either due to persecution by Saul or because of Absalom’s revolt.

The psalm can be divided into two parts, each ending with the same line – verses 6 and 12 in the Hebrew text.

The psalmist bemoans all the troubles he has endured in his exile and prays for salvation. He laments his remoteness from the Temple of God, and he expresses his desire for the renewal of God’s presence.

Some ancient Hebrew manuscripts have this Psalm combined with Psalm 43, and some commentators suggest that on account of similarities of thought and language in Psalm 42 and 43, these two psalms were originally one. They form one single poem or song consisting of three stanzas, each with the same refrain (42: 5, 42: 11; 43: 5).

Among Jews today, this psalm is traditionally recited as a prayer for the end of the exile, and to find favour in the eyes of others.

Sephardi Jews recite Psalm 42 on the first and second nights of Sukkot prior to the evening prayer. Those who follow the custom of the Gra say Psalm 42 as the Song of the Day on the second day of Sukkot.

Psalm 42 is one of the ten Psalms of the Tikkun HaKlali of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.

Many verses in this Psalm are echoed by Christ during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (see Matthew 26: 38; Mark 14: 34; John 12: 27).

‘As a deer longs for flowing streams’ (Psalm 42: 1) … mosaics in the sanctuary in Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 42 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.

1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
‘Where is your God?’

4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God, my rock,
‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?’
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
‘Where is your God?’

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.

Today’s Prayer:

The USPG Prayer Diary this week has a particular focus on ‘Lingering Legacies’ and remembering the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary this morning (22 March 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray with Keila Comrie, an 8-year-old from Jamaica, as she celebrates the ending of slavery and prays that we may never allow ourselves to become slaves of impersonal things.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘As the deer pants for the water’ (Psalm 42: 1) … the base of the ‘Market Cross’ in Kells, Co Meath (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

Praying in Ordinary Time 2021: 43, Aghadoe Cathedral, Co Kerry

The ruins of Aghadoe Cathedral, Co Kerry, above the Lakes of Killarney (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this time in the Church Calendar known as Ordinary Time, I am taking some time each morning to reflect in these ways:

1, photographs of a church or place of worship;

2, the day’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

Today is the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI). Later this morning I am hoping to preside at the Parish Eucharist in Castletown Church, Kilcornan, Co Limerick, and to preach at Morning Prayer in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick.

Last week my photographs were of seven churches in Rome. This week, my photographs are from seven cathedrals or former cathedrals in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe.

Earlier in this series, I have looked at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe, and Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert. My photographs this week are from Aghadoe, Ardfert, Emly, Gort, Kilfenora, Kilmacduagh and Roscrea.

Amhlaoibh Mór Ó Donoghue tried forcibly to move the see from Ardfert to Aghadoe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Since my appointment as Precentor of Limerick, Killaloe and Clonfert in 2017, I have tried to visit all the cathedrals and former cathedrals in the diocese. The ruins of Aghadoe Cathedral are about 5 km outside Killarney, below the Aghadoe Heights Hotel, on a hilltop overlooking Lough Leane and the town and the Lakes of Killarney.

Aghadoe may have been the site of a church as early as the seventh century, but the present remains date from a church built in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The name Aghadoe (Achadh Deo) means the ‘field of two yews.’ Although the Church of Ireland diocese in Co Kerry is called the Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, historians continue to debate whether Aghadoe was ever the seat of a bishop or a cathedral, or whether there ever was a separate Diocese of Aghadoe.

The church site at Aghadoe has been associated with the fifth century missionary, Saint Abban, and legend says that Aghadoe was linked to Innisfallen and its island monastery by a causeway across Lough Leane, the largest of the Lakes of Killarney.

Two ogham stones found at Aghadoe suggest that this was an important church site from the mid-seventh century. One stone is now cemented in the south wall of the chancel and bears an inscription transcribed as ‘Brruanann.’ The inscription may have been intended as ‘Brreanann,’ a possible reference to Saint Brendan.

A second ogham stone is now missing, but its inscription was transcribed as ‘Ggvvss Mn.’

The Annals of Innisfallen say Saint Finian the Leper, a disciple of Saint Columba, founded a monastery at Aghadoe in the seventh century. Saint Finian was part of the traditionalist party in the debate about the date of Easter. He died ca 635, and his feast-day is on 21 October.

