34 million blog readers, and how the Mayor of Athens is responding to the arrival of 34 million tourists

A welcome sign at Athens International Airport … 34 million passengers passed through the airport in 2025 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to surprise me. These figures have passed the million mark four times this month, reaching the 34 million mark shortly before mid-day yesterday (29 April 2026), having reached the 33 million mark last Saturday (25 April 2026), 32 million at the beginning of last week (19 April 2026) and 31 million earlier this month (8 April 2026).

This blog had already passed the million figure in readership numbers five times last month, reaching the 30 million mark by 29 March, 29 million four days earlier (25 March), 28 million on 20 March, 27 million on 12 March, and 26 million at the beginning of that month (1 March). The number of hits yesterday was 509,644, the highest figure for one single day, and follows the recrods set on two days last month: 323,156 on 27 March 2026 and 318,307 on 1 March.

I have seen a phenomenal amount of traffic on this blog so far this year, and it continues to reach a volume of readers that I could never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (17 million) have been within little more than seven months, since 30 September 2025. The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), and the figures the following month were close to equalling that, with 4,365,464* hits by the end of April 2026.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 13.6 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), four were last month, three were in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)*
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)

• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 280,802 (26 February 2026)
• 273,022 (27 February 2026)
• 270,983 (25 March 2026)

The number of readers continues to be overpowering and the daily averages have been about 145,000* or more hits a day this month. Ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

‘We cannot become Barcelona’, the Mayor of Athens, Dr Haris Doukas, said last weekend (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put today’s figure of 34 million in context:

Last year alone, 34 million passengers passed through Athens International Airport, an all-time high and a 33% rise compared with the pre-COVID figures. Of that huge traffic, more than 8.7 million direct arrivals by foreign tourists were recorded in Athens.

But these figures mean Athens is facing a crisis in overtourism. With the number of annual visitors pushing out residents, the mayor has been prompted to seek hotel freezes and short-term rental limits. ‘We cannot become Barcelona’, the Mayor of Athens, Dr Haris Doukas, said last weekend. He believes the historic heart of the Greek capital is now at risk of ‘tourism suffocation’.

‘Athens cannot operate as if it were a giant hotel,’ the Mayor of Athens told Helena Smith of The Guardian. ‘Restrictions and rules are needed. Cities must also have a say in the way they develop.’ He warns of the reality on the ground: with 700,000 residents facing nearly 8 million tourists, tourism development becomes unrestrained and simply pushes local residents out of their neighbourhoods.

Haris Doukas is stepping up his campaign and plans to use a bill on tourism-related land use to introduce a sweeping ban on new business activity in the historic centre and to set a cap on hotel beds.

‘We’ll be stopping all tourist investment in Plaka, which I am on a mission to save. There’s no more room. Not for short-term rental, not for serviced apartments, not for hotels, or any other tourism use. The area is oversaturated. We want to say ‘enough is enough’ in a bill that is enshrined in law.’

In neighbourhoods with views of the Acropolis, the number of overnight stays has doubled since 2018 and rental prices have soared for local residents. Even the head of Greece’s hoteliers’ association, Evgenios Vassilikos, has joined calls to impose quotas on building new hotels.

City officials and the tourism sector in Athens are repeating the same mantra: ‘Athens cannot become Barcelona.’ Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympic Games; Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004, and is now watching as Barcelona’s residents struggle with the same problems. Doukas has drawn considerable encouragement from the Mayor of Barcelona Mayor, Jaume Collboni, who recently announced a drastic move of his own: a complete ban on short-term rentals starting in November 2028 and revoking licences for more than 10,000 tourist apartments.

Haris Doukas was a professor of energy and climate policy at the National Technical University of Athens, with an impressive track record of academic publications, before entering politics. He became the Mayor of Athens in 2024 after unexpectedly winning victory with the support of the main opposition Pasok party and the Athens Now party on a pledge ‘to green’ what is widely seen as Europe’s ‘hottest capital’.

His environmental agenda goes beyond restrictions on the holiday rental model. So far, he has planted 3,855 trees in the historic centre and has introduced sweeping measures such as demolishing buildings to create public spaces, parks and playgrounds. At the same time, all of Athens is currently being dug up to upgrades the city’s electricity, water and drainage systems, which are not suited to the large number of visitors.

