Christmas Cards from Patrick Comerford: 12, 5 January 2026

Three Magi on a shelf waiting to visit the crib in All Saints’ Church, Calverton, near Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I sent out very few Christmas cards this year. Instead, at noon each day throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, I am offering an image or two as my virtual Christmas cards, without comment.

Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January 2026). My images for my Christmas Card at noon today (5 January 2026) are of the Three Wise Men or Magi in Buckinghamshire churches preparing for the Epiphany visit: Three Magi on a shelf waiting to visit the crib in All Saints’ Church, Calverton, near Stony Stratford; and the Three Magi on a window ledge waiting to visit the crib in Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, near Buckingham.

Three Magi on a window ledge waiting to visit the crib in Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, near Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Christmas 2025-2026: 2, Friday 26 December 2025, Saint Stephen’s Day

Saint Stephen before the Council … a window by CE Kempe (1837-1907) in the south aisle in Lichfield Cathedral in memory of John Toke Godfrey-Faussett (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me … ‘two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree’.

Christmas is not over; this is the second day of Christmas and today is Saint Stephen’s Day, the feast of Saint Stephen the deacon and first martyr. 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.

An image of Saint Stephen in Saint Stephen Walbrook, London … on the site of a seventh century Saxon church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 10: 17-22 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 17 ‘Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.’

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me … ‘two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree’ … Christmas decorations at a house in Padbury, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Reflections:

The Gospel reading in the lectionary for the Eucharist today tells us nothing about the martyrdom of Saint Stephen. Instead, the story of his martyrdom is found in one of today’s other readings (Acts 7: 51-60).

About 55 years ago, when I was training to be a chartered surveyor with Jones Lang Wootton and the College of Estate Management then part of Reading University, a file for an investment or development property in Dublin went missing one day. It was an important portfolio, and ought to have been filed under ‘S’ for ‘Saint Stephen’s Green.’

Eventually, the file was found under the letter ‘G’.

‘I filed it under G for Green,’ the person who did the filing explained.

But for many Dubliners, it is probably not Saint Stephen’s Green, but ‘Stevenses Green,’ as in ‘Dr Steevenses Hospital’ and ‘Stevenses Day.’

I find it hard to call today ‘Boxing Day.’ For me, 26 December is always going to be Saint Stephen’s Day.

Stephen is a family name: my grandfather, father, eldest brother and a nephew were all baptised Stephen – four successive generations with the name Stephen Comerford. But my reasons for insisting on retaining the name of Saint Stephen’s Day is not some quirky genealogical sentimentality or some misplaced filial loyalty.

It is theologically important to remind ourselves on the day after Christmas Day of the important link between the Incarnation and bearing witness to our Resurrection faith.

Saint Stephen’s Day today (26 December), Holy Innocents’ Day two days later (28 December), and the commemoration of Thomas à Beckett on 29 December are reminders that Christmas, far from being surrounded by sanitised images of the crib, angels and wise men, is followed by martyrdom and violence. Close on the joy of Christmas comes the cost of following Christ. A popular expression, derived from the leading 17th century Quaker William Penn, says: ‘No Cross, No Crown.’

Saint Stephen the Deacon is the Protomartyr of Christianity. The Greek word or name Στέφανος (Stephanos) means ‘crown’ or ‘wreath’ and the Acts of the Apostles tell us that Saint Stephen earned his crown at his martyrdom when he was stoned to death around the year 34 or 35 CE by an angry mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus, the future Apostle Paul.

Stephen was the first of the seven deacons chosen in the Apostolic Church in Jerusalem. While he was on trial, Saint Stephen experienced a theophany: But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ (Acts 7: 55-56).

The Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem is also known as Saint Stephen’s Gate because of the tradition that Saint Stephen was stoned there. In 415 CE, a church was built in Saint Stephen’s honour in Jerusalem to hold his relics. The relics were later moved to Constantinople. Today, those relics are said to be buried under the altar of the Church of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome.

