Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 80, Sunday 26 July 2026, Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII)

Sunset behind the Fortezza in Rethymnon in Crete, seen from Pavlos Beach in Platanias … ‘a little snatch of heaven’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and today is the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII, 26 July 2026). Later this morning, I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stratford.

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.

A glimpse of Vicars Close, Lichfield, from Erasmus Darwin’s Garden, near Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52 (NRSVA):

31 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

33 He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.

44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 ‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ 52 And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

Sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections

Have you ever found yourself lost for words when it comes to describing a beautiful place you have visited?

If you have ever been to the Bay of Naples or Sorrento, how would you describe what you have seen to someone who has never travelled outside a 30 km radius from Dublin?

You might try comparing the first glimpse of Vesuvius with looking at the Great Sugarloaf … but that hardly describes the experience of climbing the rocky path, looking into the caldera, or the experience of the sulphuric smell.

You might want to compare the Bay of Naples with the vista in Dalkey or Killiney … but that hardly catches the majestic scope of the view.

You might want to compare the church domes with the great copper dome in Rathmines … but that goes nowhere near describing the intricate artwork on those Italian domes.

You might compare the inside of the duomo in Amalfi with the inside of your favourite parish church … but you know you are getting nowhere near what you want to say.

And as for Capri … you are hardly going to write a romantic song about Dalkey Island, Ireland’s Eye or Lambay, Mersea Island or the Isle of Dogs.

Comparisons never match the beauty of any place that offers us a snatch or glimpse of heaven.

And yet, we know that the photographs on our phones, no matter how good they seem to be when we are taking them, never do justice to the places we have been when we get home.

We risk becoming bores either by trying to use inadequate words or inadequate images to describe experiences that we can never truly share with people unless they go there, unless they have been there too.

I suppose that helps to a degree to understand why Jesus keeps on trying to grasp at images that might help the Disciples and help us to understand what the Kingdom of God is like.

He tries to offer us a taste of the kingdom with a number of parables in this morning’s Gospel reading:

• The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed … (verse 31).

• The kingdom of heaven is like yeast … (verse 33).

• The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field … (verse 44).

• The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls … (verse 45).

• The kingdom of heaven is like a net in the sea … (verse 47).

‘Do they understand?’ They answer, ‘Yes.’ But how can they really understand, fully understand?

Once after a late lunch in Mount Usher, I posted some photographs of the gardens. An American reader I have never met commented: ‘A little piece of heaven.’

We have a romantic imagination that confuses gardens with Paradise, and Paradise with the Kingdom of Heaven. But perhaps that is a good starting point, because I have a number of places where I find myself saying constantly: ‘This is a little snatch of heaven.’ They include:

• The road from Cappoquin out to my grandmother’s farm in West Waterford.

• The train journey from outside Ferns to Wexford, along the banks of the River Slaney.

• The view from the east end of Stowe Pool across to Lichfield Cathedral at sunset on a Spring evening, or walking around Vicars Close in Lichfield.

• The Backs in Cambridge, which is visited once again last week.

• The fields in Comberford and the banks of the River Tame.

• Sunset at the Fortezza in Rethymnon on the Greek island of Crete.

• The sights and sounds on some of the shores and beaches I once walked on regularly … Bettystown, Skerries, Loughshinny, Portrane, Donabate, Bray, Wexford, Achill, Rethymnon, Platanias, Panormos …

The Kingdom of Heaven must be so like so many of these places where I find myself constantly praising God and thanking God for creation.

But … but it’s not just that. And I start thinking that Christ does more than just paint a scene when he describes the kingdom of heaven. Looking at the Gospel reading again, I realise he is doing more than offering holiday snapshots or painting the scenery.

He tries to describe the Kingdom of Heaven in terms of doing, and not just in terms of being:

• Sowing a seed (verse 31);

• Giving a nest to the birds of the air (verse 32);

• Mixing yeast (verse 33);

• Turning small amounts of flour into generous portions of bread (verse 34);

• Finding hidden treasure (verse 44);

• Rushing out in joy (verse 44);

• Selling all that I have because something I have found is worth more – much, much more, again and again (verse 44, 46);

• Searching for pearls (verse 45);

• Finding just one pearl (verse 46);

• Casting a net into the sea (verse 47);

• Catching an abundance of fish (verse 47);

• Drawing the abundance of fish ashore, and realising there is too much there for personal needs (verse 48);

• Writing about it so that others can enjoy the benefit and rewards of treasures new and old (verse 52).

So there are, perhaps, four or five times as many active images of the kingdom than there are passive images.

The kingdom is more about doing than being.

The projects and work supported by USPG at home and around the world is not supported because it hopes to transform those places with a few, selected quick-fix solutions, but because these projects are sacramental signs of the Kingdom.

Christ’s life on earth is marked by teaching, healing, caring for children and the marginalised, feeding the hungry, proclaiming the Kingdom.

In supporting projects in this work, USPG is offering signs of the ministry of Christ as he invites us to the banquet, as he invites us into the Kingdom – works that are little glimpses of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.

Some time ago, a viral project on social media challenged people over five days to list three positive experiences they have had each day. Today, I challenge you to think of three places, three gifts in God’s creation, that offer you glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to think of three actions that for you symbolise Christ’s invitation into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Give thanks for these pearls beyond price, and share them with someone you love and cherish.