The mayor’s campaign extends to the bars and restaurants popping up on city rooftops and offering views of the Acropolis, some operating without licenses and creating noise nuisances. At the same time, he wants to block building companies and property developers from building high-rises along the first line facing the Acropolis to protect the city’s historic skyline.

‘Athens is for its people,’ he says. ‘It is not only for those who simply want to exploit it.’

34 million square metres is 34,000 sq km, the approximate land area of Macedonia in Northern Greece, the largest and second most-populous geographic region in Greece, with a population of almost 2. 4 million people. The major urban centres include Thessaloniki, Katerini and Kavala, and Macedonia also includes the autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos, under the shared jurisdiction of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Mozambique has a population of over 34 million, and 34 million people aged 16+ are in employment in the UK.

34 million minutes is about 64 years, 7 months, and 22 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 64½ years, from mid-1962, to reach today’s latest figure of 34 million.

I retired from active parish ministry more than four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my current series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 34 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

The peaks of Mount Athos … Macedonia has a land area of 34,000 sq km or 34 million square metres (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

* These figures were adjusted after midnight on 30 April 2026 to give the full figures for that day and for April 2026

Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 42, Tuesday 31 March 2026, Tuesday of Holy Week

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … a carving of Saint Philip on the pulpit in Saint Philip’s Church, Leicester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Holy Week, the last week in Lent, as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter, and today is the Tuesday of Holy Week (31 March 2026). In addition, Passover begins tomorrow evening (1 April 2026) and continues until Thursday 9 April 2026.

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.

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … Saint Philip (left) in a stained glass window in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 12: 20-36 (NRSVA):

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30 Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35 Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

Inside the Church of Aghios Philippos off Adrianou Street in Athens … for a Jewish family to give their son the Greek name Philip at the time may have been risqué (Photograph: Patrick Comerford) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (John 12: 20-36), it is Palm Sunday and some Greeks are in Jerusalem for the festival of Passover. This year, Passover begins tomorrow evening [1 April 2026], so that Passover this year overlaps with Holy Week and Easter.

These visiting Greeks in Jerusalem are trying to find Jesus. They approach Philip, whose Greek name indicates he probably understands them, and they say to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’

For a Jewish family to call their son Philip in those days might have been risqué – if not scandalous. The Greek name Philip (Φίλιππος) means ‘one who loves horses.’ But it is not as simple as that. The name represents much more.

Philip of Macedon, who died in 336 BCE, was the father of Alexander the Great. A century later, Philip V (Φίλιππος Ε) of Macedon (221-179 BCE) was an attractive and charismatic young man and a dashing and courageous warrior, and the inevitable comparisons with Alexander the Great gave him the nickname ‘beloved of all Greece’ (ἐρώμενος τῶν Ἑλλήνων).

Philip was also a common name in the Seleucid dynasty, which inherited the Eastern portion of Alexander’s Empire. The Seleucid Empire, based in Babylon and then in Antioch, was a major centre of Hellenistic culture that maintained the dominance of Greek culture, customs and politics.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed aggressive Hellenising (or forcible de-Judaising) policies that provoked the Maccabean Revolt in Judea. A century later, two of the last four Seleucid rulers, before their kingdom fell to the Romans, were Philip I and his son Philip II.

So the name Philip would be associated with a family that had been fully Hellenised and that was opposed to the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans.

At the time of Christ, we find the confusing figure of Herod I or Herod Philip I, the husband of Herodias and father of Salome; and Herod the Great’s son, Philip the Tetrarch or Herod Philip II, who married Salome and who gave his name to Caesarea Philippi (Καισαρεία Φιλίππεια), in the Golan Heights.

Philip the Apostle is very much a Hellenised Jew, perhaps from a non-practising Jewish family in Bethsaida, which was part of the territory of the Tetrarch Philip II. He may represent the very antithesis of Nathanael, the guileless Jews waiting for the expected Messiah.

Yet Philip the Greek seeks out Nathanael the Jew (see John 1: 43-46), just as Andrew, with a Greek name, seeks out Simon, his brother with the Hebrew name (see John 1: 40-42). At the very beginning of Christ’s mission, the barriers between Hebrew and Greek, Jew and Gentile, are already broken down. And their calling, Andrew and Simon, Philip and Nathanael, shows how we are called both individually and in community.

Did Philip join Jesus at the wedding in Cana (see John 2: 1-11)? Probably, although we cannot know with certainty.

