Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 76, Wednesday 22 July 2026, Saint Mary Magdalene

A modern icon of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene by Alexandra Kaouki in Rethymnon (Icon © Alexandra Kaouki)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar; this week began with the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII, 19 July 2026), and today is the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene (22 July 2026).

Later this evening, I hope to rehearse with the choir in Saint Mary Magdalene Church, Stony Stratford, our last rehearsal before the summer recess. Meanwhile, before the day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Saint Mary Magdalene depicted in a statue in Saint Mary Magdalene Church, Comerford Road, in Brockley, south London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

John 20: 1-2, 11-18 (NRSVA):

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Μη μου άπτου, ‘Noli me Tangere,’ an icon by Mikhail Damaskinos in the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

When I was visiting Comerford Road in Brockley, South London, two weeks ago, I also visited Saint Mary Magdalene Church, the Roman Catholic parish church on Comerford Road. The church has a statue of Mary Magdalene on the façade facing Howson Road, another statue of her on the steps of the sanctuary beside the baptismal font, and she is also depicted at the foot of the cross in the reredos above the High Altar.

At times on my way back down the mountains from the Monastery of Arkadi to the coast of Rethymnon in Crete, I have stopped briefly to see the small church in Nea Magnesia that is dedicated to Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene.

This is one of only two churches dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene on the island of Crete.

Nea Magnesia is 12 km east of Rethymnon, near Skaleta and off the road to Panormos. Today it is fast becoming part of the resort facilities building up east of Rethymnon. But in the 1920s, this village was first settled by Greek-speaking people who had been expelled from their homes in western Anatolia.

They arrived in Crete with their Greek language, traditions and culture and dedicated their church to Saint Mary Magdalene, whose feast in the Church calendar, east and west, falls today [22 July 2026].

The other church in Crete dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene is an impressive Russian-style church on Dagli Street in Chania, with an onion dome and surrounded by a beautiful garden in the district of Chalepa. The church was built in 1901-1903 by Prince George, the High Commissioner of Crete before the island was incorporated into the modern Greek state.

The church was funded by Czarist Russia and was opened in 1903 in the presence of Queen Olga, Prince George, Bishop Evgenios of Crete and a small number of invited guests.

I often pass Chalepa on my way to the and from Chania Airport. With its imposing mansions and luxury villas, Chalepa is a beautiful part of Chania, east of the city on the coastal road to the airport and Akrotiri.

Chalepa was the venue for some of the most important political events in Crete in the 19th century. Here Prince George had his palace as the High Commissioner or governor of the semi-autonomous Cretan state in the closing days of Ottoman rule, and here too the Great Powers had their consulates.

Chalepa was also the home of Eleftherios Venizelos, who played a decisive role as Prime Minister of Greece during a critical time in Greek history in the early 20th century. The family house was built by his father, Kyriakos Venizelos, in 1877. Today, his family home houses the Eleftherios K Venizelos National Research and Study Foundation, which plans to turn the house into a museum.

An icon of Saint Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection, Μη μου άπτου (Noli me Tangere) by Mikhail Damaskinos, is one of the important exhibits at the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion. This icon dates from ca 1585-1591. Initially it was in the Monastery of Vrondissi and was transferred to old church of Saint Menas in Iraklion in 1800.

One of the most inspirational icons of Saint Mary Magdalene I have seen in Crete is an icon by Alexandra Kaouki when she had her old workshop near the Fortezza in Rethymnon.

According to Greek tradition, Saint Mary Magdalene evangelised the island of Zakynthos in the year 34 CE on her way to Rome with Saint Mary of Cleopas. The village of Maries on the island is said to be named after both Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Mary of Cleopas. A relic of her left hand is said to be preserved in the monastery of Simonopetra on Mount Athos, where she is revered as a co-founder of the monastery.

During the Middle Ages, Saint Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, but these claims are not supported in any of the four Gospels. Instead, the Gospels tell us she travelled with Jesus as one of his followers, and that she was a witness to his Crucifixion and his Resurrection. Indeed, she is named at least 12 times in the four Gospels, more times than most of the apostles. Two Gospels specifically name her as the first person to see Christ after the Resurrection (see Mark 16: 9 and John 20).

Ten years ago, in 2016, the late Pope Francis recognised Saint Mary Magdalene and her role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a ‘true and authentic evangeliser’ and he raised her commemoration today [22 July] from a memorial to a feast in the liturgical calendar.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship issued a decree formalising the decision, and both the decree and the article were titled Apostolorum Apostola (‘Apostle of the Apostles’).

Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, said that in celebrating ‘an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,’ Saint Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to ‘reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelisation and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.’

Archbishop Roche said that in giving Saint Mary Magdalene the honour of being the first person to see the empty tomb and the first to listen to the truth of the resurrection, Christ ‘has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who manifests her love for him, looking for him in the garden with anguish and suffering.’

The decision means Saint Mary Magdalene has the same level of feast as that given to the celebration of the apostles and makes her a ‘model for every woman in the church.’

The Church of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene, in Nea Magnesia, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 22 July 2026, Saint Mary Magadelene):

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 19 to 25 July 2026 (pp 20-21), is ‘Flood Relief in Mozambique’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from the Revd Mauricio S Mugunhe, Executive Director Anglican Social Action, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola (the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).

The USPG prayer diary today (Wednesday 22 July 2026, Saint Mary Magadelene) invites us to pray:

Faithful God, as you called Mary Magdalene to witness to the resurrection, bring hope and new life to communities in despair. Restore what has been broken and renew their strength.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
whose Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of mind and body
and called her to be a witness to his resurrection:
forgive our sins and heal us by your grace,
that we may serve you in the power of his risen life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

God of life and love,
whose risen Son called Mary Magdalene by name
and sent her to tell of his resurrection to his apostles:
in your mercy, help us,
who have been united with him in this Eucharist,
to proclaim the good news
that he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Mary Magdalene at Easter … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (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 Magdalen Church on Comerford Road began as a mission in Brockley in 1895

Saint Mary Magdalen Church, on the corner of Comerford Road and Howson Road, Brockley, was designed by Young Bolton and built in 1898-1899 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

When I was visiting Comerford Road in Brockley, south-east London, earlier this week, I visited Saint Mary Magdalen Church, which stands on the corner of Comerford Road and Howson Road. Saint Mary Magdalen is a much-altered Italianate church built in 1898-1899 and designed by the little-known architect Young Bolton, who died in 1903.