The ‘Feast of Stephen’ is inextricably linked with Christmas through the English carol Good King Wenceslas, although during my visits to Prague, I have been aware that the Czechs have a far better claim than the English to Good King Wenceslas.

Today is a public holiday in the United Kingdom as Boxing Day. But as Saint Stephen’s Day, today is still a public holiday in Ireland and many other countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and parts of France, the Philippines and Spain. In the Orthodox Church, Saint Stephen’s Day is celebrated on 27 December, and is known as the ‘Third Day of the Nativity.’

Saint Stephen Walbrook, a Wren church in the heart of the City of London, has been listed by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the 10 most important buildings in England.

Saint Stephen’s Church in Mount Street Crescent, Dublin – popularly known as the ‘Pepper Canister Church’ – is one of the last churches built in the classical style in Dublin. Saint Stephen’s, which opened in 1824, was designed by John Bowden and Joseph Welland. The tower and portico were modelled on three elegant monuments in Athens: the Erechtheum on the Acropolis (the portico), the Tower of the Winds (the campanile), and the Monument of Lysicrates (the cupola). But the Victorian apse, which was added in 1852, owes its inspiration to the Oxford Movement.

However, the most impressive church I have visited that is named after the first martyr is the Stephansdom, the Cathedral of Saint Stephen, in Vienna, which dates back to 1147.

I first visited the Stephansdom many years ago, while I was a panellist at a seminar organised by the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in 2002, and I have returned to visit the cathedral a number of times since then.

A memorial tablet there recalls Mozart’s relationship with the cathedral. This was his parish church when he lived at the ‘Figaro House’, he was married there and two of his children were baptised there. He was named an adjunct music director in the Stephansdom shortly before his death, and his funeral was held in the Chapel of the Cross in the cathedral in 1791.

The Stephansdom has 23 bells, and it is said Beethoven realised the full extent of his deafness when he saw birds flying from the bell tower and realised he could not hear the bells toll.

I have also visited Saint Stephen’s House, the theological college in Oxford popularly known as ‘Staggers,’ which is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, maintaining high standards of liturgy and intellectual rigour.

Saint Stephen’s House was founded in 1876 by leading Anglo-Catholics members of the Anglo-Catholic Movement, including Edward King, then Regius professor of Pastoral Theology at Oxford and later Bishop of Lincoln.

King was one of the outstandingly holy men of his time. Other founding figures included Henry Scott Holland, one of the leading figures in the development of the Christian social teaching of the time. It was he who suggested the name of the house.

Saint Stephen’s has moved since its foundation, and since 1980 it has been located at Iffley Road in East Oxford in the former monastery of the Cowley Fathers, where it is said Dietrich Bonhoeffer decided to return to Germany where he met with martyrdom.

Bonhoeffer’s martyrdom illustrates how none of this architecture or grandeur, nor the extension to the Christmas holiday provided by this saint’s day, would have any meaning today without the faithful witness of Saint Stephen, the first deacon and first martyr, who links our faith in the Incarnation with our faith in the Resurrection.

A tranquil morning in Saint Stepehen’s Green, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 26 December 2025, Saint Stephen’s Day):

The theme this week (21 to 27 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Love Brings Life in Tanzania’ (pp 12-13). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Imran Englefield, Individual Giving Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 26 December 2025, Saint Stephen’s Day) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we give thanks for the mothers and babies at Mvumi Hospital who are HIV-free. We celebrate this gift of life and health, and pray that you will continue to be present by your Spirit.

The Collect:

Gracious Father,
who gave the first martyr Stephen
grace to pray for those who took up stones against him:
grant that in all our sufferings for the truth
we may learn to love even our enemies
and to seek forgiveness for those who desire our hurt,
looking up to heaven to him who was crucified for us,
Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Merciful Lord,
we thank you for the signs of your mercy
revealed in birth and death:
save us by the coming of your Son,
and give us joy in honouring Stephen,
first martyr of the new Israel;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The interior of the Stephansdom or Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, near Buckingham, and its series of wall paintings from the 14th century

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is the only surviving mediaeval building in Padbury (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Padbury is a small village in north Buckinghamshire, about half way between Buckingham and Winslow, which I have visited a few times in recent weeks. I returned yesterday afternoon with a priest-colleague and friend to show him Saint Mary’s Church, a 13th century church with interesting 14th century wall paintings that were rediscovered during restoration work in the 1880s.