The monastery at Aghadoe had close links with the neighbouring monastery on Innisfallen Island, and the first written record of a monastery at Aghadoe dates is in the Annals of Innisfallen in 939, when Aghadoe monastery is referred to as the ‘Old Abbey.’

Maelsuthain O Carroll, one of the finest scholars at Innisfallen, died in 1010 and was buried at Aghadoe.

The Annals of Innisfallen refer to the first stone building on the site in 1027, with the building of Damh Liag Maenig, Maenach’s house of stone. Building the round tower began that year too. O Cathail, the heir to the local dynasty of Eóganacht Locha Léin, was captured in the church in 1061, taken away and murdered.

When the Synod of Ráith Breasail delineated territorial diocese in 1111, the Diocese of Ardfert became the diocese for the Kingdom of Ciarraige (Kerry), but also included the territory of the Eóganacht Locha Léin, the dynastic rulers in the Killarney and south Kerry area.

In the mid-12th century, Amhlaoibh Mór Ó Donoghue, the leader of the Ó Donoghues – the new rulers of Eóganacht Locha Léin – began building a new stone church, later called the ‘Great Church,’ in the Romanesque style and dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The new church was completed in 1158, and Amhlaoibh Mór Ó Donoghue tried forcibly to move the see from Ardfert to Aghadoe.

The new church incorporated part of the old stone building in its north-west section and it forms the western section of the church that remains standing today. The western doorway is in the Romanesque style, with a three-order arch decorated with geometric patterns on the second and third order while the first is plain.

When Amhlaoibh Mór Ó Donoghue was defeated and killed by the O’Briens of Thomond, his body was carried to Aghadoe and buried in the church in 1166.

The final addition to the church in the 12th century This addition served as a chancel or choir, and was later separated from the rest of the church by a wall.

The so-called nave is 11 metres long and 7 metres wide, and is entered through a fine, sandstone, Romanesque west doorway of three orders and with the remains of a fourth. It shows signs of rebuilding, and some of the stones have been reset incorrectly.

The arches show geometric patterns, and the shaft of the second order has interesting cut-away designs, while its arch has dog-tooth carving.

The south wall of the nave has been partly demolished, although one window survives, and there is a matching but smaller window in the north wall.

The Gothic chancel or choir is 13.6 metres long and 7 metres wide. The east wall has two 13th century round-headed recessed lancet windows with carved head and flower stones at the interior intersection. The north wall is at full height but the south wall is only about chest high and survives in two sections. On one section rests the surviving ogham stone, on the other portion of a weathered red sandstone carving.

References in Papal letters in the 13th century support the notion that there was once a Diocese of Aghadoe. Dionysus, Archdeacon of Aghadoe, is said to have been made Bishop of Aghadoe in 1266. But after that, the clergy associated with Aghadoe are described as archdeacons.

According to the Annals of Innisfallen, Aghadoe Cathedral’s high cross fell in a strong wind in 1282.

Dermit Y’Sylleevayn or O’Sullivan, Archdeacon of Aghadoe and Vicar of Kilcrohane (Sneem) in the late 15th century, was accused of simony in in 1455, but managed to be reappointed to his positions.

From the 16th century, the Church of Ireland referred to the Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, although Aghadoe was only a deanery within the Diocese of Ardfert. The church is mentioned in a 1615 report, but it is excluded from a list of abbeys in the report suggesting it had become only an archdeaconry.

When Richard O’Connell, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe, died ca 1650, he was buried in Aghadoe.

The town that survived at Aghadoe was sacked by Cromwellian forces in the 1650s. After the Caroline restoration, the Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe was united with the Diocese of Limerick, with Edward Synge as Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe.

John Smith was Archdeacon of Aghadoe (1664-1680) and Dean of Limerick (1666-1680) until he became Bishop of Killala. His successors, Thomas Hynde or Hinde and Ezekiel Weebe were also Archdeacons of Aghadoe and Deans of Limerick.

The church at Aghadoe may have fallen into ruin in the later 17th century. Mortared onto the top of a portion of the south wall, close to the ogham stone, is a surviving fragment of red sandstone block with a 17th or 18th century carving, depicting the crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary passing a chalice to Christ on the cross and an angel. The survival of this stone suggests Aghadoe was still used as a church site in the 17th century.

Aghadoe is no longer listed as an active parish by 1740, and seems to have ceased functioning. Charles Smith, in The antient and present state of the county of Kerry, says in 1756, ‘The cathedral church of Aghadoe has been in ruins time out of mind.’

