Daily prayer in Advent 2024: 7, Saturday 7 December 2024

The Synaxis of the Apostles … an icon in the Cathedral in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Season of Advent – and the real countdown to Christmas – began last Sunday and tomorrow is the Second Sunday of Advent (8 December 2024). The Church Calendar today celebrates Saint Ambrose (397), Bishop of Milan and Teacher of the Faith.

Later this morning, the Greek Orthodox parish in Stony Stratford is holding a pre-Christmas version of the monthly coffee morning, Our Place! Το Στεκι Μασ, with promises of ‘Greek Christmas goodies’ from Greece – including olives, honey, oil, kurabiedes, marshmallows and small gifts – as well as good coffee and good company from 10:30 to 3 pm.

Tomorrow (8 December), the Orthros and Divine Liturgy in the church on London Road, Stony Stratford, includes solemn celebration of the patron saints of the community, Saint Stylianos (26 November) and Saint Ambrose (7 December), and the 35th anniversary of the founding of the community.

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The Twelve Apostles … an icon in the church in Panormos, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 1, 6-8 (NRSVA):

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

[He told them to go] 6 … ‘to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.’

The Twelve Apostles depicted in the East Window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

The Gospel reading in the Lectionary for the daily Eucharist today (Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 1, 6-8) is awkwardly edited and selected. But it is also an Advent message that may be difficult to listen to and accept as we prepare for Christmas.

The reading begins with an image of Christ in ordinary, everyday situations, going ‘about all the cities and villages’ (Matthew 9: 35), mixing with ordinary people. These are people who need hope, people who are sick, sore and sorry, people who are distressed, marginalised and suffering, and Christ has compassion for them, because they are harassed and helpless, ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (Matthew 9: 36).

They are ordinary people, indeed, in ordinary places, in ordinary times, but suffering and often isolated and marginalised in their everyday lives.

And to answer their plight, to carry out his mission, he chooses 12 disciples, 12 ordinary people, with ordinary backgrounds, ordinary everyday lives and careers: Peter, who denies him three times; Andrew his brother, a fisherman; James and John, ‘Mammy’s boys’ who jockey for position, unsure of what the Kingdom of God is about; Philip, who could easily turn away Greek-speaking Gentiles; Matthew, despised as a tax collector; Thomas who doubts him; Judas who betrays him … (see Matthew 10: 2-4).

In our ordinary everyday lives, Christ calls us to follow him, not for our own self-satisfying feeling of being good, but to proclaim the Good News; not for our own advantage and enrichment, but because that is what the suffering world needs.

We are called as ordinary people to do that; our Baptism is our commission to do that; our Confirmation is our ‘Amen’ to that.

Christ sends the 12 out in mission to the marginalised and the outcast. They are to proclaim the ‘good news,’ as Saint John the Baptist announced, that the kingdom of heaven has come near’ is at hand.

We might ask, as we prepare for Christmas, whether we are preparing to welcome back the occasional worshippers, the seasonal churchgoers and the nominal parishioners, who love the good feelings that come with the carols and the cribs but are put off by the churchy and the pushy, or perhaps even what they see as hypocritical judgmentalism, the suffering, the isolated and the marginalised.

And, we might also ask whether we are ready to delight in meeting strangers in our midst and bringing them into our tent, to share the kindness, friendship and hospitality found within. For the kingdom of God is at hand.

I find myself thinking about a well-known prayer by Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711):

O God, make the door of this house
wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship,
and a heavenly Father’s care;
and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and hate.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children,
nor to straying feet,
but rugged enough to turn back the tempter’s power:
make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom.

The Apostles and Evangelists in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen view)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 7 December 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Hope – Advent’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with Reflections by Esmeralda Pato, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Representative and Chair of USPG’s Communion-Wide Advisory Group.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 7 December 2024) invites us to pray:

Lord, we praise you for not leaving us in despair by sending your Son Jesus as a sacrifice for our sin and all the wrongs of this world. In times of waiting, draw us closer to you.

The Collect:

God of hosts,
who called Ambrose from the governor’s throne
to be a bishop in your Church
and an intrepid champion of your faithful people:
mercifully grant that, as he did not fear to rebuke rulers,
so we, with like courage,
may contend for the faith we have received;
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 Ambrose to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Advent II:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone Abbey, Co Kildare (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

When God visits us in extraordinary times and ordinary circumstances

The Visitation of Abraham or the ‘Old Testament Trinity’ … a fresco in the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, interprets a Trinitarian and Eucharistic theme (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday, 14 June 2020,

The First Sunday after Trinity

The Readings: Genesis 18: 1-15; Psalm 116: 1, 10-17; Romans 5: 1-8; Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 8.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

‘The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee’ … the great East Window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, depicting the Twelve Apostles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions we are all living with means the extraordinary has become almost ordinary in our everyday lives.