The mission at Brockley began in 1895 and a plot measuring 1,321 square yards was bought. A school was opened that year, with an upper floor that was used as a temporary chapel. This was soon inadequate and Bishop Francis Bourne sanctioned building an inexpensive church, for which he advanced £2,000. Bishop Bourne was Bishop of Southwark (1897-1903) and Archbishop of Westminster (1903-1935), and in 1911 he was made a cardinal.

At the time, about 370 Catholics were living in the area, and the church was built to seat 300 people. Bishop Bourne blessed and laid the foundation stone on 9 July 1898. The new church was blessed and solemnly opened by Bishop Bourne on 16 March 1899.

Inside Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A new Angelus bell was blessed and hung in one of the towers in 1900 and was rung for the first time on Easter Sunday 1900.

The stone pulpit was blessed and used for the first time on 24 July 1904, the patronal feast. It was presented to the mission priest, Father James Hayes by parishioners from his previous parish in Sutton.

When two new missions were opened in Nunhead and Forest Hill in 1905 and 1906, they took away parishioners from Brockley. Subsequently, the Bishop of Southwark, Bishop Peter Amigo, decided to place the Augustinians of the Assumption in charge of Saint Mary Magdalen. Bishop Amigo is often remembered as the bishop who imposed ‘minor excommunication; on the Modernist priest George Tyrrell and restricted the possibility of a full Catholic burial when Tyrrell died in 1909.

The Assumptionists, formally the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption (AA), were founded in Nîmes, France, in 1845 by Father Emmanuel d’Alzon. In late 19th century France, the Assumptionists were controversial at the time of the Dreyfus Case as they actively promoted the conspiracy theory that unnamed Jews were destroying French institutions, in particular the army and the Catholic church.

The Assumptionists were suppressed throughout France in 1900, accused of accumulating a fund to support a royalist movement to overthrow the Republic. Many priests went abroad, including the Assumptionist priests who arrived on Comerford Road in 1906. They remained at Comerford Road for 91 years, until July 1997.

The first Assumptionist mission priest at Comerford Road was Father Marie-Louis Deydier, who spent three terms at Brockley.

The sanctuary and High Altar in Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The richly decorative high altar is one of the few original furnishings to survive in the church. It was designed by Father Gregory Chedal, was blessed on 10 December 1911 and survives as the present high altar.

A Calvary designed by Joseph Dutton was unveiled as a war memorial in 1917, and it was completed a year later with the addition of a marble tablet in the form of an open book with the names of the war dead.

When Father Chedal returned from World War I in 1919, he began completing the four side altars dedicated to the Sacred Heart, Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Peter and Saint Joseph. But, apart from their statues, nothing survives of these four side altars.

Father Chedal also began work on the Lady Chapel with a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. By December 1919, the altars were in place, the sacristy was enlarged by removing a wall and inserting a door that connected the sacristy and the presbytery. The new altars were blessed at the silver jubilee service on 7 October 1920, and Brockley became an independent parish that year.

The Lady Chapel in Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The presbytery on Comerford Road was refurbished, the church roof repaired in 1926, and a statue of Saint Theresa was blessed. The church was repaired in 1926-1927 and the Lady Chapel was decorated.

Two bells cast at the Paccard foundry at Annecy, France, were blessed and hung in the tower in 1929. Electricity was introduced to the church along with an electric organ blower by the end of 1930.

During the inter-war years, the Catholic community in the Comerford Road area and in wider Brockley grew to over 2,000 with the development of the Honor Oak Estate, rehousing people from Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey.

The organ was repaired and overhauled about 1937, and repairs were also made to the west front, towers, and the wall along Comerford Road.

Inside Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road, facing the west end, entrance and organ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

During World War II, a time bomb fell nearby on 16 September 1940 and the parish priest removed the Blessed Sacrament and the Lady Chapel’s altar stone before the bomb exploded the next day. The Lady Chapel was completely destroyed, the north wall pushed inwards and the sanctuary furnishings were severely damaged. Only the high altar and Saint Peter’s altar remained intact. Although the presbytery was rendered uninhabitable, the priests returned to the house by late 1940.

A school room served as a temporary chapel until the church reopened on Easter Sunday 1943 while repairs were continued.

The second phase of restoration began in late 1948, the sanctuary roof and the Lady Chapel were rebuilt and the smashed pulpit was reconstructed. New coloured glass was inserted in all the windows and an upper room was added to the sacristy. The restoration was almost complete by 1950. A new floor was planned, as well as refurbishing seats and kneelers, repairing the organ, and works to the lighting and cleaning.

Bishop Cyril Cowderoy blessed the new Lady Chapel and the new altar in December 1951.

Father Patrick O’Neil repositioned the west doors in the tower in the 1950s, creating a central large door in place of a row of five windows, and the two side doors were replaced by windows. The former south-west porch inside became a baptistery but is now a toilet.

The organ choir gallery in Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

There were plans to demolish the presbytery and three adjoining houses to build a larger church, but these came to nothing. The parish bought Saint Cyprian’s Hall from the Anglican parish of Saint Hilda, Crofton Park. There were renewed plans to build a new church in 1968, but once again these plans were not realised. The font was moved closer to the sanctuary in 1980. A new hall was built behind Saint Cyprian’s Hall in 1981 and opened in 1982.

The organ was overhauled in 1985 and alterations involved raising the sanctuary floor, removing the altar rails and the pulpit, and inserting a sound-proof confessional.

