A new guide to my visits to churches in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire

The Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Since moving to Stony Stratford in Milton Keynes on my retirement at the end of March 2022, I have enjoyed visiting many churches, church buildings, and religious centres in Stony Stratford and the Milton Keynes area, and I have been writing about them and photographing them.

As the weeks turned to months and the months became years, the number of churches and religious centres I have visited in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, and further afield in the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, continues to grow, so that in time it became difficult for some readers to find these postings on this site.

An earlier posting that offers a guide to these places has become cumbersome to edit, and so this posting offers fresh links to these and similar postings, and a guide to churches and similar places in Oxford and Oxfordshire is to follow in the days ahead.

As I write about more churches and religious buildings, I intend to update this guide to my postings, indicating the date of the latest update at the end of this page, and to provide a link in the toolbars on the front page of this blog.

The tower of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalen in Stony Stratford … originally a chapel-of-ease for the parish of Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Milton Keynes:

1, The Church of Christ the Cornerstone, Central Milton Keynes (7 December 2022) and here (21 May 2026)

Bletchley:

2, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Green Road, Bletchley, Church of England (16 December 2023)

3, Whaddon Way Church, Church of England and Baptist (13 November 2023)

4, Water Eaton Church Centre, Drayton Road, Bletchley, shared by Saint Frideswide’s Church (Church of England) and Spurgeon Baptist Church (16 January 2024)

5, Queensway Methodist Church (15 November 2022)

Bradwell:

6, Bradwell Abbey (5 April 2022)

Calverton:

7, All Saints’ Church, Calverton (11 September 2022), and here (16 April 2022)

Crown Hill:

8, The Oak Chapel, Crown Hill Crematorium, Milton Keynes (5 August 2026)

Downs Barn:

9, The Cross and Stable Church (12 June 2022)

Eaglestone:

10, The Chapel and Quiet Room, Milton Keynes University Hospital (20 March 2024)

Fishermead:

11, Trinity Church and Centre, Fishermead (13 June 2026)

12, Chinese Overseas Christian Mission, Fishermead (10 June 2026)

Furzton:

13, Church of the Servant King, Dulverton Drive (12 March 2025) and here (11 February 2026)

Great Linford:

14, Saint Andrew’s Church, Great Linford (25 May 2022) and here (3 November 2022)

15, The Old Rectory, Great Linford (17 November 2022).

16, The former Congregational Chapel, Great Linford (17 November 2022)

Middleton (Milton Keynes Village):

17, All Saints’ Church, Milton Keynes Village (29 January 2023)

New Bradwell:

18, Saint James Church (22 May 2022)

19, New Bradwell Gospel Hall, Caledonian Road (27 March 2023)

Newport Pagnell:

20, Saint Peter and Saint Paul (5 May 2022)

21, Saint Bede’s Roman Catholic Church (30 May 2022)

22, Newport Pagnell Methodist Church (11 May 2022)

23, Newport Pagnell United Reformed Church (7 May 2022)

24, (former) Tickford Priory (4 May 2022); see also here (19 May 2025)

25, Former Baptist churches, Newport Pagnell, 30 May 2022

Olney:

26, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Olney (13 April 2025)

27, Olney Baptist Church (12 April 2025)

Shenley Church End:

28, Saint Mary’s Church (15 October 2022)

29, ‘Glastonbury Thorn’, Shenley Church End (15 November 2025)

Stantonbury:

30, Christ Church, Stantonbury (8 January 2025)

31, Saint Peter’s Church (ruins), Stantonbury (9 January, 2025)

Stony Stratford:

32, Saint Mary and Saint Giles (27 March 2022), and here (18 April 2022)

33, Saint Mary Magdalene (Church of England), church tower and church ruins (11 April 2022)

34, Saint Mary the Virgin (Church of England), former parish church (28 March 2022)

35, Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Ambrosios and Saint Stylianos (10 May 2022)

36, Saint Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church (14 April 2022)

37, Stony Stratford Methodist Church (20 April 2022)

38, Stony Stratford Community Church, Baptist (20 April 2022)

39, Stony Stratford Evangelical Church (Congregationalist) (20 April 2022)

40, Saint Paul’s former school chapel (13 April 2022) and here (29 June 2026)

41, Saint Peter’s (the Old Cross Keys), former church hostel or hospital (29 June 2026)

42, The former rectories in Stony Stratford (29 May 2022)

43, Calverton Limes, former home of two generations of Percevals, rectors of Wolverton Saint Mary, Stony Stratford (28 December 2022)

Walton:

44, Saint Michael’s Church, Open University campus, Walton (14 November 2022).