Punters on the River Cam behind King’s College, Cambridge, last week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 26 July 2026, Trinity VIII):

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 26 July to 1 August 2026 (pp 22-23), is ‘Lives in Transit’. This theme is introduced today with a programme update by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG:

At a global summit on human trafficking and modern slavery, hosted by United Society Partners in the Gospel and the Diocese of Durgapur, two speakers illuminated the realities facing migrant workers in the Middle East: Saba, working in Lebanon and based in Jordan, and Pauline from Dubai.

In Lebanon, Saba Kerry describes the Kafala (sponsorship) system, where a worker’s legal status is tied to an employer. This can prevent workers from changing jobs, leaving the country freely, or holding their own passports, leaving them exposed and often without effective legal protection. As one migrant worker from Benin, quoted by Saba, explains: ‘In other countries, the one who has tricked you is usually the one who would be arrested, and your money would be reimbursed. But here, I’m the illegal one.’

In the city of sprawling skyscrapers, Dubai’s migrant workers face similar challenges. Many are separated from their families, carry recruitment debt, and depend on employers for legal residency.

Yet, amid these pressures, the Church often becomes a place of refuge and belonging.

At Holy Trinity Church, Dubai, and Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Dubai, migrant communities gather for worship in many languages. These churches offer pastoral care and practical support for women in partners in global mission 22 crisis, including emergency assistance, shelter support, and help to return home safely where possible.

Across both contexts, the Church is called not only to respond to individual hardship, but also to recognise the systems that shape it. For the migrant domestic worker who longs to go home, caught within an unjust system, we now pray.

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 26 July 2026, Trinity VIII) invites us to pray as we read and meditate on today’s Gospel reading, Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52.

Walking on the beach at Bako National Park, near Kuching in Sarawak (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Strengthen for service, Lord,
the hands that have taken holy things;
may the ears which have heard your word
be deaf to clamour and dispute;
may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love
shine with the light of hope;
and may the bodies which have been fed with your body
be refreshed with the fullness of your life;
glory to you for ever.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
your Son left the riches of heaven
and became poor for our sake:
when we prosper save us from pride,
when we are needy save us from despair,
that we may trust in you alone;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Walking on the North Strand in Skerries, Co Dublin (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


Three minutes of sunshine by the River Tame in Comberford, Staffordshire (Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Advent 2024: 24, Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve

‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us’ (Luke 1: 78) … sunrise on the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig, near Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We come to the end of Advent today, and this evening is Christmas Eve. Later this evening, I hope to join the choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing carols in All Saints’ Church, Calverton, at 8:30 and at ‘Midnight Mass’ there at 9 pm.

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

1, 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.

‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us’ (Luke 1: 78) … a winter sunrise in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Luke 1: 67-79 (NRSVA):

67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

68 ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty saviour for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

‘To give light to those who sit in darkness’ (Luke 1: 79) … Christmas lights in winter darkness at Magdalene Bridge and the Backs in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024 )

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 67-79), we conclude a series of readings before Christmas that draw on the two nativity narratives found in Matthew 1: 1-24 and Luke 1: 5-79.

This reading continues on from the stories of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth and the account of the birth of Saint John the Baptist.

After the birth and naming of his son, Zechariah finds his speech is restored, and prophesies in a poetic speech that we have come to know as the canticle Benedictus.

The canticle naturally falls into two parts. Part 1 (verses 68-75) is a song of thanksgiving for the realisation of the Messianic hopes. In Part 2 (verses 76-79), Zechariah addresses his own son, who is to be a prophet, who will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, who will tell people of the good news of their salvation and forgiveness:

‘By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

How many parents could say this with confidence, joy and love about their own children on this Christmas Eve?

The English Catholic theologian and writer Tina Beattie last week made a plea to parents, priests, teachers and anyone who has dealings with children in the build-up to Christmas. In a posting on Facebook, she asked them: ‘please never tell children that Santa only comes to good children, or that Santa won’t come if they’re naughty.’

‘There are thousands of good children to whom Santa won’t come because they live in poverty, dereliction or neglect,’ she pointed out. ‘But also, children so easily internalise a sense of blame and shame – for parental squabbles and separations, for bad things that happen to their families and friends. They don’t need to be threatened into good behaviour or made fearful that Santa won’t come because they misbehaved.’

And she concluded: ‘If you want them to have a sense of why gifts are given at Christmas, tell them that this is a time of gifts not because we’re good, but because God is good and loves them, whatever they do and whoever they are.’

The theologian Tina Beattie has pointed out that children ‘don’t need to be threatened into good behaviour or made fearful that Santa won’t come’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Love – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Lopa Mudra Mistry, Presbyter in the Diocese of Calcutta, the Church of North India (CNI).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 24 December 2024, Christmas Eve) invites us to pray:

Thank you for the gift of salvation and the love that you have shown us through Jesus Christ.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
so we may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
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, for whom we wait,
you have fed us with the bread of eternal life:
keep us ever watchful,
that we may be ready to stand before the Son of man,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘To give light to those who sit in darkness’ (Luke 1: 79) … darkness and light in Kenilworth Square, Dublin, last week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

Praying with the Psalms in Easter: 31 May 2022 (Psalm 97)

‘The Lord is King! Let earth rejoice’ (Psalm 97: 1) … a stained glass window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (31 May 2022). Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections in this season of Easter, including my morning reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 97:

Psalm 97 was the appointed psalm in the Revised Common Lectionary readings on Sunday (29 May 2022). It is sometimes known by its Latin name Dominus regnavit exultet terra. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 96.