In the Calendar of the Church, we have moved into Ordinary Time, the time between Trinity Sunday and the beginning of Advent.

The Gospel story this morning begins with an image of Christ in ordinary, everyday situations, going ‘about all the cities and villages’ (Matthew 9: 35), mixing with ordinary people. These are people who need hope, people who are sick, sore and sorry, people who are distressed, marginalised and suffering, and Christ has compassion for them, because they are harassed and helpless, ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ [Matthew 9: 36].

They are ordinary people, indeed, in ordinary places, in ordinary time, but suffering and often isolated and marginalised in their everyday lives.

And to answer their plight, to carry out his mission, he chooses 12 disciples, 12 ordinary people, with ordinary backgrounds and careers: Peter, who denies him three times; Andrew his brother, a fisherman; James and John, ‘Mammy’s boys’ who jockey for position, unsure of what the Kingdom of God is about; Philip, who could easily turn away Greek-speaking Gentiles; Matthew, despised as a tax collector; Thomas who doubts him; Judas who betrays him … (see Matthew 10: 2-4).

In our ordinary everyday lives, Christ calls us to follow him, not for our own self-satisfying feeling of being good, but to proclaim the Good News; not for our own advantage and enrichment, but because that is what the suffering world needs.

We are called as ordinary people to do that; our Baptism is our commission to do that; our Confirmation is our ‘Amen’ to that.

In our reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah, in the extraordinary circumstances of the time, being childless and now going to old age, must still have thought they were living through a very ordinary day when they were visited that day at the oaks of Mamre.

God visits us in very extraordinary circumstances in the midst of our very ordinary, everyday lives.

At first, Abraham sees ‘three men’ standing near him, and they seem to be human in appearance. But he addresses them as ‘my lord’ and offers them courtesy and hospitality, washing their feet, providing shelter from the mid-day heat, bringing ‘a little bread’ and then preparing a full meal.

As they accept this hospitality, it becomes clearer who they are. One of them speaks, promises to return and promises that Sarah will have a son.

In the second part of this reading, which provides an optional ending to this story next Sunday, we hear how God keeps his promise.

This reading has often been read as an early understanding in the Bible of the Trinity, and so is an appropriate reading on the First Sunday after Trinity.

In the Gospel reading, Christ sends the 12 out in mission to the marginalised and the outcast. They are to proclaim the ‘good news,’ as Saint John the Baptist announced, that ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near’, is at hand.

We might ask, as we prepare to open our church buildings in the next few weeks, whether we are preparing to welcome back the regular worshippers, churchgoers and parishioners.

And, we might also ask whether we are ready to delight in meeting strangers in our midst and bringing them into our tent, to share the kindness, friendship and hospitality found within. For the kingdom of God is at hand.

I find myself thinking about a well-known prayer by Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711):

O God, make the door of this house
wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship,
and a heavenly Father’s care;
and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and hate.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children,
nor to straying feet,
but rugged enough to turn back the tempter’s power:
make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom.

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Christ and the Twelve Apostles in statues on Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 35 to 10: 8 [9-23] (NRSVA):

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.’

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone Abbey, Co Kildare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time)

The Collect of the Day:

God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you, both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal Father,
we thank you for nourishing us
with these heavenly gifts.
May our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

A panel on the Royal or MacMahon tomb in the Franciscan Friary in Ennis, Co Clare, depicting Christ and the Twelve Apostles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Hymns:

662, He who would valiant be
456, Lord, you give the great commission
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
492, Ye servants of God, your master proclaim

Figures of the 12 Apostles surround the 16th century tomb of a knight and lady in the churchyard at Saint Mary’s Church, Thurles, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

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

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).

The Apostles and Evangelists in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen view)

Reading Saint Luke’s Gospel in Advent 2019: Luke 6

‘He called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles’ (Luke 6: 13) … the 12 Apostles in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen view)

Patrick Comerford

During the Season of Advent this year, I am joining many people in reading a chapter from Saint Luke’s Gospel each morning. In all, there are 24 chapters in Saint Luke’s Gospel, so this means being able to read through the full Gospel, reaching the last chapter on Christmas Eve [24 December 2019].