Wavendon:

45, Saint Mary's Church, Wavendon (11 September 2024)

Willen:

46, Saint Mary Magdalene (26 May 2022)

Wolverton:

47, Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (19 April 2022)

48, Saint George’s Church, Wolverton (9 April 2022)

49, Woverton Methodist Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

50, West End United Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

51, former United Reformed Church (Congregational Church), Wolverton (26 February 2023)

52, Wolverton Evangelical Church, former Emmanuel Hall (25 January 2023)

53, Wolverton House, birthplace of Archbishop John Habgood of York (23 January 2023)

54, Urban Farm, Windsor Street, church-run project in Wolverton (10 July 2026)

Woughton-on-the-Green:

55, Saint Mary’s Church, Woughton (21 March 2024)

The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist … the oldest surviving building in Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other parts of Buckinghamshire:

Addington:

56, Saint Mary the Virgin, Addington (30 November 2025)

Aylesbury:

57, The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury (14 September 2022)

58, Aylesbury Methodist Church (11 January 2026)

59, (former) Congregational Church, High Street (14 September 2022)

60, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

61, New Tabernacle Church of God, Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

62, The Prebendal House, Aylesbury (5 August 2025)

Buckingham:

63, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish Church (31 May 2022)

64, The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist (31 May 2022), and here (5 November 2025)

65, Saint Bernardine’s Roman Catholic Church, Chandos Road (6 November 2025)

66, former Franciscan seminary and church, London Road (18 July 2026)

67, The Old Meeting House, former Independent or Congregational chapel, Well Street (18 November 2025)

68, The Radcliffe Centre, former Congregational and United Reformed Church, Church Street (16 November 2025)

69, Salvation Army Citadel, Moreton Road, previously Primitive Methodists, Baptists (16 November 2025)

70, Well Street United Church, Methodists, URC and Baptists (16 November 2025)

71, Barton’s Chantry and Hospital, Church Street (9 June 2022)

72, Prebendal manors and houses, Buckingham (8 June 2022)

73, Saint Rumbold’s grave and legends, Buckingham (6 June 2022)

74, The Mitre Inn, Mitre Cottage on Mitre Street, Buckingham (25 November 2025)

Castlethorpe:

75, Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church (26 October 2025)

76, Castlethorpe Methodist Church (27 October 2025)

Gawcott:

77, Holy Trinity Church, Gawcott (23 November 2025)

78, Gawcott Methodist Chapel (24 November 2025)

Hanslope:

79, Saint James the Great Church, Hanslope (2 November 2025)

80, Hanslope Methodist Church (3 November 2025)

81, Gold Street Gospel Hall (former Baptist Chapel), Hanslope (3 November 2025)

Maids Moreton:

82, Saint Edmund’s Church, Maids Moreton (9 November 2025); see also here (11 November 2025) and here (12 November 2025)

83, The Old Rectory, Maids Moreton (8 November 2025)

Padbury:

84, Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury (14 December 2025)

85, The Old Chapel (former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel), Padbury (14 December 2025)

Seer Green:

86, Holy Trinity Church (18 January 2026)

Winslow:

87, Saint Laurence’s Church, Winslow (6 September 2022)

88, (former) Congregational Church, Horn Street (7 September 2022)

89, Keach’s Meeting House, Bell Walk (7 September 2022)

90, Winslow Tabernacle, the former Baptist Chapel off High Street, Winslow (8 September, 2022)

Bedfordshire:

Bedford:

1, (former) All Hallows’ Church, Church Square (8 August 2024)

2, Bunyan Meeting Church (Baptists, Congregational, URC), Mill Street (4 August 2024)

3, Holy Trinity Church, Bedford (1 August 2024)

4, (former) Howard Chapel (Congregational, URC), Mill Street (5 August 2024)

5, Saint Cuthbert’s Church, Bedford (31 July 2024)

6, Saint Paul’s Church, Bedford (29 July 2024)

7, Saint Peter de Merton Church, Bedford (30 July 2024)

8, (former) Panacea Society, Albany Road and Castle Road (28 July 2024)

9, sculpture of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, Bedford (3 August 2024)

Dunstable:

10, The Priory Church of Saint Peter, Dunstable (31 May 2026)

11, Christ Church, West Street, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

12, Dunstable Baptist Church at Saint Mary’s Gate, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

13, Dunstable Methodist Church, the Square, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

14, Saint Mary’s Church (Roman Catholic), Dunstable (1 June 2026)

Leighton Buzzard:

15, All Saints’ Church, Leighton Buzzard (17 August 2025)

16, Trinity Methodist Church, North Street (14 January 2026)

17, (former) Wesleyan Church, Hockliffe Street (14 January 2026)

18, Hockliffe Street Baptist Church (14 January 2026)

19, (former) Lake Street Baptist Chapel (14 January 2026)

20, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Leighton Buzzard (31 August 2025)

Linslade:

21, Saint Barnabas Church, Linslade (24 August 2025)

Luton:

22, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Street, Luton (7 June 2026)

23, Bury Park United Reformed Church (12 January 2026)

The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury on Barrack Road, Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Cathedrals:

1, The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury (Roman Catholic), Barrack Road, Northampton (5 February 2023)

Northampton:

2, All Saints’ Church, Northampton (6 February 2023)

3, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street (7 February 2023)

4, Saint James’s Church, Saint James’s Road (8 February 2023)

5, Saint John’s Church (former), Bridge Street (9 February 2023)

6, Saint Peter’s Church, Marefair (9 February 2023)

7, Christ Image Assembly, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

8, Friends’ Meeting House, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

All Saints’ Church in Yelvertoft … Henry Comberford was the rector in 1546-1560 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Badby:

9, Saint Mary’s Church (20 September 2023)

Blisworth:

10, Saint John the Baptist (7 September 2024)

Crick:

11, Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, Church Street (23 March 2023)

Deanshanger:

12, Holy Trinity Church, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

13, Possible site of a monastery, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

Lamport:

14, All Saints’ Church (6 May 2024)

15, Isham family chapel (6 May 2024), and the Lamport Crucifix (4 May 2024)

Long Buckby:

16, Saint Lawrence’s Church (4 April 2023)

17, Long Buckby Baptist Chapel (4 April 2023)

18, Long Buckby United Reformed Church (4 April 2024)

Old Stratford:

19, Memorial Hall, Old Stratford, venue for some evening services, Deanshanger parish (22 March 2025)

Passenham:

20, Saint Guthlac’s Church (21 April 2022), and here (8 June 2025)

Roade:

21, Saint Mary’s Church, Church End, Roade (9 September 2024)

22, Roade Baptist Chapel (9 September 2024)

23, Roade Methodist Church (9 September 2024)

Shutlanger:

24, Saint Anne’s Chapel-of-Ease (4 September 2024)

25, The Monastery, the former Parles and Comberford family chapel (4 September 2024)

26, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Stoke Bruerne:

27, Saint Mary the Virgin (3 September 2024) and here (5 September 2024)

28, the Old Chapel, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Towcester:

29, Saint Lawrence’s Church (20 March 2025)

Watford:

30, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church (11 March 2023)

Yelvertoft:

31, All Saints’ Church, Yelvertoft (20 March 2023)

The Quaker Meeting House at the north end of Wellington Street in Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other Religious Traditions:

Synagogues in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire:

Bedford:

1, Jewish Bedford (12 July 2024) and here (9 August 2024)

Bletchley:

2, Bletchley: Bletchley Hebrew Congregation (1 December 2023)

Dunstable:

3, former synagogue, Watling House, 123 High Street North, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

4, former synagogue, 132 Luton Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

5, former synagogue, Poynters Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

Great Linford:

6, Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue, Great Linford (25 November 2022)

Luton:

7, Luton United Synagogue, Dunstable Road, Luton, and Jewish Luton (5 June 2025)

8, Luton Town Hall, venue for occasional Jewish services, 2001-2009 (5 June 2025)

9, 5 Moor Path, the first-ever synagogue in Luton (5 June 2025)

10, former synagogue, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

11, former synagogue, 51 John Street, Luton (5 June 2025)

Northampton:

12, Northampton Hebrew Congregation, Overstone Road (10 February 2023)

13, the Mediaeval Synagogue, Sheep Street (3 February 2023)

Wolverton:

14, The Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group, or the Haversham Jewish Community, New Bradwell and Haversham (24 March 2023)

Mosques:

1, Fishermead: the Islamic Centre Milton Keynes, Fishermead Boulevard (12 June 2026)

2, Wolverton: The Central Jamia Mosque, Church Street, Wolverton (11 March 2024)

3, Luton: Islamic Cultural Centre, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

Buddhists:

1, Japanese Peace Pagoda, Willen, 24 May 2022

Other traditions:

1, The Tree Cathedral, Milton Keynes, 3 August 2022

The Peace Pagoda on the shores of Willen Lake was built in 1980 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last updated: 30 August 2026

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 91, Thursday 6 August 2026, The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration depicted in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopianó, in the hills above Hersonissos in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IX, 2 August 2026). The Church Calendar today celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration (6 August 2026).

Today also marks the 81sh anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. To mark this anniversary later this evening, Charlotte and I plan to take part in the annual Hiroshima Day commemorations at the Japanese Peace Pagoda beside Willen Lake in Milton Keynes, a ceremony we have been attending for the past five years.

The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship and Christian CND are also marking Hiroshima Day with an online prayer vigil at 8 pm this evening, gathering to remember, pray and renew a shared commitment to peace. Coventry Cathedral is holding its annual Hiroshima Day Remembrance at 6 pm. The evening includes a reflection from CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt, Taiko drumming, an exchange of messages with Hiroshima, and a paper crane workshop.

I visited Hiroshima when I was a student in Japan in 1979, and for over 40 years I took part in Irish CND’s Hiroshima Day commemorations in Merrion Park, Dublin. During the day, I shall be remembering the many victims of the Hiroshima and the survivors, and praying for all who campaign for peace and an end to war throughout the world. 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.

The Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopianó in the mountains above Hersonissos in Crete was established in 2002, completed in 2008 and dedicated in 2014 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 9: 28-36 (NRSVA):

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ – not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) … an icon by Hanna-Leena Ward in her recent exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Today’s Reflection:

My mind is focussed this morning on the hoorrors of the Hiroshima bombing on 6 August 1945. I visited Hiroshima when I was on a student fellowship in Japan in 1979, and the sheer horror and terror I tapped into during that visit has never left me. And I continue to fret at the consequences of the world having ignored the lessons we should have learned from Hiroshima over the past 81 years.

In recent days, Trump has warned that the US is still ‘locked and loaded’ and prepared for ‘levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II’, that he is considering a massive attack’ on war that will be ‘bigger than ever before’, In other words, in his wicked and vile moments, does he thinks it is his right – please take some moments to ponder this – to threaten to unleash terror that is greater than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Does he mean even greater than the Holocaust?

But ever since my visit to Hiroshima, for me, the bright light that vaporised the city and hundreds of thousands of people on 6 August 1945 has been in shap contrast to the hope offered by the Transfiguration, a feast celebrated each year on 6 August.