The Romanesque doorway was crudely rebuilt in the 18th or 19th century.

Many of the later Archdeacons of Aghadoe were non-resident pluralists, and in 1788 Archdeacon Richard Leslie was deprived for non-residence and jailed for debt. He later became Archdeacon of Madras and died in Fort St George, Madras, in 1818.

Sir George Bishopp was Archdeacon of Aghadoe (1816-1834) at the same time as he was Dean of Lismore (1831-1834) and Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal (1822-1831).

Samuel Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary in 1837, mentions that another church was being ‘contemplated’ to stand beside the old cathedral ruins. A new parish church for Aghadoe was consecrated on 18 May 1842.

One of the finest artefacts related to Aghadoe is a 12th century crosier found in 1848, now at the National Museum in Dublin. Another crosier, possibly associated with Aghadoe, was found in the Lakes of Killarney in 1867 by a fisherman, who thought it was a salmon.

Today, Aghadoe Cathedral is a small, roofless, two-chamber building. Tradition says the nave was dedicated to Saint Finian and the chancel to the Holy Trinity. But, despite these traditions and names, it is questionable whether they ever served as a nave and a chancel of a cathedral. The dividing wall shows no traces of a chancel arch, and only a small, blocked connecting doorway on its north side.

The position of Archdeacon of Aghadoe survived in the Church of Ireland until 1922, when it was amalgamated with that of Archdeacon of Ardfert, and the parish of Aghadoe was united with Killarney and Muckross.

The name of the Roman Catholic diocese was changed from Ardfert and Aghadoe to Kerry in 1952.

In the Church of Ireland, since 1972, Ardfert and Aghadoe has been part of the United Dioceses of Limerick, Ardfert, Aghadoe, Killaloe, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh and Emly. The Victorian church in Aghadoe, which was never called a cathedral, was deconsecrated on 27 February 1992. The priest-in-charge of Killarney, the Ven Simon Lumby, has been Archdeacon of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe since 2016.

The Romanesque doorway at the west end of Aghadoe Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 6: 14-29 (NRSVA):

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ 15 But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’

17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ 23 And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ 24 She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Inside the so-called nave of Aghadoe Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary:

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (11 July 2021, Trinity VI) invites us to pray:

‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.’
O God, We have profoundly damaged Creation.
Give us the strength to recover what we have tainted,
Amplify the voices calling for renewal.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Inside the so-called chancel of Aghadoe Cathedral (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

The cathedral at Aghadoe was in ruins by the mid-18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Praying in Lent and Easter 2021: 36, Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney

Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, was designed by Pugin as a three-quarter size scale model of Salisbury Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During Lent and Easter this year, I am taking some time each morning to reflect in these ways:

1, a photograph of a church or place of worship that has been significant in my spiritual life;

2, the day’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

This week I am offering photographs from seven churches that were designed by Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852), the architect singularly responsible for shaping and influencing the Gothic revival in church architecture on these islands.

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Annunciation, and my photographs this morning (24 March 2021) are from the Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, Co Kerry.

Saint Mary’s Cathedral, built between 1842 and 1855, is one of the most beautiful Gothic revival cathedrals in Europe. Just as Saint Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy, is a three-quarter size replica of Tintern, so Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, is a three-quarter size scale model of Salisbury Cathedral.

This was said to be Pugin’s favourite Irish church, and is one of his finest buildings in Ireland, despite recent alterations that have stirred controversy among architectural and church historians.

Inside Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 8: 31-42 (NRSVA):

31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ 33 They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’

34 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’

39 They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, 40 but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are indeed doing what your father does.’ They said to him, ‘We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.’ 42 Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.’

Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary:

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (24 March 2021), prays:

Let us give thanks for all who stand in solidarity with those who are on the margins of society.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, was built in 1842-1855 (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

Two portraits and questions about a Comerford family link with a king’s mistress

A Comerford family wedding in Ashdale Park, Terenure, in 1939 … why are portraits of ‘Mrs Fitzherbert’ and ‘Mrs Jordan on the wall? (Photograph: Comerford family collection)

Patrick Comerford

I have an old family photograph album that was once in my grandmother’s home at Ashdale Park, Terenure. It is an interesting and intriguing collection of photographs that appear to be mainly from the 1940s and 1950s.