Psalm 97 is the fifth in a series of psalms (Psalms 93-99) that are called royal psalms as they praise God as King. Biblical scholars note numerous thematic and structural similarities between Psalm 96 and Psalm 97, which are both psalms about the kingship of God.

Psalm 97 is a hymn celebrating God’s kingship, and it speaks of his’s supremacy as Lord of the earth, his sovereignty, his enactment of justice, and the widespread rejoicing that will ensue. ‘The Lord is king!’ (verse 1), in other words, he has won the battle for world kingship over the forces of chaos. May the whole earth rejoice!

Verses 2-5 are a theophany, a description of how God has appeared as he has visited earth: in a cloud and in a burning bush during the Exodus, etc. He rules with righteousness and justice. He is ‘the Lord of all the earth’ (verse 5).

The word ‘all’ occurs three times in verses 6-9, emphasising God’s omnipotence. Verse 7 says that those who worship images or idols will realise the error of their ways. Other gods recognise God’s supremacy. Then, in verse 8, the people of Israel rejoice in God’s justice.

Verses 10-12 tell us the kind of rule God exercises. Those who hate evil are faithful to him, and he rescues them from the ways of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous, who rejoice and who give thanks to God.

In Jewish tradition, Psalm 97 is the third of six psalms recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat or ‘Welcoming the Shabbat’ service. These six psalms represent the six days of the week, with Psalm 97 corresponding to the third day, Tuesday. Verse 11, ‘Light dawns for the righteous ...’ is recited by Ashkenazi Jews at the start of the Kol Nidre service on Yom Kippur.

The Masoretic text version of Psalm 97: 7 reads ‘worship him, all ye gods,’ but the Septuagint equivalent reads ‘προσκυνήσατε αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ’, ‘worship him, all ye his angels.’

In his commentary on Psalm 97, the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, writes: ‘History is not destined to be an endless story of the victory of right, the powerful over the powerless. At the heart of reality is a force that makes for justice, giving strength to the weak, and courage to the oppressed. “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart”.’

‘Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart’ (Psalm 97: 11) … dawn breaks over the mouth of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 97 (NRSVA):

1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshippers of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgements, O God.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Global Day of Parents.’

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (31 May 2022, The Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth) invites us to pray:

Lord, may we witness to you with those whom we hold close. Help us to follow your calling and walk alongside our fellow Christians.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth … a panel from the triptych in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral … 31 May is the Feast of the Visitation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Praying with the Psalms in Easter: 19 May 2022 (Psalm 85)

‘Righteousness will look down from the sky’ (Psalm 85: 11) … sunrise over Wexford town and the Slaney estuary seen from Ferrycarrig (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning to continue my reflections in this season of Easter, including my morning reflections drawing on the Psalms.

In my blog, I am reflecting each morning in this Prayer Diary in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 85:

Psalm 85 is found in Book 3 in the Book of Psalms, which includes Psalms 73 to 89. In the slightly different numbering scheme in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this is psalm is numbered as Psalm 84. In Latin, the psalm is known as Benedixisti Domine terram tuam. In Judaism, it is called a psalm of returned exiles. The Jerusalem Bible describes it as a prayer for peace.

Psalm 85 is one in a group of psalms at the end of Book III within the 150 psalms, from Psalm 84 to Psalm 89. These psalms attempt to provide hope to the exilic Israelite community. But, despite their celebration of the historic traditions of the Jewish people, they remind the reader that these elements no longer provide the hope they once did.

Four psalms of this group – Psalms 84, 85, 87 and 88 – are attributed to the Korahites, who are described as the doorkeepers of the tabernacle in the Book of Chronicles.

The psalm could have been written before or after the exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). It is attributed to the sons of Korah.

Psalm 85 is described as a ‘prayer for the restoration of God’s favour,’ a promise that concludes the reading from the Prophet Hosea. Many are familiar with verse 7 through its repetition in the versicles and responses at Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer:

Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

The psalmist recalls God’s restoration of his people (‘Jacob’) and how God forgave their sins (verses 1-3). But things have become difficult again, and the psalmist prays that God may again show his favour to his people, restoring them to their land, ending his anger with them, reviving them so they may rejoice, showing them his love and giving them life and salvation (verses 4-7).

The psalmist then asks God to give peace to the people when they return to his worship. This is a prayer that hopes for peace, steadfast love and faithfulness. In contrast with Hosea’s description of an unfaithful people, the psalmist prays for a future in which:

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground
and righteousness will look down from the sky.

As a sign of God’s blessings to the people, both spiritually and materially, the yield of the land will increase (verses 8-12).