During my recent return visits to Crete, staying in Rethymnon for the Greek celebrations of Easter, I have also returned to the village of Piskopianó in the hillside above Hersonissos, which I have known for more than 30 years, since the mid-1990s.

The new village church in Piskopianó, which has been renamed the Church of the Transfiguration, was built in 2002-2008 and was dedicated in 2014. A fresco of the Transfiguration in the church shows, on the left, Christ leading the three disciples, Peter, James and John, up the mountain; in the centre, these three disciples are stumbling and falling as they witness and experience the Transfiguration; and then, to the right, Christ is leading these three back down the side of the mountain.

In other words, we are invited to see the Transfiguration not as a static moment but as a dynamic event. It is a living event in which we are invited to move from all in the past that weighs us down, to experience the full life that Christ offers us today, and to bring this into how we live our lives as Disciples in the future, a future that begins here and now.

The Transfiguration is both an event and a process. The original Greek word for Transfiguration in the Gospels is μεταμόρφωσις (metamorphosis), which means ‘to progress from one state of being to another.’ Consider the metamorphosis of the chrysalis into the butterfly. Saint Paul uses the same word (μεταμόρφωσις) when he describes how the Christian is to be transfigured, transformed, into the image of Christ (II Corinthians 3: 18).

This metamorphosis invites us into the event of becoming what we have been created to be. This is what Orthodox writers call deification. Transfiguration is a profound change, by God, in Christ, through the Spirit. And so, the Transfiguration reveals to us our ultimate destiny as Christians, the ultimate destiny of all people and all creation – to be transformed and glorified by the majestic splendour of God himself.

The Transfiguration points to Christ’s great and glorious Second Coming and the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God, when all of creation shall be transfigured and filled with light.

According to Saint Gregory Palamas, the light of the Transfiguration ‘is not something that comes to be and then vanishes.’ It not only prefigures the eternal blessedness that all Christians look forward to, but also the Kingdom of God already revealed, realised and come.

The Transfiguration is described in the three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 17: 1-9; Mark 9: 2-8; Luke 9: 28-36), and all three accounts are very similar in wording.

The Transfiguration is an encounter with God as the Trinity; it is a reminder with the presence of Moses and Elijah that Christ is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets; it is a meeting of past, present and future; and it is a reminder of how frail is our humanity in the responses of the three Disciples present, Peter, James and John.

The Transfiguration is a reminder that God has created us in God’s image and likeness, that in Christ’s Incarnation, God took on our image and likeness, and that now we are called once again to take on the image and likeness of God.

In a lecture in Cambridge many years ago [2011], I heard the late Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware], who was the pre-eminent Orthodox theologian in England, speak of the Transfiguration as a disclosure not only of what God is but of what we are. It reminds us of our beginning, but also reminds us of the possibilities and the potentials of what it is to become like God once again.

But is the response of the disciples to the Transfiguration one that we should imitate or emulate?

As they hear the voice of God, they fall down in terror, they are overcome by fear, they are made speechless.

They are immobilised and when they think of acting, look at what they want to do: they want to put up three booths, or tents, or dwelling places, in which they can keep Jesus and Moses and Elijah. It is as if, frightened of the new, they want to fall back on the old certainties.

It is as if they want to contain God, to capture God, to keep God in a place where they can be assured of the old certainties, to turn God into a god that they can contain, capture and control. They want to put God in a box, to keep God in a box.

And, so often, instead of wanting to be in the image and likeness of God, people want God to be in our image and likeness, doing our bidding rather than listening to what God wants of us.

Seeking to capture God, to make God a captive and to control God, are strong religious instincts throughout history. In the 20th century, Hitler used the German Churches to control the people of Germany. In more recent years, the simple faith of many American people has been hijacked to support extreme politics in a land that once prided itself on the separation of state and religion.

This is what Professor Rachel S Mikva of Chicago Theological Seminary describes as ‘dangerous religious ideas’ (Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Penguin, 2020).

In an ‘Opinion’ column for USA Today in the wake of Donald Trump’s attempt to storm the Capitol in Washington on 6 January 2021, she argued that ‘Religion is a dangerous business.’ In the response to the insurrection and violence in Washington, she tried to go beyond the revulsion all of us must feel when white Christian nationalism turns violent, and she drew attention to the ‘substantial number of Christians who plan to take the country for Jesus another way.’

The Christian right is ‘distorting the very meaning of religious freedom,’ she wrote. There is the obvious danger we have seen recently, with extremists who call themselves Christians ‘ready to bring on the apocalypse.’

But she warns of ‘a more resilient threat’ posed by people who claim the mantle of being Christians and who are ‘embedded throughout the governing institutions in the US – courts, military, legislatures, agencies and the police.’ In her words, they pose a real threat ‘to religious pluralism in the United States.’

She argued cogently for the need for ‘consciousness of the vital self-critical dimensions of faith,’ and said: ‘Whatever one’s spiritual life stance, we are choosing in every moment whether its power will be wielded for harm or for blessing.’

Power for harm; or power for blessing.

Do we want to keep God in a box as a power for harm; or do we really want to see God being God, and empowering us to be a power for blessing in the world?

I see this as the first great challenge posed by the Transfiguration.

And the second is like unto it: to see humanity as Christ in the Transfiguration would see us and would have us see each other.