Why not join me as I read through Saint Luke’s Gospel each morning this Advent?

Luke 6 (NRSVA):

1 One sabbath while Jesus was going through the cornfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ 3 Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?’ 5 Then he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

12 Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 ‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’

39 He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

43 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

46 ‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’

A prayer for today:

A prayer today (Saint Nicholas’ Day) from the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG, United Society Partners in the Gospel:

Let us pray that we may be inspired by the generous ministry of Saint Nicholas and ensure that all the needs of our community are met.

Tomorrow: Luke 7.

Yesterday: Luke 5.

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone, Co Kildare (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 ministry of Ordinary people and the meaning of Ordinary Time

Christ and the Twelve Apostles in statues on Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 18 June 2017

The First Sunday after Trinity

11.30 a.m.: Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert, Co Kerry.

Readings: Genesis 18: 1-15; Psalm 116: 1, 10-17; Romans 5: 1-8; Matthew 9: 35 -10: 8 (9-23).

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today is Father’s Day, today is the beginning of Ordinary Times in the Church Calendar, and later today three of our parishioners are being confirmed in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

I want to say something about some of these ideas this morning. But first of all, I want to say something about the awful events in London in recent days. And then I want to say something that brings these very different concepts, and thread them together in some closing thoughts.

Anything I can say in the wake of the latest tragedy is in danger of being crass, perhaps even being trite, in the face of so much suffering and loss, shock and grief, that are giving rise to a heady mixture of fear, frustration and anger.

There needs to be clear and compassionate leadership from politicians, and there is a clear need for accountability. There are people who suffering and grieving who need closure and compassion. But they do not know who has died, and they are not getting answers they need and their dignity demands.

I feel angry when I think that many of these people may not be getting answers because in a rich borough like Kensington they are on the margins: refugees, immigrants, single parent families, members of ethnic minorities.

What happened in the early hours of Wednesday was not an accident. It was caused by political decisions, by spending decisions, by budgetary decisions. Some people decided that on aesthetic grounds it was more important to make these people less visible because they were judged to be less important than other people who lived in the area, they could be hidden behind cheap cladding.

This was compounded by inadequate sprinklers and fire alarms. This too, for these people, must now seem like a form of terrorism, albeit economic terrorism.

Many more people who have been housed in tower blocks now live in fear. But the same fears must haunt people working in and using public service buildings, hospitals and office blocks.

But none of this is without hope. A tight-knit community has been brought together. Those who might too easily have been dismissed as too rich to care have joined everyone else in the area with abundant generosity.

In the wake of the recent attacks in Manchester and London, there is a sombre national mood in Britain this weekend. But people of faith – in churches, synagogues and mosques – have shown that love and hope are at the heart of our faith systems.

I am inspired by those people who show in such practical ways that hope overcomes fear, that faith expresses our humanity despite the efforts to divide and marginalise, that love triumphs over apparent neglect, that light overcomes darkness.

These are extraordinary times indeed. But we have moved into Ordinary Time, the time in the Church Calendar from Trinity Sunday until the beginning of Advent.

It is as though we are saying we have been busy for the past few months … with Epiphany, Candlemas, Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost … and now let us have some Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Time is the longest time in the Church year, and has few significant events; it has a kind of ordinariness that other seasons lack. There are no narrative high points, no showy colours or costumes, not even a signature hymn or two. We enter, as the poet TS Eliot says in Burnt Norton, ‘at the still point’:

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is …

Burnt Norton, the first of Eliot’s Four Quartets, is a poem of early summer, air and grace. For Eliot, it is in the movement of time that brief moments of eternity are caught. The revelation of God in Christ is at the intersection between eternity and time. Life can be very ordinary. But life and time, in their ordinary ways, are worth celebrating, time after time, in every ordinary life.

The poem After Trinity by John Meade Falkner (1858-1932) seems to convey something that is very Anglican about this time of the year, this Ordinary Time, when Sunday follows Sunday, through the beauty of creation and following the course of the natural year:

We have done with dogma and divinity,
Easter and Whitsun past,
The long, long Sundays after Trinity
Are with us at last;
The passionless Sundays after Trinity,
Neither feast-day nor fast.

Christmas comes with plenty,
Lent spreads out its pall,
But these are five and twenty,
The longest Sundays of all;
The placid Sundays after Trinity,
Wheat-harvest, fruit-harvest, Fall.