The Lady Chapel altar was brought forward and a reconciliation room was created. When the Lady Chapel was renovated in 1996, its small tabernacle was removed.

The high altar survives largely as it was designed by Father Gregory Chedal in 1911. It is made from Bath and Portland stone and marble. The frontal depicts the Last Supper and is flanked by statues of the four evangelists. The reredos includes a Calvary with a kneeling Saint Mary Magdalen. On either side are niches with the patron saints of the Assumptionists, Saint Monica and Saint Augustine of Hippo, mother and son.

The west façade of the church facing Howson Road has a second floor niche with a statue of Saint Mary Magdalen. The side elevation now facing Comerford Road has five large round-headed nave windows separated by shallow wall strips.

The World War I memorial in the ground of sSaint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The World War I memorial in the church grounds has a wooden cross with a sculpture of the Crucified Christ, set on a brick plinth with plaque. It has been designated with a Grade II listing because of its design and ‘as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community’ during World War I. The memorial was the idea of Father Marie-Louis Deydier, who had been a military chaplain. It was unveiled on 7 July 1917 at a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Lewisham, Sir John and Lady Knill, the Assumptionist Provincial, the Lord Mayor of London, and relatives of the dead. The marble tablet designed by Joseph Dutton was added the following year.

The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, or the Cabrini Sisters, opened a day and boarding school in Wickham Road in 1902, and stayed until 1922, when their lease expired. Three years after they left, the Oblate Sisters started a new school in Wickham Road. Saint Cyprian’s Hall was sold in 2009, and the school hall is now used as a church hall.

The Assumptionist Fathers left Comerford Road in 1997 due to a fall in vocations, although they continue to run communities in Bethnal Green, London, and Hitchin, Hertfordshire. The parish is now under the care of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit or Spiritans, known to many as the Holy Ghost Fathers. In Ireland, they are associated with places such as Kimmage Manor, Blackrock College, Saint Mary’s College, Rathmines, and Saint Michael’s in Dublin and Rockwell College, near Cashel, Co Tipperary.

• The parish priest is Father Nathaniel Ewusi; Father Christian Enechukwu is the assistant parish priest; and the Revd Willian Dunphy is the parish deacon. Weekend Masses: Saturday, 6:30 pm Vigil Mass, Sunday, 8:30, 10 and 11:30 am; weekday Mass: Monday to Saturday 9.30 am; Holy Day Masses: 9:30 am and 8 pm.

Saint Mary Magdalen Church, Comerford Road, is under the care of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit or Spiritans, once known as the Holy Ghost Fathers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Easter 2026: 3, Tuesday 7 April 2026, Tuesday in Easter week

A modern icon of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene by Alexandra Kaouki in Rethymnon (Photograph © Alexandra Kaouki)

Patrick Comerford

The Easter celebrations continue this week, Easter Week, even though most people are back to work or back to school this morning. I woke again this morning to the sound of the bells and chimes of Saint Mary and Giles Church.

I have a GP’s appointment in Stony Stratford early this morning for breathing and long tests as part of the continuing monitoring of my sarcoidosis and asthma. But, before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Μη μου άπτου, ‘Noli me Tangere,’ an icon by Mikhail Damaskinos in the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 20: 11-18 (NRSVA):

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

The Church of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene, in Nea Magnesia, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

This morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 20: 11-18) is a re-reading of the second part of Sunday’s Gospel reading, reminding us again of the role of Saint Mary Magdalene as the first witness of the resurrection and of her apostolic ministry.

On the way back down the mountains from the Monastery of Arkadi to the coast of Rethymnon, I have sometimes stopped briefly to see the small church in Nea Magnesia that is dedicated to Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene. It is one of only two churches dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene on the island of Crete.

Nea Magnesia is 12 km east of Rethymnon, near Skaleta and off the road to Panormos, where I have often spent the afternoon of Easter Day. Today, Nea Magnesia is fast becoming part of the resort facilities building up east of Rethymnon. But in the 1920s, the village was first settled by Greek-speaking people who had been expelled from their homes in western Anatolia. They arrived in Crete with their Greek language, traditions and culture and dedicated their church to Saint Mary Magdalene.

The other church in Crete dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene is an impressive Russian-style church on Dagli Street in Chania, with an onion dome and surrounded by a beautiful garden in the district of Chalepa. The church was built in 1901-1903 by Prince George, the High Commissioner of Crete. The church was funded by the Czarist Russia and was opened in 1903 in the presence of Queen Olga, Prince George, Bishop Evgenios of Crete and a small number of invited guests.

I often pass Chalepa on my way to and from Chania airport. With its imposing mansions and luxury villas, Chalepa is a beautiful part of Chania, east of the city on the coastal road to the airport and Akrotiri.

Chalepa was the venue for some of the most important political events in Crete in the 19th century. There Prince George had his palace as the High Commissioner or governor of the semi-autonomous Cretan state in the closing days of Ottoman rule, and there too the Great Powers had their consulates.

Chalepa was also the home of Eleftherios Venizelos, who played a decisive role as Prime Minister of Greece during a critical time in Greek history in the early 20th century. The family house was built by his father, Kyriakos Venizelos, in 1877. Today, his family home houses the Eleftherios K Venizelos National Research and Study Foundation, which plans to turn the house into a museum.

An icon of Saint Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection, Μη μου άπτου (Noli me Tangere) by Mikhail Damaskinos, is one of the important exhibits at the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion. This icon dates from ca 1585-1591. Initially it was in the Monastery of Vrondissi and was transferred in 1800 to the old church of Saint Minas in Iraklion, which I visited last year on Easter Eve.

One of the most inspirational icons of Saint Mary Magdalene I have seen in Crete is an icon by Alexandra Kaouki in her old workshop near the Fortezza in Rethymnon.