Do I, so often, put people in a box in a way that denies they are made in the image and likeness of God? That they are called to become, once again, like God in Christ … what the Orthodox call ‘deification’ …?

Every time I dismiss someone because of their social background, where they were born, their gender, sexuality, ethnicity or parentage, I am making these differences more important than the way God sees them: made in God’s image and likeness, and holding, embodying the light of God in Christ.

Because those characteristics, those traits, are not self-chosen; they come at birth, we do not ask for them, you might say they are God-given. For, indeed, God sees us in God’s own image and likeness, God sees in each one of us the potential to reflect the light of Christ in the Transfiguration.

Let’s not box God in, hidden away under a booth or in a tent. Let God be God, and let’s stop trying to control him by using him to our political and social advantage.

Let’s stop categorising people so we marginalise them instead of seeing them in God’s image and likeness.

For, when we love God and love others, we see the light of God in them and, hopefully, they see the light of God in us.

When she was the guest chaplain in the House of Representatives in 1995, Rabbi Rachel Mikva included these thoughts in her prayers:

However passionately we may cling to our vision of truth,
we must never fail to recognise your image, God,
reflected in the face of the other …

Ultimately, we stand before you,
naked of power or possessions,
seeking only to understand your will
and do it with a whole heart …

God, we pray that our words and our deeds
may be for Your sake,
bringing healing to our world
and wholeness to all those whose lives we touch.

Amen. אָמֵן׃

The Transfiguration … an icon in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 6 August 2026, The Transfiguration):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week (2-8 August 2026, pp 24-25), is ‘Faith Under Pressure in Nicaragua’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Reflection by the Most Revd Juan David Alvarado, Bishop of El Salvador and Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church in Central America.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 6 August 2026) invites us to pray:

Almighty God, in the Transfiguration you revealed Christ’s glory to his disciples. Strengthen us as your Church to hear your voice, bear our cross, and reflect your light in the world.

An icon of the Transfiguration in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopianó (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Father in heaven,
whose Son Jesus Christ was wonderfully transfigured
before chosen witnesses upon the holy mountain,
and spoke of the exodus he would accomplish at Jerusalem:
give us strength so to hear his voice and bear our cross
that in the world to come we may see him as he is;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Holy God,
we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ:
may we who are partakers at his table
reflect his life in word and deed,
that all the world may know his power to change and save.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The chapel on the highest peak on Mount Athos, at 2,033 metres, is dedicated to the Transfiguration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflections

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

The Monastery of Great Meteoro, the largest of the monasteries at Meteora, is dedicated to the Transfiguration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Oak Chapel by Adrian Morrow at Crownhill Crematorium is a homage to Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum

The Oak Chapel at the Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes was opened 15 years ago, on Saturday 27 August 2011 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I was at two funerals in recent weeks, one day after another. I have been at crematorium funerals before, and back in 2010 I was even elected a Fellow of the Society of Crematorium Organists (FSCO). But this was my first time I was in the Oak Chapel and the Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes.

Crownhill Crematorium is about 2 km west of Milton Keynes, with its main entrance off Dansteed Way. It is on a 7 ha site that incorporates informal woodland walks, water features, and a layout that provides privacy and a calm atmosphere for mourners and visitors.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) identified the need for a crematorium for the new town in 1971. Several areas were considered, including Tattenhoe, Willen, Kents Hill, Walton, and Crownhill, when the Crownhill site was chose in 1978, the area was then agricultural land off Watling Street, with four fields and four small ponds, one in each.

The phased development began in 1979, with plans for a chapel, a site for a second chapel, a crematorium in the middle and a cemetery spreading around the foot of the slope down to Watling Street. The crematorium designed by Roger Hobbs opened in 1982 but within a short span of time the rapid population growth of the city meant it could not meet the increased demands.

The Oak Chapel at the Crownhill Crematorium was designed in 2011 by the architect Adrian Morrow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A large new complex, including the Oak Chapel, crematorium and offices, was built in the south-east half of the site in 2011 as the new operational focus, and was designed by the architect Adrian Morrow. He has designed an impressive list of buildings and has worked with first-class architectural practices.

The proposals called for a spiritual and tranquil design using austenitic stainless steel clad, cycloid form concrete roof vaults, located over thermally separated split concrete columns.

Adrian Morrow’s Oak Chapel is part of the striking architecture at the Crownhill complex, with its blend of exposed in-situ concrete cycloids, warm oak timber, stainless steel and striking stained glass windows, all within a tranquil woodland setting.

Andrew Morrow’s design is an aesthetic homage to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth designed by Louis Kahn (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Morrow’s design is an aesthetic homage to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, designed by the architect Louis I Kahn (1901-1974) and widely recognised as one of the most significant works of architecture of our time.

The Oak Chapel is a 145-seat multi-faith space featuring natural light, fine acoustics, and bespoke stained glass created by Julian Stocks.

The building includes a waiting area, a porte cochère, a chapel with a circular sanctuary, a catafalque, a Japanese garden, a cremator room for two new cremators, staff accommodation, a wreath court, and a promenade with a rill.

Julian Stocks designed the stained glass artwork Aqua in ultramarine blues, aquamarine and turquoises (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Julian Stocks, who designed the stained glass, was inspired by the cycloid geometry within the chapel roof. The cycloid is one of the strongest natural forms and the design includes references to the mathematics associated with this structure.