Ordinary Time lasts these ‘five and twenty Sundays’ or so, for five or six months – until the beginning of Advent. But as Meade Falkner reminds us, some extra-ordinary things happen in this season of ‘placid Sundays.’ We have the long days of summer, the harvest of wheat and fruit, summer holidays and the longest day of the year. For children, it is summer holiday time – time at the beach, time to travel, time to explore, and in all of those times, time to mature and time to grow.

Ordinary Time allows the Church to celebrate the ordinariness of life as summer moves into autumn and as we anticipate autumn moving into winter.

John Keble (1792-1866) captures some of the beauties of this season in our opening hymn this morning, New every morning (Irish Church Hymnal, No 59):

The trivial round, the common task,
will furnish all we ought to ask,
room to deny ourselves, a road
to bring us daily nearer God.

Do you find yourself being brought nearer to God day-by-day, in a new way each morning, in the ordinary, trivial things of daily life?

My second set of ideas this morning are about the Confirmations we are celebrating in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, this afternoon.

There is a popular saying among theologians, especially Anglican theologians, that Confirmation is a rite in search of a theology.

But the meaning of Confirmation is found in our shared baptism, the foundation of every ministry, which is being affirmed and re-affirmed this afternoon by the three people who are being presented to Bishop Kenneth Kearon for confirmation.

One of these is an adult, two are in their teens, and so for these three it is not a mere rite of passage, or something added on because we forgot to do it at their Baptism. It is a clear, adult decision by these three people to own for themselves the promises made at Baptism on their own behalf and to respond to the call of Christ.

Like Bishops, Priest and Deacons, lay people too have a valid and validated ministry in the Church. We were reminded of the ministry of each and every member of the Church in the discussions at the Ministry Day for this diocese in Glenstal Abbey yesterday [17 June 2017].

Our common, shared baptism is the beginning of every ministry in the Church. We are all ordinary people before God, sharing in common that we are created in his image and likeness, joined in our Baptism in the Body of Christ, and at our Confirmation enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say ‘Amen’ to Christ present in the sacrament and ‘Amen’ to Christ present in the body of the Church, in each and every one of us, each and every ordinary one of us.

The Twelve Apostles in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2016; click on images for full-screen view)

So, how do we draw these disparate ideas together and make connections with this morning’s Gospel reading?

Our Gospel story begins with Jesus in ordinary, everyday situations, going ‘about all the cities and villages’ [Matthew 9: 35] mixing with ordinary people, people who need hope, people who are sick, sore and sorry, people who are distressed, marginalised and suffering, and he has ‘compassion for them, because they are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ [Matthew 9: 36]. They are ordinary people, indeed, in ordinary places, in ordinary time.

And to answer their plight, to carry out his mission, he chooses 12 disciples, 12 ordinary people, with ordinary backgrounds and careers: Peter, who denies him three times; Andrew his brother, a fisherman; James and John, ‘Mammy’s boys’ who jockey for position, unsure of what the Kingdom of God is about; Philip, who could easily turn away Greek-speaking Gentiles; Matthew, despised as a tax collector; Thomas who doubts him; Judas who betrays him … [see Matthew 10: 2-4].

In our ordinary everyday lives, Christ calls us to follow him, not for our own self-satisfying feeling of being good, but to proclaim the Good News; not for our own advantage and enrichment, but because that is what the suffering world needs.

We are called as ordinary people to do that; our Baptism is our commission to do that; our Confirmation is our ‘Amen’ to that.

And so, may all we think, say and do, be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

(Revd Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Priest-in-Charge in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes. This sermon was prepared the First Sunday after Trinity, 18 June 2017.

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone, Co Kildare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Collect:

God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you, both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Blessing (at Confirmation)

The God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

‘The long, long Sundays after Trinity/ Are with us at last;/ The passionless Sundays after Trinity,/ Neither feast-day nor fast’ … Trinity College Cambridge and Trinity Lane in mid-summer rain (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

After Trinity, John Meade Falkner (1858-1932):

We have done with dogma and divinity,
Easter and Whitsun past,
The long, long Sundays after Trinity
Are with us at last;
The passionless Sundays after Trinity,
Neither feast-day nor fast.

Christmas comes with plenty,
Lent spreads out its pall,
But these are five and twenty,
The longest Sundays of all;
The placid Sundays after Trinity,
Wheat-harvest, fruit-harvest, Fall.

Spring with its burst is over,
Summer has had its day,
The scented grasses and clover
Are cut, and dried into hay;
The singing-birds are silent,
And the swallows flown away.