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is the most prominent building in Padbury and the only surviving mediaeval building in the village. The beautiful parish church is at the top of Church Lane, a gradual and straight street that continues on from the Main Street, and it provides a visual, physical and spiritual focus for the village.

The earliest parts of Saint Mary’s Church date from ca 1210, and its wall paintings date from the 1330s.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury … the oldest parts of the church date from ca 1210 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Grade II+ church, built of uncoursed stone rubble, is 29 metres long, 18 metres wide, and includes the 13th century nave and chancel, two 14th century aisles, with 16th century alterations and an embattled west tower that was rebuilt in the 17th century. The church was repaired and restored in 1830 and 1882, the south porch was added in the late 19th century and the vestry on the north side of tower was added in the early 20th century.

The early 13th century chancel arch has been rebuilt on piers with wide segmental pilasters. The solid oak altar is dated 1634, other fittings in the chancel date from the late 19th century, and the chancel has a small aumbry and cusped ogee piscina in the south wall. The chancel also has 18th century wall tablets and the chancel windows have some early 20th century glass.

The chancel in Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, was restored in the 1880s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The three-light east window has reticulated tracery. The chancel also has small low lancet widows at its the west end and two-light windows to the east – the window on the north side has Y tracery, while the one on the south side is Decorated.

The nave has four bays with a double chamfered arcade on octagonal piers with moulded caps and end arches on corbels, some of them with carved heads. The nave has a rendered clerestory with round cusped 14th century windows on the north side, perpendicular windows on the south side, and a blind circular window above the porch.

The restored 14th century south door with a continuous moulded arch and jambs and an earlier label with nail-head ornament and carved head stops (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The south aisle has paired lancets in the west wall, and perpendicular windows in the south and east walls. The north aisle has Decorated windows.

The south aisle has two trefoiled piscinas, one with dog-tooth ornament. The restored 14th century south door has a continuous moulded arch and jambs and an earlier label with nail-head ornament and carved head stops.

The west tower has three stages with a plinth, parapet, pointed openings in the bell-chamber, and a tall arched west door with modern round headed window above. Inside, the tower has a triple chamfered arch on carved head corbels. The roofs have some original timbers that were restored in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The Laudian-style Altar in the Chancel dates from 1634 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The patronage of Padbury was in the hands of the Priors of Bradwell until the Tudor Reformations. The advowson passed first to Cardinal Wolsey when he was founding Cardinal College, now Christ Church, Oxford. It was held briefly by the Carthusian Priory in Sheen. It then passed to the Crown, and, although it was briefly held by the Bishops of Lincoln, it has remained a Crown living since the reign of Elizabeth I.

For more than 100 years, between 1764 and 1868, Padbury had only three vicars, all from the one family: James Eyre, William Eyre and William Thomas Eyre. In 1837, Padbury was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Oxford.

The church was restored in 1882-1888 to designs by the architect John Oldrid Scott (1841-1913), although some local sources say the plans were designed by his father who had died four to ten years earlier, Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878), who was born in the neighbouring village of Gawcott.

In Scott’s work, the chancel was restored, new choir stalls and communion rails were inserted, and black and white marble chancel steps and ornate floor tiles were put in place.

The martyrdom of Saint Edmund and Saint George slaying the dragon, among the 14th century wall paintings rediscovered in 1883 (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

During the restoration work in the 1880s, important 14th century mural paintings were discovered in 1883 on the wall of the north aisle and in the spandrels of the south arcade. They have been dated to ca 1330. The panels on the north wall depict: two scenes from the life of Saint Catharine of Alexandria; the Wheel of the Seven Deadly Sins; Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child; and Saint George slaying the dragon. The panels in the south arcade show scenes from the life and martyrdom of Saint Edmund.