The cycloid is found in nature in wave formation and water dynamics. The title of the artwork, Aqua, is taken from the Latin for water.

Water has endless positive associations and this theme supports the abstract architectural qualities in the design. Waves and the confluence of water are central to the design. These patterns are consciously soothing and lead the eye through the artwork and into the architecture. The choice of colour is also designed to be comforting and is based on a palette of ultramarine blues, aquamarine and turquoises.

A water feature at the Oak Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Sustainability has been a prime consideration in the planning at Crownhill. Many of the building materials selected are Green Guide A rated. The principal spaces are naturally ventilated by means of windcatchers.

The roof was originally designed before the sustainability requirements imposed the rows of windcatchers, and in some small way distract from the simplicity of extruded vaults used by Louis I Kahn.

Heat energy is recovered from the plant to heat the building. Additional free winter heating and summer cooling is provided by ground source heat pumps. The grounds have been developed into a wildlife garden with SUDs ponds, with sustainable drainage systems.

The Japanese-style gardens and the woodland setting support the privacy of families and mourners (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The building was carefully planned to maintain the privacy of families and mourners, with a clear route from the entrance to the waiting room, chapel, flower court and garden of remembrance. The calming design uses height, daylight, water and views to allow visitors time for contemplation.

The first service in the Oak Chapel was held 15 years ago, on Saturday 27 August 2011. A commemorative plaque quotes Winston Churchill: ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.’

Some of the shapes also reminded me of the Memorial Cenotaph in Hiroshima, a saddle-shaped concrete structure designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange and built in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in August 1952.

Today, the Oak Chapel in Crownhill Crematorium provides a tranquil and dignified space for cremation services, and it is also used for blessings at weddings.

The calming design uses height, daylight, water and views to allow mourners time for contemplation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 56, Thursday 2 July 2026

The healing of the paralytic man … a fresco in Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fourth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity IV, 28 June 2026) and the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (29 June 2026). We are still in the time known as Peter-tide, a time when many ordinations to the diaconate and priesthood take place.

Later this evening, I hope to take part in the rehearsals with a playreading group in the Library in Stony Stratford. But, before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, 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.

A blessing in the Chapel of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 1-8 (NRSVA):

1 And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town.

2 And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ 3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ 4 But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – he then said to the paralytic – ‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ 7 And he stood up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

Inside the Chapel in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

This morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Matthew 9: 1-8) is a healing story that has its synoptic parallels in Mark 2: 1-12 and Luke 5: 18-26.

I have regular appointments with my local GP practice for injections for my B12 deficiency, and I continue to have regular hospital appointments monitoring my pulmonary sarcoidosis and as part of the care and attention I continue to receive as a follow-up to my stroke almost over four years ago in March 2022.

I remain truly grateful for the caring and attentive treatment I receive in hospitals in Milton Keynes, Oxford and Sheffield, and I am even more grateful for the way Charlotte Hunter recognised I was having a stroke, brought me to hospital, ensured I received the attention I needed, visited me every day, and brought me back to Stony Stratford.

Some years ago, at an event in Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, when people were asked to bring along their favourite poems, Charlotte brought Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Miracle’, from his collection Human Chain (2010).

In these poems, written after his stroke in 2005, Seamus Heaney speaks of suffering and mortality. This poem ‘Miracle’ retells the story of the miraculous healing of the man variously described as a paralytic man and a man with palsy. The story is told in all three synoptic Gospels, including this morning’s Gospel reading (Matthew 9: 1-8), and – like Seamus Heaney, I suppose – my situation makes me wonder whether this man was also suffering after a stroke.

It is interesting how Seamus Heaney tells the story of this man’s healing from the perspective of the man’s friends. In this way, his poem becomes an expression of gratitude by the poet to all who helped his recovery after his stroke.

When Jesus looks at the paralysed man brought to him by his friends, he sees not just the faith of the man, but the faith of his friends too. In other words, this is a story of the blessing of friendship and the miracle of community as much as it is a story of miraculous healing.

The poet’s focus is on neither Christ as the healer nor the invalid, but on the friends who in the other synoptic accounts helped this sick man to reach Jesus by lowering him through a skylight in the roof. The title of the poem refers to the miracle in the Gospel story, but for the poet the miracle is found in the opening lines:

Not the one who takes up his bed and walks
But the ones who have known him all along
And carry him in.

The friends of this man love him and seek his healing, no matter what it takes for them to do, and so they become the true miracle in this moment. They are there when no one else is, they care for their friend, and they give him the priceless gift of friendship.

When they hear in Capernaum that Jesus is healing the sick, they give their friend one more gift. They carry him to Jesus. And when they cannot get him through the door, they then lower him through the roof.

What persistent love they show their friend, like the persistent love of one who calls a taxi, packs all my bags, brings me to the A&E unit, stays with me while I am admitted, as I am transferred to the emergency unit, and then, late at night, when I am moved to a ward.

This poem sees the Gospel story through the eyes of this man’s faithful friends. So often, I read this story through the eyes of the paralysed man, through the eyes of the crowd, or even through the eyes of the Pharisees and teachers. But Seamus Heaney invites me to join the man’s friends, who stand with

their shoulders numb, the ache and stoop deeplocked
In their backs, the stretcher handles
Slippery with sweat.