The image in verse 10 of Justice and Peace or ‘righteousness and peace’ kissing (צֶ֖דֶק וְשָׁל֣וֹם נָשָֽׁקוּ) was a popular theme in art work from the Middle Ages through the 18th century. These include paintings by Tiepolo, Lanfranco, Pompeo Batoni, Nicolas Prévost, and Laurent de La Hyre. The verse was also engraved on a papal tiara which Napoleon gave to Pope Pius VII.

However, the Hebrew root n-š-q (נשק) has several translations, including ‘kiss’, ‘fight’, and ‘fought against each other,’ and the word may describe a dynamic type of contact, whether positive or negative. The Midrash understands this interaction in a turbulent context, relating it to God taking counsel with his ministering angels about whether to create the first human.

While the superscript attributes this psalm to the sons of Korah, commentators are undecided about the period in which the psalm was written. One suggestion is that it was written at the end of the reign of Saul. Others suggest the setting of Psalm 85 corresponds to the description in the Book of Nehemiah in which only part of the Jewish nation returns from the Babylonian captivity.

Jewish commentators suggest the sons of Korah are speaking prophetically about the conclusion of the Babylonian exile. They pray that God will also return the Jewish people from their current exile and remove his anger from them altogether. The image of kindness and truth meeting alludes to the interrelationship between Israel’s truth and God’s righteousness. When Israel adheres to the truth, God will respond with righteousness; he will send rain to produce abundant harvests.

According to the Midrash Tehillim, the land referred to in this psalm is the Land of Israel, ‘a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it’ (Deuteronomy 11: 12). God waits for the people to perform the mitzvot or Biblical commandments associated with the Land – such as tithing the crops and observing the Shmita (Sabbatical Year) and Yovel (Jubilee Year) – and when they do, both they and the land will find favour in God’s eyes.

In the Sephardic tradition, Psalm 85 is recited after Kaddish (Titkabel) during the afternoon service on Yom Kippur eve. Sephardi Jews also recite this psalm along with numerous others on Yom Kippur itself.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the beginning of Psalm 85 is recommended as an introit or antiphon for Mass on Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent.

Themes from verses 9 to 11 were paraphrased in John Milton’s hymn ‘The Lord will come and not be slow.’

The psalm has also been quoted in nonviolent movements. In 1993, the Catholic bishops in the United States quoted the verse ‘for he will speak peace unto his people’.

‘Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other’ (Psalm 85: 10) … a sculpture in the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 85 (NRSVA):

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

1 Lord, you were favourable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.
Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation towards us.
5 Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Advocacy in Brazil.’

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (19 May 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, made up of nine dioceses across Brazil. May we learn from them and be inspired by their ministry.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

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

Praying with the Psalms in Lent: 8 March 2022 (Psalms 19, 20, 21)

‘The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork’ (Psalm 19: 1) … evening lights on Morriscastle Beach at Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, on Sunday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began last week on Ash Wednesday (2 March 2022), and Sunday was the First Sunday in Lent. Before today begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.

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

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 19:

Many of us are familiar with this Psalm because the concluding verse (14) has traditionally been used in the Church of Ireland to introduce sermons: ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.’

This psalm is a hymn of glory to the universe as God’s work and to God’s precepts in word of God.

In Psalm 19, the heavens and the earth proclaim God’s glory and power (verses 1-6), the covenant is an expression of God’s will for Israel (verses 7-9), and we are reminded that the ‘fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever’ (verse 9). This Psalm also links God’s judgement with God’s forgiveness. Note too, the description of the psalmist as God’s ‘servant’ (verses 11, 13).

In the first half of the poem, the Psalmist speaks metaphorically of creation singing a song of praise to its Creator. The former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sachs, describes this as ‘a silent song yet one that can be heard by those whose ears are attuned to wonder.’

‘Yet their sound’ or ‘Yet their music’ (verse 4) – literally ‘their line’ – may refer to the reverberating string of a musical instrument; but it may mean the line marking a boundary – a reference to the order and ‘fearful symmetry’ of the universe.

But God’s word not only gives life to the natural universe: it instructs the human universe, the world we make by our actions and reactions. The Psalmist pours out his praise to God’s creation of the world-that-is, and God’s revelation of the world-that-ought-to-be.

‘Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God’ (Psalm 20: 7) … part of the Parthenon frieze in the Acropolis Museum in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 20:

There are many words and phrases in this psalm that at first glance suggest a great conviction that the Lord will grant whatever we wish, as long as we have enough faith. But this is, at the very least, an over-simplification.

Several of the verses in Psalm 20 start with the word ‘may’ (see verses 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b in the NRSV and NRSVA translations; verses 1, 5a and 5b in the Book of Common Prayer Psalter, pp 612-613).

This may suggest that what follows is not guaranteed to come to pass, but we are also asked to consider whether what we desire is the same as what God desires. God knows better than us what we need and what we want.

At the same time, God is our loving father we should not be afraid to ask for things. Verses 6, 7 and 8 are perhaps a good illustration of this point: if the Lord will help or save his anointed (verse 6), then as God’s children we can be sure God will help us.

‘Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you’ (Psalm 21: 8) … the ‘Hands’ sculpture by Seamus Gilmore in Ennis, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 21:

Psalm 21 is accredited to David. It is numbered Psalm 20 in the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible.