Philip figures most prominently in Saint John’s Gospel. Christ asks Philip about feeding the 5,000. Later, Philip is a link to Greek speakers when they approach Philip and say: ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip advises Andrew and together these two tell Jesus of this request (see John 12: 21-26), which we read about today. At the Last Supper, Philip’s question (John 14: 8) leads to the great Farwell Discourse (John 14: 9 to John 17: 26).

In the second part of this Gospel story, we are pointed not just to the Cross, but to the resurrection. This is not just a story for Lent, but a story filled with the Easter promise of the Resurrection.

In the long run, the conclusion to this story is found in the experience of Greeks visiting Jerusalem after the Resurrection, just 50 days later, at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is poured out on devout people of every nation, and the disciples find they are heard by each one present in their own language. It becomes a foundational experience for the Church.

Saint Paul finds it so transforming that he reminds his readers that in Christ: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek (οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην), there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 28).

Am I like Philip and Andrew, too comfortable with a Christ who fits my own cultural comforts, my own demands and expectations?

Do I all too easily lock Christ away in my own ‘churchiness,’ to the point that the stone might never have been rolled away from the tomb on Easter morning?

What prejudices from the past do I use to dress up my image of Christ today?

If Saint Paul is right, then Christ reaches out too to those who are marginalised in our society because of their gender, sexuality, marital status, colour, language or religious background.

In Christ there is no Catholic nor Protestant, no male and female, no black and white, no gay and straight, no distinction between those born on these islands and those who arrive here as immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers or refugees.

And every time I reduce Christ to my own comfortable categories I keep him behind that stone rolled across the tomb.

‘Some Greeks came to Philip … and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’ (John 12: 20-21) … the monument of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, looking out towards Mount Olympus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 31 March 2026, Tuesday of Holy Week):

The theme this week (29 March-4 April 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is a ‘Holy Week’ reflection’ (pp 42-43). This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by the Revd Kenson Li, Assistant Curate of Manchester Cathedral and a Trustee of USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 31 March 2026, Tuesday of Holy Week) invites us to pray:

Lord of the Sabbath, help us to trust in you, cast our burdens upon you, and know you sustain us in life’s pilgrimage. When darkness falls or the road is hard, send your Spirit to comfort us and assure us of your presence.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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 Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant,
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation:
give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father.

Additional Collect:

True and humble king,
hailed by the crowd as Messiah:
grant us the faith to know you and love you,
that we may be found beside you
on the way of the cross,
which is the path of glory.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … Saint Philip depicted in a stained-glass window in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (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 2025: 42, Tuesday 15 April 2025, Tuesday of Holy Week

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … a carving of Saint Philip on the pulpit in Saint Philip’s Church, Leicester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Holy Week, the last week in Lent, as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter, and today is the Tuesday of Holy Week (15 April 2025). Passover also continues until next Sunday evening (20 April 2025), which is also Easter Day.

A parish retreat on the theme of ‘I will you rest’ takes place this week in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, with three days of prayer and reflection yesterday, today and tomorrow, including Readings and Morning Prayer at 8:15, Angelus and Mid-Day Prayer at 12, Confessions at 5 pm, Daily Prayers at 6 pm, a talk at 6:30, Stations of the Cross at 7 pm, and Mass at 7:30 pm.

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.

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … Saint Philip (left) in a stained glass window in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 12: 20-36 (NRSVA):

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30 Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35 Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

‘Some Greeks … came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee’ (see John 12: 20-21) … Saint Philip depicted in a stained-glass window in Saint Andrew’s Church, Rugby (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist in the lectionary (John 12: 20-36) and in our Gospel reading this evening (John 12: 20-36), it is Palm Sunday, and some Greeks are in Jerusalem for the festival of Passover. This year, Passover began on Saturday evening [12 April 2025], with the first day of Passover coinciding with Palm Sunday.

These visiting Greeks are trying to find Jesus. They approach Philip, whose Greek name indicates he may understand them, and they say to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’

For a Jewish family to call their son Philip in those days might have been risqué – if not scandalous. The Greek name Philip (Φίλιππος) means ‘one who loves horses.’ But it is not as simple as that. The name represents much more.