There are photographs of small children, visiting cousins, graduations, family holidays in France and Italy, weddings, and an array of events one might expect in the any middle class family in south Dublin in the mid-20th century.

But the intrigue created by this album is that so few of the photographs have names, locations and captions. With a little research, it is possible to identify the events that have been photographed. It is much more difficult to identify the names of people in the photographs.

Additional interest is created by the framed images people had on the walls in their homes at this time. I understand that at one time there may have been a number of family portraits by the miniaturist John Comerford (1770-1832) in the house, but the one image that keeps turning up in these photographs is one I used to think was of ‘Mrs Fitzherbert’ – the secret wife of King George IV.

I thought little of the image, apart from the amusing – but very distant – link between Maria Fitzherbert and the Comberford family. But then, last year, a miniature portrait of Mrs Fitzherbert was among the 1,100 lots for auction at Matthews Auction Rooms in Kells, Co Meath, on the weekend of 21 and 22 March 2020.

That miniature portrait and the larger image in my grandmother’s house did not compare, and, apart from a blog posting, I thought little of it afterwards.

A miniature portrait of Maria Fitzherbert … sold at auction at Matthews Auction Rooms in Kells last year

However, a comment a few days ago on another blog posting has left me asking this week: why would my grandmother have a framed print of a portrait of another royal mistress or courtesan in her house.

Portraits of ‘Mrs Fitzherbert’ and ‘Mrs Jordan’ seem to have been popular decorative items in many family homes. It is interesting how they show up, albeit dimly, in photographs taken in the house in Ashdale Park of my uncle Robert Comerford and of the wedding of my aunt Mary (May) Josephine Comerford (1902-1973) and John Leonard (Seán Ó Lionnáin) (1876-1959) of Orwell Road, Rathgar, on 11 October 1939.

My grandmother, Bridget (Lynders) Comerford (1875-1948) lived in the house in Terenure until she died in 1948. After Aunt May was widowed in 1959, she returned from Co Cork to live in that house until she died in 1973. As children, we regularly visited the house, but now I am wondering how my grandmother ever came to display portraits of both Mrs Fitzherbert and ‘Mrs Jordan.’ Were they merely fashionable decorations at the time? Or was there a family reason?

There is another branch of the Comerford family in England that once believed that one of their ancestors, Anne (or Sarah) Suffolk, who married James Comerford (1787-1833) of Holborn in 1805 and died in 1812, was the daughter of an illegitimate child of George III –George III had no illegitimate children, although his sons, including George IV and William IV, provided him with at least 56 illegitimate grandchildren.

My contact in Australia earlier this week drew my attention to one tenuous but entertaining link between ‘Mrs Jordan’ and another branch of the Comerford family.

The actress Dorothea Jordan (1761-1816) was one of nine children of Francis Bland (1736-1778) and his mistress Grace Philips (1740-1789). She was born near Waterford on 22 November 1761, and she was baptised in Saint Martin in the Fields in London on 5 December 1761.

Her father, Francis Bland (1736-1778), a stagehand and actor, was a member of a well-known clerical family in the Diocese of Limerick and Ardfert and Aghadoe: his father, Nicholas Bland (1695-1760), was a judge and Vicar-General of the Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe; his grandfather, James Bland, was Archdeacon of Limerick (1693-1705), Archdeacon of Aghadoe (1705-1728), Dean of Ardfert (1727-1728), Vicar of Killarney (1693-1728) and Vicar of Drishane, or Millstreet, Co Cork (1705-1728).

Francis Bland’s uncle, the Revd Francis Bland, and his first cousin, the Revd James Bland, were successive Vicars of Killarney in 1728-1752 and 1752-1785, so that for almost a century, from 1693 to 1785, the three successive Vicars of Killarney were members of this one family.

Saint Botolph’s without Aldgate … Francis Bland and Catherine Mahony were married in 1774 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Although Francis Bland never married Grace Phillips, but they were the parents of six children, born between 1758 and 1767, and Dorothea was the third of these children. When Dorothea was 13, her father Francis abandoned this family and married Catherine Mahony (1755-1822), a 19-year-old Irish actress, at Saint Botolph’s without Aldgate, London, on 17 May 1774. Francis continued to support the family he had with Grace, sending meagre sums of money, but insisting his children would not use the Bland family name.