This royal psalm and the previous psalm, Psalm 20, are closely related: they are both liturgical psalms; in both, the king is the prominent figure. This psalm may have been written before a battle, after a victory, at the king’s coronation, or at an annual celebration of the king’s accession.

Psalm 21 is characterised as a psalm of thanksgiving. It focuses on the imagery of a king. In the Bible, the king is often credited with being an example of the moral state of a kingdom.

The New Revised Standard Version describes Psalm 21 as a psalm of ‘thanksgiving for victory.’ The Jerusalem Bible identifies both messianic and eschatological themes in Psalm 21 (20), and associates this psalm with the idea of ‘Christ the King.’

The King James or Authorised Version, in its translation of verse 9, gives us the phrase in English ‘the time of thine anger.’ This is translated in the Jerusalem Bible as ‘the day that you appear.’

Psalm 19 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is your servant warned
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 20 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your offerings,
and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices.
Selah

4 May he grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfil all your plans.
5 May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfil all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.
7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright.

9 Give victory to the king, O Lord;
answer us when we call.

Psalm 21 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord,
and in your help how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him—
length of days for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your help;
splendour and majesty you bestow on him.
6 You bestow on him blessings for ever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace
when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth,
and their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against you,
if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.

13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.

Today’s Prayer:

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary this morning (8 March 2022, International Women’s Day) invites us to pray:

Today we pray for women across the world. May we celebrate women’s achievements and continue to demand gender justice and equality.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold’ (Psalm 19: 10) … a mask in a shop window in Venice (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 light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’

‘In the beginning was the Word’ (John 1: 1) … an old typewriter seen in a restaurant in Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 3 January 2021, the Second Sunday of Christmas (Christmas II)

The Parish Eucharist

The Readings: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24: 1-12; Wisdom 10: 15-21; Ephesians 1: 3-14; John 1: 1-9, 10-18.

There is a link to the readings HERE.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1: 4) … light in the darkness in the courtyard in Marlay Park, Dublin, on New Year’s Eve last Thursday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

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

The Book of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon are unusual choices in the Lectionary for the readings this morning. Too often and too easily they are dismissed as Apocryphal readings, yet they bridge the gap between Jewish Wisdom literature and the ideas that are introduced in Saint John’s Gospel.

The author of Sirach, Jesus ben Sira, understood Wisdom as leading to prosperity, and in his opening words, he declares: ‘All wisdom is from the Lord, and with him it remains for ever’ (Sirach 1: 1).

This morning’s reading opens: ‘Wisdom praises herself, and tells of her glory in the midst of her people’ (Sirach 24: 1). For Jewish writers and thinkers, the created world is God’s, so faith and reason go hand in hand; learning about creation is learning about God; reasoning is done in the context of faith in God; and knowledge of God is seen as leading to wisdom.

The Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Wisdom was written in Greek, probably in Alexandria in the mid-first century BC, and is part of the Wisdom literature in the Septuagint or Greek Jewish Bible, along with the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon), Job and Sirach.

The central theme of this book is ‘Wisdom’ itself. Wisdom (Σοφία, Sophia) is the perfection of knowledge of the righteous as a gift from God, showing herself in action, and Wisdom is with God from all eternity.

In this book, Wisdom, the spirit of God, is personified as Lady Wisdom. This book also tells us that being made in the image of God includes sharing with God in immortality.

Earlier in this chapter, the author says Wisdom has been God’s agent in saving people in the past, and active in saving the people of Israel, through Moses. They are blameless, for they have been chosen and set apart by God (verses 1-14).

Now we are told that Wisdom has delivered a holy and blameless people from their oppressors. Wisdom entered the soul of the ‘servant of the Lord,’ and delivered the people, guiding these people by day and by night, on dry land and through deep waters.

In response to this, even the mute and small children could no longer be silent, but sang out God’s praises.

The Gospel reading this morning brings us back to Saint John’s prologue to the Fourth Gospel.

This is not just a traditional Gospel reading that many of us associate with Christmas morning, but it is a wonderful piece of classical Greek poetry, and it makes so many connections with the Wisdom literature that provides the two other readings this morning.

The Prologue is first and foremost poetry. It is a hymn – a poetic summary – of the whole theology of this Gospel, as well as an introduction to it.

The Fourth Gospel, the Gospel according to Saint John, is one of the great works of literature, and its opening phrase, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, ‘In the beginning was the Word,’ is one of the most dramatic opening lines in literature.

This is such beautiful literature that I have often though that the Greek poetry and drama of Saint John’s Gospel would be a major possibility if I ever thought about researching and writing another thesis in theology.

The Prologue is an introduction to this Gospel as a whole. It tells us that the Logos is God and acts as the mouthpiece (Word) of God ‘made flesh,’ sent to the world in order to be able to intercede for humanity and to forgive human sins.

The Prologue is of central significance to the doctrine of the Incarnation. This Prologue can be compared with Genesis 1, where the same phrase, ‘In the beginning …,’ first occurs along with the emphasis on the difference between the darkness and the light.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1: 5).

This Prologue is probably one of the most profound passages in the Bible. As simple as its language and phrases are, its description of Christ as the Logos has had a lasting influence on Christian theology.

The prologue prepares the reader for the rest of the Fourth Gospel. Important themes are signalled and Christ’s identity is established at the very outset through the use of Christological titles, divine portents or the manner of his birth.