Philip of Macedon (d. 336 BCE) was the father of Alexander the Great. A century later, Philip V (Φίλιππος Ε) of Macedon (221 to 179 BCE) was an attractive and charismatic young man and a dashing and courageous warrior, and the inevitable comparisons with Alexander the Great gave him the nickname ‘beloved of all Greece’ (ἐρώμενος τῶν Ἑλλήνων).

Philip was also a common name in the Seleucid dynasty, which inherited the Eastern portion of Alexander’s Empire. The Seleucid Empire, based in Babylon and then in Antioch, was a major centre of Hellenistic culture that maintained the dominance of Greek culture, customs and politics.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed aggressive Hellenising (or forcible de-Judaising) policies that provoked the Maccabean Revolt in Judea. A century later, two of the last four Seleucid rulers, before their kingdom fell to the Romans, were Philip I and his son Philip II.

So the name Philip would be associated with a family that had been fully Hellenised and that was opposed to the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans.

At the time of Christ, we find the confusing figure of Herod I or Herod Philip I, the husband of Herodias and father of Salome; and Herod the Great’s son, Philip the Tetrarch or Herod Philip II, who married Salome and who gave his name to Caesarea Philippi (Καισαρεία Φιλίππεια), in the Golan Heights.

Philip the Apostle is very much a Hellenised Jew, perhaps from a non-practising Jewish family in Bethsaida, which was part of the territory of the Tetrarch Philip II. He may represent the very antithesis of Nathanael, the guileless Jews waiting for the expected Messiah.

Yet Philip the Greek seeks out Nathanael the Jew (see John 1: 43-46), just as Andrew, with a Greek name, seeks out Simon, his brother with the Hebrew name (see John 1: 40-42). At the very beginning of Christ’s mission, the barriers between Hebrew and Greek, Jew and Gentile, are already broken down. And their calling, Andrew and Simon, Philip and Nathanael, shows how we are called both individually and in community.

Did Philip join Jesus at the wedding in Cana (see John 2: 1-11)? Probably, although we cannot know with certainty.

Philip figures most prominently in Saint John’s Gospel. Christ asks Philip about feeding the 5,000. Later, Philip is a link to Greek speakers when they approach Philip and say: ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip advises Andrew and together these two tell Jesus of this request (see John 12: 21-26), which we read about today. At the Last Supper, Philip’s question (John 14: 8) leads to the great Farwell Discourse (John 14: 9 to John 17: 26).

In the second part of this Gospel story, we are pointed not just to the Cross, but to the resurrection. This is not just a story for Lent, but a story filled with the Easter promise of the Resurrection.

In the long run, the conclusion to this story is found in the experience of Greeks visiting Jerusalem after the Resurrection, just 50 days later, at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is poured out on devout people of every nation, and the disciples find they are heard by each one present in their own language. It becomes a foundational experience for the Church.

Saint Paul finds it so transforming that he reminds his readers that in Christ: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek (οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην), there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 28).

Am I like Philip and Andrew, too comfortable with a Christ who fits my own cultural comforts, my own demands and expectations?

Do I all too easily lock Christ away in my own ‘churchiness,’ to the point that the stone might never have been rolled away from the tomb on Easter morning?

What prejudices from the past do I use to dress up my image of Christ today?

If Saint Paul is right, then Christ reaches out too to those who are marginalised in our society because of their gender, sexuality, colour, language or religious background.

In Christ there is no Catholic nor Protestant, no male and female, no black and white, no gay and straight, no distinction between those born on these islands and those who arrive here as immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers or refugees.

And every time I reduce Christ to my own comfortable categories I keep him behind that stone rolled across the tomb.

Inside the Church of Aghios Philippos off Adrianou Street in Athens … for a Jewish family to give their son the Greek name Philip at the time may have been risqué (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 15 April 2025, Tuesday of Holy Week):

A ‘Holy Week Reflection’ provides 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).’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by Bishop David Walker of Manchester, who is the chair of USPG trustees.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 15 April 2025, Tuesday of Holy Week) invites us to pray:

God, we pray for people who are struggling to offer or accept forgiveness. Grant them the strength and courage to heal wounds and embrace reconciliation. Help us all to follow Jesus’ example of mercy and love.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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 Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant,
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation:
give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father.