The altar in the chapel in the south aisle and its reredos were made in 1908 from the timber of the late 18th century oak pulpit.

The Crucifixion depicted in the East Window by Burlison and Grylls, in memory of Montagu Vernon Gore-Langton of Padbury Lodge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The three-light East Window by Burlison and Grylls (1916) depicts the Crucifixion, with Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary and Saint John. It was given in memory of Captain Montagu Vernon Gore-Langton (1887-1915), youngest son of William Frederick and Lisa Gore-Langton of Padbury Lodge and an officer in the Irish Guards, who was killed in northern France during World War I.

Christ the Great High Priest with two censing angels in the Carmichael window on the south aide of the chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A three-light window on the south side of the chancel by Burlison and Grylls (1937) shows Christ as the Great High Priest between two censing angels. The window is in memory of the Revd Ernest Carmichael, the Vicar of Padbury in 1911-1919.

‘Steadfast in Faith, Rooted in Charity, Joyful through Hope’ … the Neame window at the east end of the south aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A three-light window at the east end of the south aisle is by Frank Mann of James Powell & Sons (1904) in the style of William Morris. It shows Faith, Hope and Charity, and was given by a former vicar, the Revd Walter Neame, in memory of his wife Kathleen.

The baptismal font in the south aisle, near the south door (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A four-light window on the south side of the south aisle by an unknown artist shows the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), the Pelican and the Greek monograms IHC and XPC.

Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, is one of four churches in the Lenborough Benefice, which also includes Holy Trinity Church, Gawcott, Saint Cecilia’s Church, Adstock, and All Saints’ Church, Hillesden.

The interim vicar is the Revd Dr Quentin Chandler, who is also Head of Vocations and Director of Ordinands (DDO) in the Diocese of Oxford. Sunday services rotate between the four churches in the benefice. There is a Carol Service with Lessons and Carols in Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury, at 5 pm this afternoon (14 December 2025), followed by wine and mince pies. The Christmas services include a Chistingle service at 4 pm on Christmas Eve and Midnight Mass at 11 pm.

The church is open during the day and there is a Quiet Prayer Garden in the churchyard.

Details in the window showing the Lamb of God, the Pelican and the Greek monograms IHC and XPC (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

• Padbury also had a Methodist chapel, built as the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in 1876. The Old Chapel on Main Street has been since been converted in recent years into a private family home.

The Old Chapel on Main Street, Padbury, built as the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in 1876 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Two winter visits to Padbury, a Buckinghamshire village with a layout that has changed little since the 16th century

Padbury in north Buckinghamshire is about halfway between Buckingham and Winslow and about 14 km south-west of central Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Despite the fact that winter has truly taken its grip on this part of Buckinghamshire, I wrap myself up well on days when I find opportunities to catch local buses and explore the villages and small towns within reach of Stony Stratford.

Quite often they have mediaeval churches, thatched and timber-framed cottages from the 16th or 17th century, and traditional English pubs. Occasionally, I find real surprises when I come across a church, rectory or schoolhouse that has been designed by a prominent architect who has worked locally, including Sir George Gilbert Scott, John Oldrid Scott, George Edmund Street or Edward Swinfen Harris.

Some of these villages small in recent weeks in this area include Addington, Castlethorpe, Deanshanger, Gawcott, Hanslope, Maids Moreton and Roade. I was back in Padbury this afternoon, having strolled through this north Buckinghamshire village only a few weeks ago. It is almost halfway between Buckingham (4 km, 2.5 miles) and Winslow (6 km, 3.5 miles), and about 14 km (9 miles) south-west of central Milton Keynes.

The Padbury estate was once owned by All Souls’ College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Padbury stands partly on elevated ground that once provided a degree of defence, but most of the village is down in a shallow valley that provided shelter, close to a good water source and at the junction of significant communications routes.