According to Greek tradition, Saint Mary Magdalene evangelised the island of Zakynthos in the year 34 CE on her way to Rome with Saint Mary of Cleopas. The village of Maries on the island is said to be named after both Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Mary of Cleopas. A relic of her left hand is said to be preserved in the monastery of Simonopetra on Mount Athos, where she is revered as a co-founder of the monastery.

During the Middle Ages, Saint Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, but these claims are not supported in any of the four Gospels.

Instead, the Gospels tell us she travelled with Jesus as one of his followers, and that she was a witness to his Crucifixion and his Resurrection. Indeed, she is named at least 12 times in the four Gospels, more times than most of the apostles. Two Gospels specifically name her as the first person to see Christ after the Resurrection (see Mark 16: 9 and John 20).

Back in 2016, Pope Francis recognised Saint Mary Magdalene and her role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a ‘true and authentic evangeliser’ when he raised her commemoration [22 July] from a memorial to a feast in the church’s liturgical calendar. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship issued a decree formalising the decision, and both the decree and the article were titled Apostolorum Apostola (‘Apostle of the Apostles’).

Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, said that in celebrating ‘an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,’ Saint Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to ‘reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelisation and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.’

Archbishop Roche said that in giving Saint Mary Magdalene the honour of being the first person to see the empty tomb and the first to listen to the truth of the resurrection, Christ ‘has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who manifests her love for him, looking for him in the garden with anguish and suffering.’

The decision means Saint Mary Magdalene has the same level of feast as that given to the celebration of the apostles and makes her a ‘model for every woman in the church.’

As we think about Saint Mary Magdalene today, and the way she has been maligned and traduced in the past, we may wonder why. Why was she forgotten for so long as the apostle of the apostles and as the ‘model for every woman in the church’?

Why did we give her name to the ‘Magdalene Laundries’ in Ireland that demeaned and belittled innocent women, depriving them of love, education, dignity and basic human rights?

Saint Mary Magdalene may also offer an opportunity to address the way many women were treated in the past in Ireland the ‘Magdalene Laundries’ and the ‘Bethany’ homes. Indeed, Saint Mary Magdalene, in the way she has been maligned over the centuries, represents so many women whose beauty, truth and witness have been denied by the Church for oh so long.

We must never do this again, not only to women, but to any group in the church, because of gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, culture or the other excuses that lead to discrimination, oppression and exclusion. For every time we do this, we are in danger of denying the Resurrection and of denying the Risen Christ himself.

Why does Jesus tell Mary (verse 17): ‘Do not hold onto me’ (Μή μου ἅπτου, Noli me tangere)?

How do we recognise new life in the Risen Christ?

How do we understand the invitation from the Risen Christ to feast with him?

When we accept the new life Christ offers, how does our vision change?

Where do we see the presence of the Risen Christ?

Do we see his presence in the people and places we like and that please us?

Can we see him in the people we do not like and in the situations we find challenging? – the hungry child, the fleeing refugee, the begging person on the street, the homeless addict sleeping on the street or in the doorway?

Is my heart changed by the Risen Christ?

Where do I see the broken and bruised Body of Christ needing restoration and Resurrection?

Do I know him in the word he speaks to me and in the breaking of the bread?

Is the presence of the Risen Christ a living experience for us this morning?

Can Easter be an every-morning, every-day, living experience for us?

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen!

Mary Magdalene at Easter … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 7 April 2026, Tuesday in Easter Week):

‘In the Garden’ provides the theme this week (5-11 April 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), pp 44-45. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 7 April 2026, Tuesday in Easter Week, World Health Day) invites us to pray:

Creator God, we give thanks for the work of USPG in mission hospitals and clinics, for nurses, doctors, and all who care for the sick. Strengthen and protect them to be your hands and feet in what can be very difficult circumstances.

The Collect:

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

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

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

Daily prayer in Lent 2026: 34, Monday 23 March 2026

Christ with the Woman taken in Adultery (Guercino, 1621, Dulwich Picture Gallery)

Patrick Comerford

We are now in the last two weeks of Lent, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent V, 22 March 2026), sometimes still known as Passion Sunday.

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

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

A modern icon of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene by Alexandra Kaouki in her workshop in Rethymnon … Mary Magdalene has been identified wrongly for centuries with the woman in John 8 (Photograph © Alexandra Kaouki)

John 8: 1-11 (NRSVA):

(7: 53 Then each of them went home,) 8: 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ 11 She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’ (John 8: 7, AV) … stones and rocks on the beach at Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

As we read this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 8: 1-11), two points are worth keeping in mind.

Firstly, as we approach Holy Week and Easter, it is worth remembering how Saint Mary Magdalene, who is an intimate witness to some of the most important events in the life of Christ, including his Crucifixion, burial and Resurrection, has been wrongly identified in tradition with the unnamed woman in this passage.

Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name 12 times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles. In all four gospels, she is a witness to the crucifixion, in the three Synoptic Gospels she is also present at his burial, and all four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women, as the first witness to the empty tomb, and the first person to testify to the Resurrection. She is often referred to as the ‘apostle to the apostles’.

Secondly, it should be noted, the earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not include John 7: 53 to John 8: 11 in the Fourth Gospel. Many early manuscripts omit this story, and there is some confusion about where it belongs.

This periscope is not found in its canonical place in any of the earliest surviving Greek Gospel manuscripts. It is not found in the two third century papyrus witnesses to John, P66 and P75. Nor is it found in the fourth century Codex Sinaiticus or the Codex Vaticanus. However, all four manuscripts appear to acknowledge the existence of the passage through the use diacritical marks at the spot.

The first surviving Greek manuscript to contain the pericope is the Codex Bezae, in Latin Greek, dating from the late fourth or early fifth century.

Many scholars continue to defend the Johannine authorship of these verses. However, while almost all modern translations now include the pericope adultera at John 7: 53 to 8: 11, some place it in brackets, and some add a note about the oldest and most reliable witnesses.