Post pugnam pausa fiet;
Lord, we have made our choice;
In the stillness of autumn quiet,
We have heard the still, small voice.
We have sung Oh where shall Wisdom?
Thick paper, folio, Boyce.

Let it not all be sadness,
Not omnia vanitas,
Stir up a little gladness
To lighten the Tibi cras;
Send us that little summer,
That comes with Martinmas.

When still the cloudlet dapples
The windless cobalt blue,
And the scent of gathered apples
Fills all the store-rooms through,
The gossamer silvers the bramble,
The lawns are gemmed with dew.

An end of tombstone Latinity,
Stir up sober mirth,
Twenty-fifth after Trinity,
Kneel with the listening earth,
Behind the Advent trumpets
They are singing Emmanuel’s birth.

The call of the 12 Apostles and the ministry of Ordinary people

The Apostles and Evangelists in two sets of icons in the tiny Church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Gramvousa off the north-west coast of Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2016; click on images for full-screen view)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 18 June 2017

The First Sunday after Trinity

9.30 a.m.: Holy Communion, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

Readings: Genesis 18: 1-15; Psalm 116: 1, 10-17; Romans 5: 1-8; Matthew 9: 35 -10: 8 (9-23).

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today is Father’s Day, today is the beginning of Ordinary Times in the Church Calendar, and later today three of our parishioners are being confirmed in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

I want to say something about some of these ideas this morning. But first of all, I want to say something about the awful events in London in recent days. And then I want to say something that brings these very different concepts, and thread them together in some closing thoughts.

Anything I can say in the wake of the latest tragedy is in danger of being crass, perhaps even being trite, in the face of so much suffering and loss, shock and grief, that are giving rise to a heady mixture of fear, frustration and anger.

There needs to be clear and compassionate leadership from politicians, and there is a clear need for accountability. There are people who suffering and grieving who need closure and compassion. But they do not know who has died, and they are not getting answers they need and their dignity demands.

I feel angry when I think that many of these people may not be getting answers because in a rich borough like Kensington they are on the margins: refugees, immigrants, single parent families, members of ethnic minorities.

What happened in the early hours of Wednesday was not an accident. It was caused by political decisions, by spending decisions, by budgetary decisions. Some people decided that on aesthetic grounds it was more important to make these people less visible because they were judged to be less important than other people who lived in the area, they could be hidden behind cheap cladding.

This was compounded by inadequate sprinklers and fire alarms. This too, for these people, must now seem like a form of terrorism, albeit economic terrorism.

Many more people who have been housed in tower blocks now live in fear. But the same fears must haunt people working in and using public service buildings, hospitals and office blocks.

But none of this is without hope. A tight-knit community has been brought together. Those who might too easily have been dismissed as too rich to care have joined everyone else in the area with abundant generosity.

In the wake of the recent attacks in Manchester and London, there is a sombre national mood in Britain this weekend. But people of faith – in churches, synagogues and mosques – have shown that love and hope are at the heart of our faith systems.

I am inspired by those people who show in such practical ways that hope overcomes fear, that faith expresses our humanity despite the efforts to divide and marginalise, that love triumphs over apparent neglect, that light overcomes darkness.

These are extraordinary times indeed. But we have moved into Ordinary Time, the time in the Church Calendar from Trinity Sunday until the beginning of Advent.

It is as though we are saying we have been busy for the past few months … with Epiphany, Candlemas, Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost … and now let us have some Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Time is the longest time in the Church year, and has few significant events; it has a kind of ordinariness that other seasons lack. There are no narrative high points, no showy colours or costumes, not even a signature hymn or two. We enter, as the poet TS Eliot says in Burnt Norton, ‘at the still point’:

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is …

Burnt Norton, the first of Eliot’s Four Quartets, is a poem of early summer, air and grace. For Eliot, it is in the movement of time that brief moments of eternity are caught. The revelation of God in Christ is at the intersection between eternity and time. Life can be very ordinary. But life and time, in their ordinary ways, are worth celebrating, time after time, in every ordinary life.

The poem After Trinity by John Meade Falkner (1858-1932) seems to convey something that is very Anglican about this time of the year, this Ordinary Time, when Sunday follows Sunday, through the beauty of creation and following the course of the natural year:

We have done with dogma and divinity,
Easter and Whitsun past,
The long, long Sundays after Trinity
Are with us at last;
The passionless Sundays after Trinity,
Neither feast-day nor fast.