Dorothea then adopted her mother’s family name, Phillips, and first went on stage in Dublin in 1777 as Phoebe in As You Like It, probably with the Smock Alley Theatre. She fled to England in 1782, and started to call herself ‘Mrs Jordan’ – a reference to her escape across the Irish Sea, likened to the River Jordan.

Her reputation as one of the great actresses of her day came with Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s company at Drury Lane in 1785, and she was known for roles such as Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night.

Her life off-stage was even more colourful. After a number of unhappy affairs in England, she then had an affair with William, Duke of Clarence, later King William IV. That affair lasted more than 20 years, from 1790 until 1811, and they were the parents of 10 children. When the affair ended, she moved to France, and she died alone and in poverty at Saint-Cloud, near Paris, on 5 July 1816.

Dorothea’s children with William IV took the family name of FitzClarence, and their descendants held the title of Earl of Munster until the seventh earl, Anthony FitzClarence, a former journalist with the Daily Mirror and the Sun, died in 2000.

A portrait of ‘Mrs Jordan’ … George and James Comerford were first cousins of her half-brother and half-sister, James and Frances Bland

As for Dorothea’s first lover, Francis Bland, and his wife Catherine O’Mahony, the actress from Killarney, they were the parents of two children, a son, Colonel James Francis Bland and a daughter Frances Jane. When Francis Bland died at Dover in 1778, his family in Co Kerry made guardianship arrangements for his children; Catherine later returned to Ireland, and she died in Killarney in 1822.

When Colonel James Bland died in Killarney in 1831, he left his estate to his sister, Frances, wife of the Revd Robert Hewson (1780-1840), and their four children. The Revd Robert Hewson was Vicar of Kilcolman and Kildrum, and curate of Killarney; his father, the Revd Francis Hewson, was the Rector of Kilgobbin and had once been the Sovereign or mayor of Dingle. Robert Hewson died in 1840, and his widow Frances (née Bland) died in Ennismore House in January 1854.

The Mahonys of Dunloe Castle, near Killarney, were a well-known landed family in Co Kerry, and were related to the Comerford family too. Daniel Mahony of Dunloe Castle was a widower when he married his second wife, Maria MacCarthy of Springhouse, Co Tipperary, ca 1714 and they were the parents of four children, including John Mahony (ca 1715-1780), who succeeded to Dunloe Castle, and James Mahony (ca 1716-1794) of The Point, Killarney.

James Mahony married Jane Hennessy of Ballymacmoy, Co Cork. The Hennessy family was famous for giving its name to a celebrated Cognac, and was intermarried with the Cork branch of the Comerford family that had originally come from Co Wexford. James and Jane Mahony were the parents of six children, including two daughters, Catherine (1755-1822), who married Francis Bland, and Anna (born ca 1758), who married Lieutenant John Comerford.

John and Anna Comerford were the parents of two sons, George Comerford of the Kerry Militia and later the 57th Regiment, who died unmarried, and Lieutenant James Comerford.

John Mahony, the ancestor of my correspondent in Australia, and his younger brother Lieutenant James Mahony were both in the Kerry Militia with their brother-in-law John Comerford. All three are said to have fought in the British army during the 1798 Rising, and James Mahony was captured by General Humbert’s forces in Co Mayo. Later, John Comerford fought in the British army during the American War of 1812, as did his brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Mahony of the 77th Regiment.

James Mahony leased ‘The Point’ in Lackabane from the Browne family, Earls of Kenmare, he acquired further leases in the area, and bought out the tenants. The Point and other properties were sold on to the Revd James Bland in 1784 to provide for the children of James Mahony’s daughter, Catherine Bland, James and Frances Bland. James Mahony died in 1794.

The Point in Lackabane is now part of Killarney Golf Course, while Dunloe Castle is part of a well-known hotel.

So, James and Frances Bland, who grew up in Killarney, were first cousins of George and James Comerford. I wonder whether George and James Comerford were aware at the time that their first cousins in Killarney were a half-brother and a half-sister of the king’s mistress, Dorothea Jordan.

Whether they did or not, it hardly explains why portraits of Mrs Jordan and Mrs Fitzherbert were hanging in a Comerford family home in Dublin in the 1930s or 1940s, over a century after they died in 1816 and 1837.

Robert Anthony (‘Bob’) Comerford (1909-1953) … with a portrait of ‘Mrs Jordan’ on the wall in Ashdale Park (Photograph: Comerford family collection)