Yet, this passage contains two of the best known sayings of Jesus: ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’ (AV, verse 7b) and ‘Go and sin no more’ (AV, verse 11). In the NRSV and NIV there are less memorable versions: ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,’ and ‘Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’ (NRSV) or ‘Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,’ and ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’ (NIV).

The literary influences of this passage reflect how well-loved and well-known it is. Where would we be if we without being able to draw a line in the sand? Who would I accuse if I had permission to throw the first stone? How reckless might each of us be without the admonition to sin no more? Or how guilty might we feel, constantly, without the assurance that we are no longer condemned?

The disciples had gone up on their own for the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) in Jerusalem, as we read last Friday (20 March 2026, see John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30), and there they were joined unexpectedly by Jesus half-way through the Feast. Now they have gone home without him, leaving Jesus alone, and on his own he goes to the Mount of Olives.

He returns to Jerusalem, and begins teaching in the Temple courts once again. There a trap is set for him by an unholy alliance of Scribes and Pharisees in the form of an apparently honest request for help in pursuing justice. However, we can see in verse 6 that the Scribes and the Pharisees are not interested in justice – their only interest is in trapping Jesus.

Adultery was regarded as a capital crime (see Leviticus 20: 10). This seems horrifying to our minds today, but remember how the Mosaic Law was tough on crimes against people, relationships, and the family unit, while other contemporary law codes were tough instead on crime against property. This difference in emphasis – people or things – indicates different value systems and priorities.

Now Jesus is caught in a dilemma: if he agrees with the Mosaic Law and calls for the execution of this woman, he could be accused of sedition, for the Romans had taken away the Jews’ right of capital punishment.

On the other hand, if he says she should not be stoned, he faces an accusations of false teaching and could be discredited among the people, who would also prefer harsh punishment for proven criminals.

When Jesus bends down and starts to write in the sand, he might be seen as stalling for time. Yet, he has not been caught off guard in the past.

However, Jewish civil law had very strict conditions under which adultery was punishable by execution. It required that those accused of adultery should be caught in the act (Numbers 5: 13). Rabbi Samuel says: ‘In the case of adulterers, they [the witnesses] must have seen them in the posture of adulterers.’ Another Talmudic scholar says: ‘[It is not just an issue] of their having seen the couple in a “compromising situation,” for example, coming from a room in which they were alone, or even lying together on the same bed. The actual physical movements of the couple must have been capable of no other explanation, and the witnesses must have seen exactly the same acts at exactly the same time, in the presence of each other, so that their depositions would be identical in every respect.’

But the law also demanded that both parties should be brought forward and prosecuted (Deuteronomy 22: 22). Well, I imagine, it does take two to commit adultery.

If the woman has been caught in adultery, then where is the man? The whole story could have been fabricated. Perhaps the woman has been set up so she can be used to discredit Jesus. Did one of them solicit her, and then others burst in on a pre-arranged signal, let the man go and drag the unfortunate woman before Jesus?

If so, then they too are accessories to the crime and guilty of adultery themselves.

What did Jesus write in the sand?

According to several later manuscripts, verse 8 includes the words: ‘he wrote the sins of each of them’ (see Jeremiah 17: 13). But most readings leave us not knowing. Yet, whatever he wrote did not set them back in their intentions, for they kept on questioning him.

So, despite the popular dramatised portrayal of this story, what Jesus said to them is more important than what he wrote on the ground (see verse 7b): Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

As the men slowly slip away, the woman is left looking at Jesus, and the crowd is still looking on. She has been publicly humiliated, she has been in danger of losing her life, and now her accusers have faded away while she is left embarrassingly in front of Jesus and in front of everyone else.

The response of Jesus to her is very different to the response she must have expected. She does not deny her sinfulness. She simply admits there is no-on there to condemn her. And neither does Jesus condemn her.

He does not say she has not sinned. He accepts her. He loves her. He simply requests that she should sin no more. She makes no apology, and he expects none. This is not about apologies. This is about divine forgiveness, and she receives it and receives the gift of life.

In a real sense, this woman is each and every one of us. We too receive the unrestrained mercy of Christ.

The woman has sinned, she makes no effort to deny or conceal this, and she stands humbly before Christ. Subsequently he extends to her the divine forgiveness that we are all in need of in our lives.

When we read Gospel stories, we often like to think we would behave like Jesus. We ask the WWJD question: ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ But when I read this story, I often find myself identifying both with the woman and with the people. So often I can feel I am being unfairly accused and unfairly judged by others … but if they really knew what was in my heart at times, what would they think of me? And so often I can rush to judgment about others without realising and accepting my own weaknesses, my innate faults, my own sinfulness.

It is right that we are not too quick to judge and it is certainly right that we do not put God to the test as the Pharisees tried to do to Jesus. But neither is it a matter of condoning wrongful behaviour, or turning a blind eye to sin – especially in our own lives. It is a matter of recognising our sinfulness and placing our humble trust in Christ before whom we must all be judged.

This woman places herself fully and completely at the mercy of God. The NRSV translation ‘Sir’ in verse 11 may appear like a polite Americanism. But it misses the potential that is in the original Greek of seeing her making a confession in Jesus as ‘Lord’ when she says: Οὐδείς, κύριε.

Let us then hide nothing from him but turn towards him with all our hearts for forgiveness and by our example encourage others to do the same.

How do I respond when other people come to me with gossip and stories about the sins or lifestyle of others, or even about me?

Are there some people who find forgiveness difficult to receive in the Church?

In many modern translations, this passage appears to say nothing about the woman’s faith. Do you think there is a necessary connection between faith and the assurance of God’s forgiveness?

What does Jesus write in the sand? … a heart in the sand in Bray, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 23 March 2026):

The theme this week (22-28 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Myanmar Earthquake: One Year On’ (pp 40-41). This theme was introduced yesterday with a programme update by the Revd Davidson Solanki, the USPG Senior Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 23 March 2026) invites us to pray:

We give thanks for the resilience of the people of Myanmar who survived last year’s earthquake and ongoing conflict. May they continue to experience God’s comfort and strength as their communities rebuild.