Saint John’s is the only Gospel to speak of Christ’s pre-existence as the Logos and the only Gospel to include a poetic prologue.

What about Saint John’s use of the term λόγος or Logos (1-2) – most frequently rendered ‘Word’ in modern English translations?

This term is deeply rooted in Old Testament thinking (see Genesis 1, Proverbs 8). The role of the Logos in Saint John’s writings also parallels, in ways, that of personified Wisdom in a number of traditions within Judaism, including Sirach and this morning’s reading. However, Wisdom and the Logos need not be identified with each other, since Wisdom is a creation of God (Sirach 1: 9), while the Logos is pre-existent and Divine.

The Prologue introduces a number of terms throughout Saint John’s Gospel and his letters. They include ‘life,’ ‘light’ (verse 5), ‘believe’ (verse 7), ‘world’ (verse 9), ‘children of God’ (verse 12), and ‘flesh’ and ‘truth’ (verse 14). These concepts are introduced in relationship to the Logos, who is decidedly at the centre of all that is being said.

The single most influential thinker in the 16th century Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), thought deeply about why evil and suffering exist in the world. In a poetic-like response, he told a story of Creation in which God who is unlimited brings into being a limited, empty space in which Creation can occur.

The Almighty is everywhere, and only by contracting into himself – like a someone inhaling deeply to allow another person to pass by in a narrow corridor – could God create an empty space in which the Creation could occur.

Luria imagines God retracting a part of the Eternal being into the Godhead itself in order to allow such a space to exist, a sort of exile. And so, Creation begins with a Divine exile.

A stream of light then flows from God into the empty space God creates. According to Isaac Luria, God created vessels into which he poured his holy light. These vessels were not strong enough to contain such a powerful force and they shattered. The sparks of divine light were carried down to earth along with the broken shards.

The light of God pours into Creation too, and every time someone does something good, according to Rabbi Luria, we rescue one of those holy sparks and restore it.

The day will come, Luria imagines, when we all do our part, and the entire remaining Divine Light is restored to God’s world. Without access to the Divine Light, evil will be unable to survive and will crumble away to dust.

For Luria, our task, our human endeavour, is the commandment tikkun olam, to repair the world, to reverse the shattering of the vessels, to restore the light of God.

For Luria and his followers, redemption is bound up with creation – to the idea of ‘retracing the path’ to creation and revelation, in order to return to the ‘unity and purity’ of the beginning of the world.

Luria’s key ideas gave voice to the impossible brokenness of the human condition. The pain of the Divine breakage permeates reality. We inherit it; it inhabits us. But redemption – the tikkun olam that will repair the broken world – remains possible.

In the words of Leonard Cohen, ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.’

In our frailty and our brokenness, we are open to redemption and to the light of the world.

As Saint John tells us in our Christmas message this morning, ‘The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world’ (John 1: 9).

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

Saint John the Evangelist is often represented by an eagle … a carving on the pulpit in Saint Michael’s Church, Waterville, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

John 1: 1-18 (NRSVA):

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me”.’ 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1: 4) … the River Lee at night in Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Liturgical Colour: White (or Gold).

The Penitential Kyries:

Lord God, mighty God,
you are the creator of the world.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary,
you are the Prince of Peace.

Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit,
by your power the Word was made flesh
and came to dwell among us.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
Help us to walk in this light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and his name shall be called the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9: 6)

The Preface:

You have given Jesus Christ your only Son
to be born of the Virgin Mary,
and through him you have given us power
to become the children of God:

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Light eternal,
you have nourished us in the mystery
of the body and blood of your Son:
By your grace keep us ever faithful to your word,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Blessing:

Christ, who by his incarnation gathered into one
all things earthly and heavenly,
fill you with his joy and peace:

Hymns:

652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us (CD 37)
166, Joy to the world, the Lord is come! (CD 166)
425, Jesu thou joy of loving hearts (CD 25)

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1: 4) … evening lights at Knightstown on Valentia Island, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

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.

Saint John the Evangelist depicted on the Gate at Saint John’s College in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This sermon was prepared for Sunday 3 January 2021, and was part of a celebration of the Eucharist in Askeaton with limited attendance

Who fears to speak of ’98? Thoughts on Bagenal Harvey on Wexford Bridge and quays

Wexford Bridge seen from Wexford’s quays (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

‘Who fears to speak of ’Ninety-Eight?’

The opening words of a poem by Professor John Kells Ingram were quoted regularly throughout the 1798 bicentenary commemorations throughout 1998. They came to mind last week during the second stage of my summer ‘Road Trip,’ as I strolled along Wexford Quay and onto Wexford Bridge.

Like many other aspects of the 1798 Rising, this poem has many connections with the Church of Ireland: the actual title of the poem, written in 1843, is ‘The Memory of the Dead,’ and its author, the economist and poet John Kells Ingram (1823-1907), was born in a Church of Ireland rectory in Co Donegal, the son of the Revd William Ingram.

In James Joyce’s Ulysses, Leopold Bloom alludes mentally to Ingram’s ‘Who Fears to Speak?’ in the ‘Wandering Rocks’ episode: ‘Fine poem that is: Ingram. They were gentlemen. Ben Dollard does sing that ballad touchingly. Masterly rendition.’