Christmas comes with plenty,
Lent spreads out its pall,
But these are five and twenty,
The longest Sundays of all;
The placid Sundays after Trinity,
Wheat-harvest, fruit-harvest, Fall.

Ordinary Time lasts these ‘five and twenty Sundays’ or so, for five or six months – until the beginning of Advent. But as Meade Falkner reminds us, some extra-ordinary things happen in this season of ‘placid Sundays.’ We have the long days of summer, the harvest of wheat and fruit, summer holidays and the longest day of the year. For children, it is summer holiday time – time at the beach, time to travel, time to explore, and in all of those times, time to mature and time to grow.

Ordinary Time allows the Church to celebrate the ordinariness of life as summer moves into autumn and as we anticipate autumn moving into winter.

John Keble (1792-1866) captures some of the beauties of this season in our opening hymn this morning, New every morning (Irish Church Hymnal, No 59):

The trivial round, the common task,
will furnish all we ought to ask,
room to deny ourselves, a road
to bring us daily nearer God.

Do you find yourself being brought nearer to God day-by-day, in a new way each morning, in the ordinary, trivial things of daily life?

My second set of ideas this morning are about the Confirmations we are celebrating in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, this afternoon.

There is a popular saying among theologians, especially Anglican theologians, that Confirmation is a rite in search of a theology.

But the meaning of Confirmation is found in our shared baptism, the foundation of every ministry, which is being affirmed and re-affirmed this afternoon by the three people who are being presented to Bishop Kenneth Kearon for confirmation.

One of these is an adult, two are in their teens, and so for these three it is not a mere rite of passage, or something added on because we forgot to do it at their Baptism. It is a clear, adult decision by these three people to own for themselves the promises made at Baptism on their own behalf and to respond to the call of Christ.

Like Bishops, Priest and Deacons, lay people too have a valid and validated ministry in the Church. We were reminded of the ministry of each and every member of the Church in the discussions at the Ministry Day for this diocese in Glenstal Abbey yesterday [17 June 2017].

Our common, shared baptism is the beginning of every ministry in the Church. We are all ordinary people before God, sharing in common that we are created in his image and likeness, joined in our Baptism in the Body of Christ, and at our Confirmation enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say ‘Amen’ to Christ present in the sacrament and ‘Amen’ to Christ present in the body of the Church, in each and every one of us, each and every ordinary one of us.

Christ and the Twelve Apostles in statues on Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

So, how do we draw these disparate ideas together and make connections with this morning’s Gospel reading?

Our Gospel story begins with Jesus in ordinary, everyday situations, going ‘about all the cities and villages’ [Matthew 9: 35] mixing with ordinary people, people who need hope, people who are sick, sore and sorry, people who are distressed, marginalised and suffering, and he has ‘compassion for them, because they are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ [Matthew 9: 36]. They are ordinary people, indeed, in ordinary places, in ordinary time.

And to answer their plight, to carry out his mission, he chooses 12 disciples, 12 ordinary people, with ordinary backgrounds and careers: Peter, who denies him three times; Andrew his brother, a fisherman; James and John, ‘Mammy’s boys’ who jockey for position, unsure of what the Kingdom of God is about; Philip, who could easily turn away Greek-speaking Gentiles; Matthew, despised as a tax collector; Thomas who doubts him; Judas who betrays him … [see Matthew 10: 2-4].

In our ordinary everyday lives, Christ calls us to follow him, not for our own self-satisfying feeling of being good, but to proclaim the Good News; not for our own advantage and enrichment, but because that is what the suffering world needs.

We are called as ordinary people to do that; our Baptism is our commission to do that; our Confirmation is our ‘Amen’ to that.

And so, may all we think, say and do, be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

(Revd Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Priest-in-Charge in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes. This sermon was prepared the First Sunday after Trinity, 18 June 2017.

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone, Co Kildare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Collect:

God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you, both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Peace (at Confirmation):

God has made us one in Christ.
He has set his seal upon us
and, as a pledge of what is to come,
has given the Spirit to dwell in our hearts.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Preface (at Confirmation):

Because by water and the Holy Spirit
you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord,
raised to new life in him
and renewed in us the image of your glory

Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal Father,
we thank you for nourishing us
with these heavenly gifts.
May our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Blessing (at Confirmation)

The God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

‘The long, long Sundays after Trinity/ Are with us at last;/ The passionless Sundays after Trinity,/ Neither feast-day nor fast’ … Trinity College Cambridge and Trinity Lane in mid-summer rain (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

After Trinity, John Meade Falkner (1858-1932):

We have done with dogma and divinity,
Easter and Whitsun past,
The long, long Sundays after Trinity
Are with us at last;
The passionless Sundays after Trinity,
Neither feast-day nor fast.