The Collect:

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters
we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Saint Mary Magdalene at Easter … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 74, Tuesday 22 July 2025, Saint Mary Magdalene

Saint Mary Magdalene at Easter Morning … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and this week began with the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025). Today, the Church Calendar celebrates the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene.

I have yet another medical appointment later this morning, this time for my regular B12 injection that helps me to cope with my Vitamin B12 deficiency. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Μη μου άπτου, ‘Noli me Tangere,’ an icon by Mikhail Damaskinos in the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 20: 1-2, 11-18 (NRSVA):

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

A modern icon or Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene by Alexandra Kaouki in Rethymnon (Photograph © Alexandra Kaouki)

This morning’s reflection:

At times on my way back down the mountains from the Monastery of Arkadi to the coast of Rethymnon in Crete, I have stopped briefly to see the small church in Nea Magnesia that is dedicated to Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene.

This is one of only two churches dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene on the island of Crete.

Nea Magnesia is 12 km east of Rethymnon, near Skaleta and off the road to Panormos. Today it is fast becoming part of the resort facilities building up east of Rethymnon. But in the 1920s, this village was first settled by Greek-speaking people who had been expelled from their homes in western Anatolia.

They arrived in Crete with their Greek language, traditions and culture and dedicated their church to Saint Mary Magdalene, whose feast in the Church calendar, east and west, falls today [22 July 2025].

The other church in Crete dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene is an impressive Russian-style church on Dagli Street in Chania, with an onion dome and surrounded by a beautiful garden in the district of Chalepa. The church was built in 1901-1903 by Prince George, the High Commissioner of Crete before it was incorporated into the modern Greek state.

The church was funded by the Czarist Russia and was opened in 1903 in the presence of Queen Olga, Prince George, Bishop Evgenios of Crete and a small number of invited guests.

I often pass Chalepa on my way to the and from Chania Airport. With its imposing mansions and luxury villas, Chalepa is a beautiful part of Chania, east of the city on the coastal road to the airport and Akrotiri.

Chalepa was the venue for some of the most important political events in Crete in the 19th century. Here Prince George had his palace as the High Commissioner or governor of the semi-autonomous Cretan state in the closing days of Ottoman rule, and here too the Great Powers had their consulates.

Chalepa was also the home of Eleftherios Venizelos, who played a decisive role as Prime Minister of Greece during a critical time in Greek history in the early 20th century. The family house was built by his father, Kyriakos Venizelos, in 1877. Today, his family home houses the Eleftherios K Venizelos National Research and Study Foundation, which plans to turn the house into a museum.

An icon of Saint Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection, Μη μου άπτου (Noli me Tangere) by Mikhail Damaskinos, is one of the important exhibits at the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion.

This icon dates from ca 1585-1591. Initially it was in the Monastery of Vrondissi and was transferred to old church of Saint Menas in Iraklion in 1800.

One of the most inspirational icons of Saint Mary Magdalene I have seen in Crete is an icon by Alexandra Kaouki when she had her old workshop near the Fortezza in Rethymnon.

According to Greek tradition, Saint Mary Magdalene evangelised the island of Zakynthos in 34 CE on her way to Rome with Saint Mary of Cleopas. The village of Maries on the island is said to be named after both Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Mary of Cleopas. A relic of her left hand is said to be preserved in the monastery of Simonopetra on Mount Athos, where she is revered as a co-founder of the monastery.

During the Middle Ages, Saint Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, but these claims are not supported in any of the four Gospels.

Instead, the Gospels tell us she travelled with Jesus as one of his followers, and that she was a witness to his Crucifixion and his Resurrection, Indeed, she is named at least 12 times in the four Gospels, more times than most of the apostles. Two Gospels specifically name her as the first person to see Christ after the Resurrection (see Mark 16: 9 and John 20).

Back in 2016, the late Pope Francis recognised Saint Mary Magdalene and her role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a ‘true and authentic evangeliser’ when he raised her commemoration today [22 July] from a memorial to a feast in the church’s liturgical calendar.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship issued a decree formalising the decision, and both the decree and the article were titled Apostolorum Apostola (‘Apostle of the Apostles’).

Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, said that in celebrating ‘an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,’ Saint Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to ‘reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelisation and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.’

Archbishop Roche said that in giving Saint Mary Magdalene the honour of being the first person to see the empty tomb and the first to listen to the truth of the resurrection, Christ ‘has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who manifests her love for him, looking for him in the garden with anguish and suffering.’

The decision means Saint Mary Magdalene has the same level of feast as that given to the celebration of the apostles and makes her a ‘model for every woman in the church.’

The Church of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene, in Nea Magnesia, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 22 July 2025, Saint Mary Magdalene):

The theme this week (20 to 26 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Diversity in Sarawak’ (pp 20-21). I introduced this theme on Sunday with reflections from Sarawak and the Diocese of Kuching.

The USPG prayer diary today (Tuesday 22 July 2025, Saint Mary Magdalene) invites us to pray:

We give thanks for the daily witness and worship of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral in the heart of Kuching, and for the Dean of Kuching, the Very Revd Kho Thong Meng, and the cathedral and diocesan clergy and staff.

‘Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb’ (John 20: 1) … a statue of Saint Mary Magdalen above the gateway at Magdalen College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of mind and body
and called her to be a witness to his resurrection:
forgive our sins and heal us by your grace,
that we may serve you in the power of his risen life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of life and love,
whose risen Son called Mary Magdalene by name
and sent her to tell of his resurrection to his apostles:
in your mercy, help us,
who have been united with him in this Eucharist,
to proclaim the good news
that he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘We give thanks for the daily witness and worship of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral in the heart of Kuching’ (USPG Prayer Diary, 22 July 2025) … the cathedral was designed by Alfred Church of Swan and Maclaren, Singapore (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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 73, Monday 21 July 2025

‘The people of Nineveh … repented at the proclamation of Jonah’ (Matthew 12: 41) … a whale depicted in the Saint Brendan window in Saint Michael’s Church, Sneem, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and yesterday was the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025).