Throughout the bicentenary commemorations, which seemed to stretch across a two- or three-year period from 1996 to 1998 or 1999, I spoke throughout Co Wexford on the involvement of members of the Church of Ireland in the events in 1798.

Thanks to the efforts of Comoradh ’98 that year, there was a much more accurate, balanced and nuanced understanding than in previous commemorations of the events, the personalities, the lead-up to and the aftermath of the 1798 Rebellion.

Street art in a laneway behind Anne Street and North Main Street in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

I spoke in churches, schools and hotels, at seminars and meetings, workshops and summer schools, wrote features in The Irish Times, papers in history journals, and chapters for books, was interviewed for television and radio documentaries, unveiled plaques in churchyards and spoke one evening at a commemorative service on Wexford Bridge.

The participants in that service in memory of all who died on Wexford Bridge during the summer of 1798 included Bishop John Neill, then Bishop of Cashel and Ferns, the late Canon Norman Ruddock, then Rector of Wexford, and Father Walter Forde, then Parish Priest of Castlebridge.

In a kind letter later that week to The Irish Times, Walter Forde spoke of my ‘superb address at the Wexford Bridge service.’

On that evening, I drew attention to the fact that there were no memorials in Wexford to the key Church of Ireland personalities from the 1798 period. I suggested that the recently reconstructed Wexford Bridge should be renamed in honour of the commander of the Wexford army and president of the Wexford Town Committee, Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, a member of the Church of Ireland.

In supporting that call, Father Forde suggested that Harvey should be linked with the name of the far-seeing and humane Roman Catholic from Castlebridge, General Edward Roche, and, he asked, ‘Why not the Harvey/Roche Bridge?’

Almost a quarter of a century after those bicentenary commemorations, it was interesting to take a fresh look last week at the plaques and memorials on Wexford Bridge.

One of these plaques recalls that the first bridge crossing the River Slaney on this site was a timber bridge constructed by Lemuel Cox of Boston in 1795, three years before the Rising. The bridge, which saw a frightful procession of executions in 1798, was repaired and strengthened in 1825 after storm damage.

That bridge was replaced in 1856 by a new bridge about 1 km upstream and built by Pierce Brothers of Wexford. But Wexford Bridge returned to the site associated with the1798 Rising in 1959, when a new pre-stressed concrete bridge was built by Ascon Ltd. That bridge was replaced in a 1997 with a steel structure that took just 10 weeks to complete. Ascon were the main contractors, and the consulting engineers were John B Barry and Partners. The bridge was opened on 22 November 1997.

One of the plaques recalling the executions and deaths on Wexford Bridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A plaque was erected on the bridge by the 1798 commemoration committee, naming Father Philip Roche, John Kelly, John Colclough, Edmond Kyan, Patrick Prendergast, Bagnal (sic) Harvey, Matthew Keough, John Hay, Cornelius Grogan, ‘and other patriots who were executed on the site of this bridge, June-July 1798 as a result of their struggle for Irish freedom.’

Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey was tried, convicted and hanged on Wexford Bridge on 28 June 1798. His body was afterwards beheaded, the trunk thrown into the River Slaney and the head displayed on a spike on the courthouse. His corpse was recovered by his friends and he was buried in Mayglass.

Another plaque on the bridge reflects the balance and nuance that marked the commemorations I was part of in 1998. It recalls:

‘During and after the insurrection of 1798, Wexford Bridge was the site of many executions. Some ninety loyalist prisoners were put to death, amongst whom were Edward Turner, Magistrate; David Dalton, Thomas Canford, Samuel Atkin, Francis Plumer, William Baubier, Benjamin Sunderland, George Sparrow, John Smyth and Kenneth Mathewson. Among the sixty-five United Irishmen executed were the leaders Beauchamp Bagnal (sic) Harvey, Dr John Colclough, John Kelly, Cornelius Crogan, Patrick Prendergast, Fr Philip Roche, John Herron, Edward Fryane, Esmond Kyan, and Matthew Keugh.’

I noticed, sadly, however, that Bagenal Harvey’s name is misspelled not just once but twice on the bridge that I still think should be named after him.

‘Fuascailt’ … a sculpture by Eamonn O’Doherty of Wexford pikemen on the N25 near Barntown and Taghmon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Today, no matter what their political views are and despite the opening words of Ingram’s poem, no-one in Wexford is afraid ‘to speak of ’98.’ New monuments are still standing in every corner of the county from Bunclody and Gorey to Enniscorthy and Wexford, to Old Ross and New Ross.

As we continued our summer ‘Road Trip’ on the N25 from Ferrycarrig towards New Ross, near Barntown and Taghmon, ‘Fuascailt’ is a striking sculpture by Eamonn O’Doherty (1939-2011) by the roadside depicting a group of Wexford Pikemen from 1798. His other works include the Quincentennial Sculpture on Eyre Square in Galway; Anna Livia or the ‘Floozie in the Jacuzzi,’ moved from O’Connell Street to the Croppies’ Acre in Dublin in 2011; and the James Connolly Memorial near Liberty Hall, Dublin.

Even the description on the plinth below O’Doherty’s Pikemen recalls all who died there in battle on 30 May 1798.