Christmas comes with plenty,
Lent spreads out its pall,
But these are five and twenty,
The longest Sundays of all;
The placid Sundays after Trinity,
Wheat-harvest, fruit-harvest, Fall.

Spring with its burst is over,
Summer has had its day,
The scented grasses and clover
Are cut, and dried into hay;
The singing-birds are silent,
And the swallows flown away.

Post pugnam pausa fiet;
Lord, we have made our choice;
In the stillness of autumn quiet,
We have heard the still, small voice.
We have sung Oh where shall Wisdom?
Thick paper, folio, Boyce.

Let it not all be sadness,
Not omnia vanitas,
Stir up a little gladness
To lighten the Tibi cras;
Send us that little summer,
That comes with Martinmas.

When still the cloudlet dapples
The windless cobalt blue,
And the scent of gathered apples
Fills all the store-rooms through,
The gossamer silvers the bramble,
The lawns are gemmed with dew.

An end of tombstone Latinity,
Stir up sober mirth,
Twenty-fifth after Trinity,
Kneel with the listening earth,
Behind the Advent trumpets
They are singing Emmanuel’s birth.

Finding the High Crosses of Moone and the ruins of a once-grand house

The High Cross at Moone, Co Kildare, is one of the best preserved of its kind in Ireland and the second largest in Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

I spent much of Saturday [10 September 2016] in Carlow, at the launch of ‘My Right Foot’ with ‘The Jacket off your Back’ and then exploring the streets of Carlow town, admiring the fading elegance of the Georgian and Victorian architecture of the town.

On the way back to Dublin, two of us stopped at Moone in Co Kildare to see the High Cross and the ruins of Moone Abbey.

Moone is about 4 km south of Ballitore, off the N9, the roads are confusing and it was difficult to find the site with the church and the cross. They are hidden from direct view on a side road, and parking beside the wall seemed quite tight.

Moone claims to be one of the oldest inhabited areas in Co Kildare, with evidence of a settlement there dating back 6000 years.

Saint Colmcille founded a monastery at Moone in the sixth century, and both the Martyrology of Donegal and the Book of Lismore refer to Moone as the Maen Colum Cille or the property of Saint Colmcille.

Tradition says the Roman Bishop Palladius, who came to Ireland in 431, brought Christianity to Moone. Local lore says Saint Patrick planned to visit Moone from Glenealy, but the local people considered him a heretic and laid traps for him. Saint Patrick was warned by a woman called Brigitta about the traps and took evasive action by skirting Moone. As he passed, he blessed Brigitta, and cursed Moone saying no more men born there would ever become king or bishop.

A pair of two tall pillars in the centre of Moone are a legacy of the Belan House estate, once the home of the Earls of Aldborough. The road through these pillars leads to the site of Moone Abbey and Moone High Cross.

The Twelve Apostles on the High Cross at Moone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

The large High Cross of Moone is believed to have been carved between 900 and 1000 AD. This high cross is carved in an interesting flat style. These flat surfaces would have been easier to paint, as were many high crosses.

The cross stands in the ruins of the 13th century church, and is one of four crosses that originally defined the boundaries and extent of the abbey property. The South Cross or Moone High Cross is the only one of the four crosses to survive intact, although fragments remain of the three other crosses.

The South Cross at Moone is a granite ringed cross in three sections and now stands inside the former medieval church. The cross was found ca 1835 buried in Moone Abbey Churchyard, near the south-east wall of the old abbey church, and since its restoration it measures 5.33 metres (17.5 ft) from platform to submit.

The Flight into Egypt on the High Cross at Moone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

The iconography of the cross includes references to both the Old and the New Testaments, and it is one of the best preserved of its kind in Ireland. It is a masterpiece among granite crosses and is the second largest in Ireland.

The decoration consists of panels with scriptural scenes carved in false relief. The base is a tall rectangular block with a truncated pyramid on top. On the face of the cross is the figure of Christ Crucified with his arms extended, and a fish like dolphin over his head.

On the South Face of the base, the lower panel depicts Daniel in the Lion’s Den; the middle panel depicts Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac; and the upper panel shows Adam and Eve.