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

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘The people of Nineveh … repented at the proclamation of Jonah’ (Matthew 12: 41) … a reconstruction of the gates of an Assyrian palace in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 12: 38-42 (NRSVA):

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ 39 But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!’

‘Hold up the sandal, as he has commanded us!’ (Monty Python, ‘The Life of Brian’) … two over-size sandals outside the Antika Irish bar on Arabatzoglou street in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s reflection:

Signs are part of the humour throughout Monty Python’s Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, a controversial 1979 film by the Monty Python team, including Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

Scene 18, ‘The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem’, includes this dialogue:

FOLLOWERS: … Look! Ah! Oh! Oh!

ARTHUR: He has given us a sign!

FOLLOWER: Oh!

SHOE FOLLOWER: He has given us … His shoe!

ARTHUR: The shoe is the sign. Let us follow His example.

SPIKE: What?

ARTHUR: Let us, like Him, hold up one shoe and let the other be upon our foot, for this is His sign, that all who follow Him shall do likewise.

EDDIE: Yes.

SHOE FOLLOWER: No, no, no. The shoe is …

YOUTH: No.

SHOE FOLLOWER: … a sign that we must gather shoes together in abundance.

GIRL: Cast off …

SPIKE: Aye. What?

GIRL: … the shoes! Follow the Gourd!

SHOE FOLLOWER: No! Let us gather shoes together!

FRANK: Yes.

SHOE FOLLOWER: Let me!

ELSIE: Oh, get off!

YOUTH: No, no! It is a sign that, like Him, we must think not of the things of the body, but of the face and head!

SHOE FOLLOWER: Give me your shoe!

YOUTH: Get off!

GIRL: Follow the Gourd! The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem!

FOLLOWER: The Gourd!

HARRY: Hold up the sandal, as He has commanded us!

ARTHUR: It is a shoe! It is a shoe!

HARRY: It's a sandal!

ARTHUR: No, it isn't!

GIRL: Cast it away!

ARTHUR: Put it on!

YOUTH: And clear off!

How often do we pray for unusual signs as indications of God’s blessing, favour, approval or intervention, or even God’s judgment?

In this morning’s Gospel reading (Matthew 12: 38-42), Jesus faces this sort of request too in his own day. People wanted some spectacular sign from him to establish beyond doubt that he was who he said he was.

In today’s reading, Jesus addresses the crowds who gather around him as ‘an evil and adulterous generation’ (verse 39) because they are asking for a sign. Today people can be very impressed by visionaries who claim to have visions that are denied to the rest of believers.

The church has traditionally been very wary of all such claims. In the Gospel reading, Jesus accuses his contemporaries of failing to see what is there before them. They want signs and yet all they need already stands in front of them in the person of Jesus, someone greater than Solomon, greater than Jonah, greater than all the prophets and kings.

If the people of Nineveh responded to Jonah and if the Queen of the South responded to Solomon, how much more should Jesus’ contemporaries respond to him?

God has already given us all we need in and through the church, in Word, in Sacrament and in the community of believers. There we find the living word of God. There we find the Eucharist and the other sacraments. There we find Jesus present among us and within his followers.

In the Eucharist, Christ is present to us in the bread and the wine, saying, ‘This is my body … This is my blood’.

In coming to Christ in the Eucharist, we are coming to one who is greater than Jonah or Solomon. He is present to us in other ways also. We take his presence seriously by responding to his call and following in his way, as the people of Nineveh responded to Jonah’s call. And, in response to Christ’s presence, we are called to respond to his presence by living in as a sign of his presence in the world.

A collection of cluttered signs and over-size sandals outside the Antika Irish Bar in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 21 July 2025):

The theme this week (20 to 26 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Diversity in Sarawak’ (pp 20-21). I introduced this theme yesterday with reflections from Sarawak and the Diocese of Kuching.

The USPG prayer diary today (Monday 21 July 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord God, we pray for the Church of the Province of southeast Asia, the Diocese of Kuching, and for the ministry and mission of the bishops, including The Right Revd Danald Jute, Bishop of Kuching and Brunei since 2017.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
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:

Grant, O Lord, we beseech you,
that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered
by your governance,
that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Mary Magdalene:

Almighty God,
whose Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of mind and body
and called her to be a witness to his resurrection:
forgive our sins and heal us by your grace,
that we may serve you in the power of his risen life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

At Saint Patrick’s School, Semadang, introducing the theme of ‘Diversity in Sarawak’ as the theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week

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

Daily prayer in Easter 2025: 3, Tuesday 22 April 2025, Tuesday in Easter week

A modern icon of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene by Alexandra Kaouki in Rethymnon (Photograph © Alexandra Kaouki)

Patrick Comerford

The Easter celebrations in Rethymnon over the past few days have been truly moving. I am back in Stony Stratford this morning (22 April 2025) having got a late night flight from Chania. I was woken this morning by the clock bells of Saint Mary and Giles Church instead of the bells of the Church of the Four Martyrs and Rethymnon Cathedral, which I have heard for the past five morning during my own ‘Holy Week and Easter mini-retreat’.

Later this evening, I hope to attend the annual meeting of parishioners of Saint Mary and Giles Church. But, before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

Μη μου άπτου, ‘Noli me Tangere,’ an icon by Mikhail Damaskinos in the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 20: 11-18 (NRSVA):

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

The Church of Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene, in Nea Magnesia, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

This morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 20: 11-18) is a re-reading of the second part of Sunday’s Gospel reading, reminding us again of the role of Saint Mary Magdalene as the first witness of the resurrection and of her apostolic ministry.

On the way back down the mountains from the Monastery of Arkadi to the coast of Rethymnon in Crete, I have sometimes stopped briefly to see the small church in Nea Magnesia that is dedicated to Aghia Magdalini or Saint Mary Magdalene. It is one of only two churches dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene on the island of Crete.