We are invited to stand with those friends, with the hope and the faith and the love that brings them there, to stand with them on behalf of all who hurt, to feel the burns in their hands from the paid-out rope, the ache in their backs from the burden they have carried, to see the gift of this miracle, this grace, that was all gift, but that required something extra of them.

There are many miracles in this story and many lessons. This poem reminds us how sometimes we need to be carried by our friends, while at other times we are the ones who need to help ‘bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6: 2).

Miracle, by Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Not the one who takes up his bed and walks
But the ones who have known him all along
And carry him in —

Their shoulders numb, the ache and stoop deeplocked
In their backs, the stretcher handles
Slippery with sweat. And no let up

Until he’s strapped on tight, made tiltable
and raised to the tiled roof, then lowered for healing.
Be mindful of them as they stand and wait

For the burn of the paid out ropes to cool,
Their slight lightheadedness and incredulity
To pass, those who had known him all along.

‘The Gift of Life’ … art and music in the outpatients reception area in Milton Keynes University Hospital (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 2 July 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 28 June to 4 July 2026 (pp 14-15), is ‘Living Stones’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by the Very Revd Lydia Kelsey Bucklin, President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 2 July 2026) invites us to pray:

Creator God, remind us of our deep interconnection. Strengthen us to seek the liberation of all people, knowing none of us are free while violence and injustice persist.

The Collect of the Day:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Gracious Father,
by the obedience of Jesus
you brought salvation to our wayward world:
draw us into harmony with your will,
that we may find all things restored in him,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The Collect on the Eve of Saint Thomas:

Almighty and eternal God,
who, for the firmer foundation of our faith,
allowed your holy apostle Thomas
to doubt the resurrection of your Son
till word and sight convinced him:
grant to us, who have not seen, that we also may believe
and so confess Christ as our Lord and our God;
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

The magnolia tree in a courtyard in the hospital in Milton Keynes (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 Greeks have a word (or two) for it: 62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’, an irreversible binomial

The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of the rallying cry Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (‘Eleftheria i Thanatos’), ‘Freedom or Death’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

While I was wnandering aoround Oxford yesterday (16 June 2026), by the boathouses, the rivers and the islands in the river, I was musing on Bloomsday and the wandering of Ulysses. But I also recall a holiday on an Ionian island in Greece about 20-25 years ago, when I also visited Ithaki, the island home of Odysseus. On that same holiday, I met an Irish couple who introduced themselves as Joyce and James from Dublin.

They never, ever, introduced themselves in the reverse order, as in ‘I’m James, … Joyce.’

But inevitably, for many of the people staying in that same small apartment block, this became known as their ‘James Joyce holiday’. The pairing was irreversible.

Another holidaymaker in the same apartment block found out, as he was packing to go home, that his suitcase had ripped. Rather than buying a new case, he found a large, pre-used cardboard box, packed all his belongings inside and wrapped it up in bubble wrap, with strong brown masking tape.

At the airport, as he was about to place the box on the scanning machine, a policeman asked him to take it off, and open it.

‘I can’t,’ he pleaded.

‘Take it off’.

Lesson 1, Do not argue with a Greek police officer, any police officer, at an airport.

The lesson was being ignored, but two other tourists – eager to defuse the situation and more eager not to miss their flight – without any airs and graces or fuss and bother removed the box, hoping to restore peace and calm and wanting to minimalise any confrontation with law and order.

‘What is it in the box?’

‘Just me Bits and Bobs’, said the elderly Dub casually, unaware of the chaos or mess that could unfold around him – what Greeks call τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto), ‘the ups-downs’.

‘Bobs and Bits?’ the policeman asked.

We all began to smile, he noticed our spontaneous response, tensions were defused, and soon the box was on its way back through the scanner.

Pardon the pun, but it was an open and shut case. Perhaps all he had in his bag and baggage was odds and sods, six of one and half a dozen of the other. Not in there, I am sure from his holiday attire, were a shirt and tie.

Despite the smiles, we had all minded our Ps and Qs. No-one had to bow and scrape, no-one lost an arm and a leg, and we all went through security, happy after a holiday on a Greek island that for two weeks had been our Land of Milk and Honey.

When we got home, I am sure, nobody unpacked their flop flips, put their holidays nacks and nicks in appropriate crannies and nooks, or had conversations in the days that followed with their dad and mum about the days of the Tans and Blacks.

Who speaks of ‘breakfast and bed’ rather than ‘bed and breakfast’ for a B&B? … Park Villa Guest House in Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The pairing of words known in English as an irreversible binomial, or a frozen binomial, also exists in Greek. This is a pair of words linked by a conjunction such as και (‘and’) and that always occur in a fixed, non-reversible order. Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), which means ‘so-so’, is a classic example of this paired rhythmic pattern in Greek. The phrase literally means ‘thus and thus’ and is used to describe average health, mood, or a mediocre experience:

Τι κάνεις; (ti káneis), How are you?

Έτσι κι έτσι (Etsi ki etsi), So-so.

Other common examples of the use of an irreversible binomial in Greek include:

Πέτσι και κόκαλο (pétsi ke kókalo, skin and bones), meaning emaciated or extremely thin.

Απ' έξω και ανακατωτά (ap' éxso ke anakatotá, inside out and upside down, completely mixed up), referring to knowing something perfectly.