The layout of the village, with its areas of open space, particularly at the north-east end of Main Street, suggests a market place or village green, but there is no surviving evidence that Padbury had once been a market town. A map of the Padbury estate owned by All Souls’ College, Oxford, in 1590 clearly shows that the form of the village has changed little since the late 16th century.

Apart from the development of the A413 which sliced through the north-east end of the village in the 19th century, the general layout of the roads and position of the buildings have changed little.

Archaeological finds in the Padbury area include a Neolithic or Bronze Age flint side scraper and a Neolithic stone axe, and an Iron Age hillfort or enclosure at Norbury Camp. Earthworks recorded on a 16th century map and crop-marks have been identified on aerial photographs. A Roman road once passed through Padbury, and some Roman pottery has been found near Grange Farm.

A map of the Padbury estate owned by All Souls’ College, Oxford, shows the form of the village has changed little since the 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The village name has Old English origins, and means ‘Padda’s fortress’. A hoard of over 5,000 silver coins from the late Anglo Saxon period was found in a field at Lenborough near Padbury by an eight-year-old boy and others in 2014.

Around the time of the Norman Conquest, the Manor of Padbury was exchanged for the Manor of Iver between Robert Doyley and Robert Clarenbold of the Marsh. The village was recorded in the Domesday Survey (1086) as Pateberie, and at the time had the distinction of being one of the few villages in England still owned by a native rather than a Norman family. The family later took the name de Wolverton, after the town of Wolverton, and they continued to hold Padbury until 1442, when it was bought by All Souls’ College, Oxford.

Padbury, or Overbury as it was sometimes known, had a watermill from the time of Domesday. Mediaeval finds include a possible mediaeval or post-mediaeval moat or enclosure in a field survey on Main Street.

However, the only surviving mediaeval building in Padbury is the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, a Grade I listed building from the 12th century with a Norman doorway, a 13th century nave, chancel and font, 14th century aisles and wall paintings, and a 15th century tower. Some alterations were made in the 16th century and the church was restored in the 19th century. Later Victorian work on the church uncovered some 14th century wall-paintings in the north aisle.

College Farm may take its name from All Souls’ College, Oxford, which acquired Padbury in 1442 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The village cross at Downe Cross was still standing in the 16th century, but it has since disappeared. During the English Civil War, Padbury was the site of a skirmish between the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. The Royalists won and of eight Parliamentarian soldiers were buried in Padbury on 2 July 1643.

The relatively straight and wide Main Street runs from the Forde at the south-west end of the village, north-east to end at Saint Mary’s Church. This was the primary route through Padbury until the A413 toll road was developed in the 19th century, reducing the importance of Main Street and also dislocating Saint Mary’s church from the rest of the settlement.

The listed buildings in Padbury include timber-framed buildings, some dating back to the 16th or 17th centuries, such as Stratfords Cottage, Trefoil Cottage or the old vicarage. There are some later, brick built, 18th and 19th century houses, like the White House. The 19th century buildings include the Village Hall, which was once a school, and several railway bridges.

The A413 cut through the north-east end of Padbury in the 19th century, but the layout of the village has changed little (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

With the development of the railway in the 19th century, the London and North Western Railway opened a station at Padbury in 1878. The station remained in use until 1964, when it was closed to goods and passengers. Today all trace of the station has been lost following the development of the modern Station Road housing estate.

Padbury has a population of around 1,000 people and is surrounded by farmland. Until recently, the village has two pubs, the New Inn and the Blackbird, and there are active community efforts to reopen and manage the Blackbird. Padbury also has a cricket club, a football club, a bowls club, a two tennis courts, and a multi-use games area. Padbury Church of England school is a primary school for children from four to 11, with about 110 pupils.

Saint Mary’s Church remains the most prominent building in Padbury, and the village once had a Methodist chapel too. But more about these in the days to come, hopefully.

The Old Tithe Barn in Padbury, now a private family home (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)