Nea Magnesia is 12 km east of Rethymnon, near Skaleta and off the road to Panormos. Today it is fast becoming part of the resort facilities building up east of Rethymnon. But in the 1920s, this village was first settled by Greek-speaking people who had been expelled from their homes in western Anatolia. They arrived in Crete with their Greek language, traditions and culture and dedicated their church to Saint Mary Magdalene.

The other church in Crete dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene is an impressive Russian-style church on Dagli Street in Chania, with an onion dome and surrounded by a beautiful garden in the district of Chalepa. The church was built in 1901-1903 by Prince George, the High Commissioner of Crete. The church was funded by the Czarist Russia and was opened in 1903 in the presence of Queen Olga, Prince George, Bishop Evgenios of Crete and a small number of invited guests.

I often pass Chalepa on my way to and from Chania airport. With its imposing mansions and luxury villas, Chalepa is a beautiful part of Chania, east of the city on the coastal road to the airport and Akrotiri.

Chalepa was the venue for some of the most important political events in Crete in the 19th century. Here Prince George had his palace as the High Commissioner or governor of the semi-autonomous Cretan state in the closing days of Ottoman rule, and here too the Great Powers had their consulates. Chalepa was also the home of Eleftherios Venizelos, who played a decisive role as Prime Minister of Greece during a critical time in Greek history in the early 20th century. The family house was built by his father, Kyriakos Venizelos, in 1877. Today, his family home houses the Eleftherios K Venizelos National Research and Study Foundation, which plans to turn the house into a museum.

An icon of Saint Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection, Μη μου άπτου (Noli me Tangere) by Mikhail Damaskinos, is one of the important exhibits at the Museum of Christian Art in the former church of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Iraklion. This icon dates from ca 1585-1591. Initially it was in the Monastery of Vrondissi and was transferred in 1800 to the old church of Saint Minas in Iraklion, which I visited last Saturday.

One of the most inspirational icons of Saint Mary Magdalene I have seen in Crete is an icon by Alexandra Kaouki in her old workshop near the Fortezza in Rethymnon.

According to Greek tradition, Saint Mary Magdalene evangelised the island of Zakynthos in 34 AD on her way to Rome with Saint Mary of Cleopas. The village of Maries on the island is said to be named after both Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Mary of Cleopas. A relic of her left hand is said to be preserved in the monastery of Simonopetra on Mount Athos, where she is revered as a co-founder of the monastery.

During the Middle Ages, Saint Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, but these claims are not supported in any of the four Gospels.

Instead, the Gospels tell us she travelled with Jesus as one of his followers, and that she was a witness to his Crucifixion and his Resurrection. Indeed, she is named at least 12 times in the four Gospels, more times than most of the apostles. Two Gospels specifically name her as the first person to see Christ after the Resurrection (see Mark 16: 9 and John 20).

Back in 2016, Pope Francis, who died yesterday (21 April 2025), recognised Saint Mary Magdalene and her role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a ‘true and authentic evangeliser’ when he raised her commemoration [22 July] from a memorial to a feast in the church’s liturgical calendar. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship issued a decree formalising the decision, and both the decree and the article were titled Apostolorum Apostola (‘Apostle of the Apostles’).

Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, said that in celebrating ‘an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,’ Saint Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to ‘reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelisation and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.’

Archbishop Roche said that in giving Saint Mary Magdalene the honour of being the first person to see the empty tomb and the first to listen to the truth of the resurrection, Christ ‘has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who manifests her love for him, looking for him in the garden with anguish and suffering.’

The decision means Saint Mary Magdalene has the same level of feast as that given to the celebration of the apostles and makes her a ‘model for every woman in the church.’

As we think about Saint Mary Magdalene, and the way she has been maligned and traduced in the past, we may wonder why. Why was she forgotten so long as the apostle of the apostles and the ‘model for every woman in the church’?

Why did we give her name to the ‘Magdalene Laundries’ in Ireland that demeaned and belittled innocent women, depriving them of love, education, dignity and basic human rights?

Saint Mary Magdalene may also offer an opportunity to address the way many women were treated in the past in Ireland the ‘Magdalene Laundries’ and the ‘Bethany’ homes. Indeed, Saint Mary Magdalene, in the way she has been maligned over the centuries, represents so many women whose beauty, truth and witness have been denied by the Church for oh so long.

We must never do this again, not only to women, but to any group in the church, because of gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, culture or the other excuses that lead to discrimination, oppression and exclusion. For every time we do this, we are in danger of denying the Resurrection and of denying the Risen Christ himself.

Why does Jesus tell Mary (verse 17): ‘Do not hold onto me’ (Μή μου ἅπτου, Noli me tangere)?

How do we recognise new life in the Risen Christ?

How do we understand the invitation from the Risen Christ to feast with him?

When we accept the new life Christ offers, how does our vision change?

Where do we see the presence of the Risen Christ?

Do we see his presence in the people and places we like and that please us?

Can we see him in the people we do not like and in the situations we find challenging? – the hungry child, the fleeing refugee, the begging person on the street, the homeless addict sleeping on the street or in the doorway?

Is my heart changed by the Risen Christ?

Where do I see the broken and bruised Body of Christ needing restoration and Resurrection?

Do I know him in the word he speaks to me and in the breaking of the bread?

Is the presence of the Risen Christ a living experience for us this morning?

Can Easter be an every-morning, every-day, living experience for us?

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen!

Mary Magdalene at Easter … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 22 April 2025, Tuesday in Easter Week):

‘Cross-Cultural Mission at Manchester Airport’ provides the theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by the Revd Debbie Sawyer, Pastoral Chaplain in the Church in Wales and Airport Chaplain, Manchester.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 22 April 2025, Tuesday in Easter Week, Earth Day) invites us to pray:

Creator God, help us to care for your Earth with love and respect, preserving its beauty for future generations.

The Collect:

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

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

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