Ήθη και έθιμα (íthi ke éthima, morals and customs), a standard frozen phrase encompassing cultural traditions.

Στο κάτω κάτω της γραφής (sto káto káto tis grafís, after all, bottom line), literally ‘at the bottom bottom of the writing’.

Τα πάνω κάτω (ta páno káto, upside down, chaos), literally ‘the ups-downs’, used to describe a mess.

Άνω κάτω (ano kato, ‘up down’) or ‘topsy-turvy’.

Μπρος πίσω (bros piso, ‘front back’) or back and forth.

Έθιμα και έθιμα (ethima kai ethima), ‘customs and habits’.

Μισός κι άλλος μισός (misos ki allos misos) ‘one and the other’.

Ένας κι ένας (enas ki enas), one by one.

Common Greek irreversible binomials feature entrenched phrases, historical idioms, and common collocations. In Greek linguistics, irreversible binomials or idiomatic, fixed-order word pairs, similar to the order of ‘bread and butter’ in English, are heavily shaped by iconicity or the chronological or logical sequence of events, and by end-weight, with longer or heavier words appearing toward the end of the phrase.

Verbs expressing sequential actions must follow their natural temporal order (as in going in before going out). In Greek, this appears as μπαινοβγαίνω (bainovgeno, ‘go in and out’) or ανεβοκατεβαίνω (anevokateveno, ‘go up and down’).

When nouns or adverbs of similar meaning are combined, the element with the more sonorous or longer vowel, or a greater number of syllables, is usually placed at the end to provide a rhythmic cadence.

The most famous example of an irreversible binomial in Greek is Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos), ‘Freedom or Death’. This pair of words is ordered by established convention, and they are fixed in sequence. Swapping their order, as in saying ‘Death or Freedom’, sounds jarring to any Greek speaker.

As a linguistic convention, the pairings in an irreversible binomial are anchored by cultural, psychological, and semantic rules. When faced with an ultimatum, we instinctively priorities the positive or desired outcome first, followed by the negative alternative. Positioning ‘Freedom’ before ‘Death’ frames the statement as a pursuit of life’s highest ideal, with death accepted only as a last resort.

The phrase Ελευθερία ή θάνατος (Eleftheria i Thanatos) has become the Greek national motto. It originated in the 1820s during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. The nine blue and white stripes of the Greek flag represent the nine syllables of this rallying cry.

The phrase gives its name to Freedom or Death, also known as Captain Michalis, a 1953 novel by the author Nikos Kazantzakis from Iraklion in Crete that is became a key work of modern Greek literature.

The binary choice between liberty and life without freedom is mirrored in other historic rallying cries, such as the Patrick Henry’s ‘Give me liberty, or give me death!’ The late Seumas Phelan, when he was a sub-editor at The Irish Times, would cry out during lulls and dull moments on the subs desk, ‘Give me copy, or give me death’.

In English, the fixed order of irreversible binomials or frozen binomials means that changing the order sounds jarring, even if the meaning remains clear. This fixed order is largely shaped by linguistic patterns rather than arbitrary rules.

The natural rhythm or ablaut means English speakers naturally prefer pairs with specific syllable stresses, or where a shorter, high-frequency word precedes a longer one, as with short and sweet or sick and tired.

Iconic sequencing means phrases often follow a chronological or logical order of events in the real world, such as cause and effect, or trial and error.

But cultural conventions and historical and semantic traditions also cement phrases into our long-term memory, processing them as single holistic units rather than individual words. In law and official documents, there are many irreversible binomials consisting of near synonyms, such as the oft-expressed terms and conditions and cease and desist.

There are hundreds of these expressions in English and they generally fall into a few key categories, such as food and objects. Think of how we link Fish and Chips, Salt and Pepper, Knife and Fork, or Bread and Butter. In everyday conversation and idioms, we refer to Give and Take, Back and Forth, Safe and Sound, Bed and Breakfast, but never to Roll and Rock or Blues and Rhythm, and we ask for explanations and excuses to be Short and Sweet.

The term ‘irreversible binomial’ was introduced in 1954 by the Ukrainian-born etymologist and philologist Yakov Malkiel (1914-1998), although aspects of the phenomenon had been discussed since at least 1903 under different names such as ‘terminological imbroglio’ and the now politically-incorrect ‘Siamese twins’.

Many irreversible binomials are catchy due to alliteration, rhyming, or ablaut reduplication, and have become clichés or catchphrases. The mix and match of idioms includes phrases such as rock and roll, the birds and the bees, and they have survived the wear and tear of generations among generation of native English speakers, even one word in a pairing has become obsolete as in spick and span. Spick is a fossil word that never appears outside the phrase spick and span. Who uses words such as such as vim or abet except when using sayings such as vim and vigour or aid and abet.

No-one is ever caught between a hard place and a rock, high water and hell never come, and I know no-one who has had a tuck and nip, even among the famous and rich. Although, if I wanted to be little more Greek in my turn of phrase, or a Joycean reference, then instead of ‘a rock and a hard place’ I might chose to be caught between the equally dangerous and threatening Scylla and Charybdis.

Ball and Chain? … ‘Sitting on History’ by Bill Woodrow in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

Series to be continued

’Freedom or Death’ is one of the great literary works by Nikos Kazantzakis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)