Additional Collect:

True and humble king,
hailed by the crowd as Messiah:
grant us the faith to know you and love you,
that we may be found beside you
on the way of the cross,
which is the path of glory.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Some Greeks came to Philip … and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’ (John 12: 20-21) … the monument of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, looking out towards Mount Olympus (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

Parthenon Marbles and Star of Vergina express Greek pride in identity

Classical columns and Parthenon reproductions at the Acropolis Bar in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Ask most people about the Book of Revelation, and they will instantly respond with images of the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ and Armageddon. But – and I kid you not – on one recent visit to Athens I heard someone referring to the ‘four horsemen of the Acropolis.’

While I am in Crete this week, enjoying in the Greek Orthodox celebrations of Easter, I have also been putting the final touches to a posting of liturgical and preaching resources for Sunday week [12 May 2019] that also a discussion of the reading that Sunday in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 7: 9-17).

In my posting, I plan to refer also to the previous chapter, where Saint John the Divine has a vision in the cave on the island of Patmos that includes the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’:

● a white horse symbolising conquest (6: 2)
● a red horse representing internecine violence (6: 4)
● a black horse for famine and inflation (6: 6)
● a pale green horse prefiguring fear and death (6: 8)

A reminder of the Parthenon frieze at the Acropolis Bar in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

I may joke about the Four Horseman of the Acropolis, but in this part of Rethymnon, in the eastern suburban village and resort of Plantanias, there is a bar on the way to the beach here that is known as the Acropolis Bar.

Although the temperatures are now in the mid-20s each day, the Acropolis Bar in Platanias has not yet opened for the summer season, like many similar places in Platanias and the neighbouring hillside village of Tsesmes, east of Rethymnon in Crete.

But the decorative features outside the bar include many reproductions of the Parthenon frieze from the Acropolis in Athens, interspersed between classical columns.

Last week [25 April 2019], the Cambridge Union hosted a debate, ‘This House would return looted art back to its country of origin.’ Speaking for the motion were Alice Procter, tour guide and art historian, best known for running the often sold-out Uncomfortable Art Tours, telling the ‘ugly truth’ about the artefacts in Britain’s museums; Dame Janet Suzman, actor and director of both stage and screen and an Academy Award nominee, who currently co-chairs the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles; and the archaeologist Professor Lord Renfrew, a former Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and a former President of the Union.

Speaking against were Dr Tiffany Jenkins, author of Keeping Their Marbles; Dr Kevin Childs, writer and lecturer on art history; and Dr Neil Curtis, Head of Museums and Special Collections at the University of Aberdeen.

The Star of Vergina at the Vergina restaurant in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Of course, there is difference between looted art and legitimately acquired treasures of the past.

But at the same time, the British Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright, was ruling out returning objects held in national museums to their countries of origin. In an interview last week, he told The Times that if you ‘followed the logic of restitution to its logical conclusion,’ there would be no ‘single points where people can see multiple things.’

It is an absurd argument. Basically, it is only English museum visitors who matter – Greeks, and anyone else who comes to Athens to see the Acropolis, do not need to see ‘things’ and do not need a single point where they can see the Parthenon Marbles, in the very place they are supposed to be.

Nor does his argument deal with the way the marbles were barbarously hacked from the Parthenon frieze by Lord Elgin.

A statue of Athena at the Vergina restaurant in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019) (

Greeks take pride in their cultural and classical legacies, but at the same time can wear this pride very lightly.

Two of us have had lunch a few times this past week in Vergina, a restaurant in Platanias whose very name celebrates Alexander the Great and his father Philip II of Macedon.

Around the place are copies of classical statues, reproductions of Minoan images from Knossos, elements of Byzantine brickwork, and countless images of the 16-point Star of Vergina, from which the restaurant takes its name.

The Vergina Sun (Ήλιος της Βεργίνας) or Star of Vergina, a symbol in ancient Greek art in the 6th to 2nd centuries BC, became a popular symbol of Greek identity after archaeological excavations in Vergina in the late 1970s uncovered the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.

It is seen as the historical symbol of ancient Macedonia and became part of the controversy in the 1990s over the name and symbols adopted by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia).

An agreement signed with Greece last year [17 June 2018] includes both sides accepting the name North Macedonia and removing the Star of Vergina from public use in North Macedonia.

Symbols of the past are important for present-day Greek identity. Brexit is not going to put an end to demands for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

Reminders of a Byzantine past at the Vergina restaurant in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)