On that day, the United Irishmen intercepted the reinforcements for the Wexford garrison near this place. The reinforcements were overwhelmed, and their defeat resulted in the evacuation of Wexford by government forces. The rebels were led by Thomas Cloney, colonel of Bantry battalion of United Irishmen.

But the plaque also remembers that nearby, in the Church Meadow, lie 80 men of the Royal Artillery and the Meath Militia who were killed in that battle.

No matter what one’s political views or sympathies are, there is no reason to fear to speak about 1798 in Co Wexford. And, for what it’s worth, I still think – fearlessly – that Wexford Bridge should be named after Bagenal Harvey.

The ten-week bridge … is it time Wexford Bridge was named after Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The names and stories behind some colourful narrow lanes in Wexford

Archer’s Lane once emerged on High Street opposite the house where I lived in the 1970s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

One of the joys in life that never loses its appeal for me is strolling through the narrow streets and lanes of Wexford. They are particularly charming on a bright summer’s day and there is always something new to discover – or even to be startled by.

I was back in Wexford at the end of last week as this year’s late summer ‘Road Trip’ continued into September. Each morning, I enjoyed waking up in the Ferrycarrig Hotel to the sun rising above the estuary of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig, where the mouth of the river looks as beautiful as a lake in northern Italy or Switzerland.

Some of those lanes have disappeared over time, others seem to survive against all odds, and even those that are long gone live on in the memories and writings of Wexford’s prolific local historians.

Archer’s Lane ran from steps built over by the Mechanic’s Institute and later the shopfront of the ‘Wexford People’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

When I was working in the Wexford People on North Main Street and living on High Street in the early and mid-1970s, I was told how Archer’s Lane once ran from North Main Street, opposite Anne Street, through one of the arches of the building originally built for the Mechanics’ Institute in 1849, through what was the ‘People Office’ and the caseroom and printing works, and emerged out onto High Street, opposite the house where I lived.

The only sign of Archer’s Lane today is the arches that shape two shop fronts on North Main Street and the bay on High Street once used by the delivery vans of the People but now part of the entrance to the National Opera House.

You have to stoop your head to enter the east end of Keyser’s Lane (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Keyser’s Lane is, perhaps, the most exotic of laneways off South Main Street, and it is a lane of two parts.

The east side of Keyser’s Lane starts at steps leading down under a small archway on South Main Street and continues on to the car park on Crescent Quay. Dating back to Norse times, this lane once marked the boundaries of the mediaeval town parishes of Saint Patrick’s and Saint Iberius’s.

Keyser’s Lane is so old that writers were speculating about its origins as far back as the 16th century. Before you stoop down to enter Keyser’s Lane, a plaque above the archway, at eye-level, reads:

‘The name Keyser’s Lane appears in the Norse towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin. In 1575 Holinshed’s Dublin Chronicles is found speculating as to its long forgotten origin. These Keyser streets ran steeply down to the Norse waterfront. The name, in saga Norse, appears to mean ‘the street of the ship wharfs’.’

The west end of Keyser’s Lane leads up to High Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Like so many streets and lanes in Wexford, Keyser’s Lane has more than on name: the east end of it is also known as Slegg’s Lane and some local people also know it Cromwell’s Lane, probably because Cromwell is believed to have stayed nearby in Kenny’s Hall, once Woolworth’s and now Penney’s.

The west side of Keyser’s Lane is on the opposite side of South Main Street, and leads up, once again, to High Street. In Irish it is named as Cúlán Chaosair, which makes it sound more like Caesar’s Lane or narrow-way.

Harpur’s Lane? Harper’s Lane? Hay’s Lane … or simply Cinema Lane? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Harpur’s Lane is also known as Cinema Lane, and was also known in the past as Hay’s Lane. The plaque above the Costa coffee shop, however, names it in English as Harper’s Lane and in Irish name as Cúlán Chláirseóra, in other words the ‘Harpist’s Lane.’

But Harpur’s Lane is named not after someone named Harper or, for that matter, after a harpist. It probably takes its name from the Harpur family, whose members included Alderman Thomas Harpur (1846-1826), Mayor of Wexford in 1886-1887 and a corn merchant with premises on South Main Street.

The more popular name of Cinema Lane comes from the Palace Cinema, a 600-seat cinema that opened there in 1914 and was the first proper cinema in Wexford Town.

Cinema Lane rook its name from the Palace Cinema … and was the location of an unsolved murder in 1958 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

When I wrote six weeks ago (29 July 2020) about the murder in the Cape Bar or Con Macken’s of Mary Anne Wildes by Simon Bloom in 1910, many comments confused that murder with a murder almost half a century later in Cinema Lane.

William Hannan (65) was found unconscious and badly beaten in his shop, ‘The Dainty,’ on Cinema Lane on 8 March 1958. The late-night attacker or attackers may have had fled across rooftops of Cinema Lane and made good their escape along Henrietta Street. Their victim died of his wounds the next morning.

The garda investigation turned up no credible leads, and no-one was ever charged afterwards. The murder of William Hannan remains unsolved to this day. Although it is still talked about in Wexford, justice has never been seen to be done.

Henrietta Street runs parallel to Cinema Lane and runs down to the Crescent (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)