On the West Face of the base, the lower panel depicts the loaves and fishes; the middle panel depicts the Flight into Egypt; and the upper panel depicts the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace.

On the North Face of the base, the lower panel extends into the middle panel and depicts the Twelve Apostles; and the upper panel depicts the Crucifixion.

Saint Anthony and Saint Paul breaking bread in the desert and the raven bringing them bread (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

On the East Face of the base, the lower panel depicts two animals with scrolls on their backs, the ends of which interlace and have heads as terminals; the middle panel depicts the temptation of Saint Anthony by two beasts in the desert; the upper panel shows Saint Anthony Paul and Saint Paul breaking bread in the desert and the raven bringing them bread.

The South Face of the shaft shows Christ in Majesty on the Cross Face, and the panels of the shaft are filled with interlaced decorations, animals and abstract motifs.

The West Face of the shaft has panels decorated with animals and figures, but every second panel is undecorated.

On the North Face of the shaft, the Cross Head has a large spiral and small panels in the arms. The shaft panels are filled with animals, including a cow, a deer and two dogs. The panel below the ring has a diamond-shaped design on a background of small bosses. The upper panel has a six spiral pattern.

On the East Face, once again every second panel on the shaft and ring have animals or interlace while every other panel is blank.

Part of the Holed Stone Cross, which is now in fragments (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

The upper part of the Holed Stone Cross is now in fragments. These fragments originally belonged to one block of granite. Three fragments remain and these consist of the lower portion of the head, the upper part of the shaft, and one arm of the cross.

Both faces are sculptured. Three different animals are represented on one of the faces, and on one of them there is a strange beast, similar to that on the south side of the High Cross. The points where the ring of the cross started are quite visible in the edges of these fragments. There is a great round hole opened to the sky, with the edges of the circle well rounded and polished. Around it, four serpents are entwining their tails.

The East Cross dates from before 1200. A granite base of a cross is deeply buried in the grounds of the graveyard, north-east of the church.

The North Cross also dates from before 1200. The undecorated base of this cross in the shape of a pyramid is situated in a wooded field to the north of the mediaeval church.

The base of the pre-1200 West Cross is situated immediately north of the South cross. It is a two-stepped undecorated pyramidal shaped granite base with small mortice. There is a rebate around the mortice and one side of the base has three steps.

The cross head and stepped base of the granite high cross were discovered in 1835 during work in the graveyard of the ruined church. Because the carvings were not exposed to the elements, they were in a remarkable state of preservation, and the cross was re-erected by the Duke of Leinster in 1850.

The shaft was found in 1893 and the cross was restored again. A section of another highly ornamented cross was found and both crosses were moved to the interior of the church ruin in 1995, when some conservation work was done on the large cross.

The crosses have been recently cleaned and a modern plexi-glass roof has been placed over the shell of the church to protect the crosses from the elements.

Only 200 High Crosses survive in Ireland and the majority are fragmentary. High Crosses were erected near the entrances to monasteries or they were commissioned by kings to show their patronage of an abbey or church. Unlike their modern counterparts, high crosses were never erected as gravemarkers.

The ruins of Belan House, on the edges of Moone village and close to Moone Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Belan House nearby was once a grand mansion but is now hollow shell, and its once fine demesne now a shadow of its former glory.

This was once the country house of the Stratford family, Earls of Aldborough, who came to Ireland in the 17th century. Belan House was built largely from the ruins of a FitzGerald Castle that once stood on this site but was destroyed in 1641.

The Stratfords’ house, built by architects Castle and Bindon, became one of the largest gabled houses in Ireland, with fine gardens that included follies such as a classical temple and obelisks and with extensive parklands.

John Stratfford became Baron of Baltinglass and in 1777 was made Earl of Aldborough. He decided to enlarge Belan House to match his new status. His son, the second earl, built Aldborough House as his palatial townhouse in Dublin.

The decline of Belan House began in the 1820s when the fourth earl, embroiled in gambling debts, mortgaged the house and let it fall into disrepair. He even sold the garden ornaments and the gates were given to Carton Demesne.

Most of the worthwhile parts of the estate were sold in years that followed, and the title died out when the sixth Earl of Aldborough died in 1876.

The only successful part of the estate was the corn mill with its great millrace owned by Ebenezer Shackleton, uncle of the famous explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Today the ruins can be seen on the bend in the road between the village and Moone Abbey. There are ‘No Trespassing’ signs and the large gates remain closed. I could not confirm stories beside the ruined house the classical temple and the obelisks are still standing.