Saint Mary's Church, Luton, with its chequered walls is a mediaeval church on a 1,000-year-old site

Saint Mary’s Church in the centre of Luton is one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Mary’s Church in the centre of Luton is one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire and is a fine example of mediaeval architecture. Saint Mary’s is over 900 years old but there has been a church on the same site for over 1,000 years, and the church has been rebuilt and refurbished constantly over the centuries.

In her recent history of Saint Mary’s Church (2000), Katheryne Rogers describes the church as ‘Luton’s Medieval Jewel’ and tells ‘the stories behind the chequered walls’. It has been said that Saint Mary’s is a ‘medieval oasis surrounded by roundabouts, and sandwiched between the Arndale mall and University of Bedfordshire.’

The first church on the site was built ca 930 by King Athelstan in thanksgiving for his victory over the Danes. The land was owned by the king in Saxon and early Norman times and the church was richly endowed. The castle may have stood where the university is now and beside the River Lea.

The present Saint Mary’s was first built in 1121, but there has been a church on the same site in Luton for over 1,000 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The present church was first built in 1121 by Robert FitzRoy (1090-1147), 1st Earl of Gloucester, and it was consecrated in 1137. The church was first built in a cruciform shape without aisles. But with the increases in population of Luton, the north and south aisles were added within 40 years of each other at the start of the 13th century.

As the church continued to be extended, a tower was built, and the transepts were extended, with twin arches opening into the new chapels on the east sides of the transepts. A vaulted sacristy with an upper room was built north of the chancel and a new font was given a canopy of richly carved stone in an octagonal shape.

Further restoration and rebuilding work was carried out in this time, the Someries chapel was extended, the sacristy was rebuilt further east, the west tower was made taller and most of the windows were renewed.

All this work was carried out with the help of John Wenlock (ca 1400/1404-1471) of Someries Castle, MP for the Bedfordshire, Speaker of Parliament and Baron Wenlock. His family had been connected with the church since 1389, and the chapel was renamed the Wenlock Chapel in 1461.

Wenlock switched sides five times between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses and has been called ‘the prince of turncoats’. Some historians suggest this behaviour was commonplace during the Wars of the Roses; others say that even when Wenlock was not actually changing sides, he was engaged in ‘fence sitting par excellence’. He was killed on the battlefield at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, allegedly by his own commander, the Duke of Somerset, who blamed Wenlock’s indecisiveness for the defeat of the Lancastrians.

The other chapels in Saint Mary’s Church include the Hoo Chapel and the Barnard Chantry chapel and the church also has monuments to the Rotheram family.

The 14th-century octagonal baptistery in the western bay was a gift from Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III, to the people of Luton to encourage their spirits following the Black Death. It has a bowl-shaped Purbeck marble font and is the only Baptistry in England with a walk-in stone canopy surrounding it.

The south door (1530) is known as the Wolsey Door, after Cardinal Wolsey, a patron of the church.

The west tower of Saint Mary’s Church, Luton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The architecture of Saint Mary’s is varied as the church has been renovated and rebuilt many times. The basic layout is a cruciform shape, with north and south aisles and many chapels and extensions in various directions heading off the main church. The total length of the church is 53 metres (174 ft), the total width is 17 metres (56 ft), and the height is 27 metres (89 ft).

The outside of the church is clad in a distinctive flint and stone chequer, which makes the church stand out in the town. The chequerwork pattern of dark flint and light stone is characteristic of the north Chilterns.

The church is Grade I listed and the only one to be a Grade I listed building in Luton.

A statue on the west side of the tower of of Saint Mary’s Church, Luton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The church underwent a major and sympathetic restoration in 1865-1885 led by the Victorian architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881), when the Revd James O’Neill was the Vicar of Luton (1862-1895). The distinctive flint and stone chequer was extended to cover most of the church. Giles Gilbert Scott supervised repairs to the Wenlock Chapel in 1904-1905, and the tower was restored in 1906.

The parish hall and offices and vestries were built as a block in the chequered style at the east end of the church in 1968-1969 to provide more space. At the time, they aroused much controversy, with one critic suggesting ‘they look like a public toilet and bear no architectural relationship to the church’.

The Magnificat Window in the south transept was installed in 1979, replacing a window damaged by vandalism. The abstract stained glass window was designed by Alan Younger (1933-2004), one of the most important stained-glass artists in post-war Britain. The window represents the Virgin Mary’s emotional explosion of happiness and outpouring of gratitude during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth when she was pregnant with the Christ Church. Alan Younger also designed the Great West Window installed in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, in 1975.

The church has also installed projection screens, moved the pulpit to its former position and replaced the Victorian heating system.

The clock was restored in time for the millennium and was officially reopened in 1999 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The clock was installed in 1901, and faced west across the town. Described as a Cambridge quarter clock with an eight-day movement, it was built by JW Benson at. The quarters were chimed on the second, third, fourth and seventh bells, and the hours struck on the tenor bell.

However, after two overhauls in 1909 and 1949 and the installation of a new bell, the clock’s mechanism’s seized and gave up in 1979. The bell was not heard for 28 years, until the University of Bedfordshire, offered to help restore the clock in time for the new year and the millennium. The clock was officially reopened on Armistice Day 11 November 1999.

The graveyard surrounding the church is no longer used. Power Court, the area next to Saint Mary’s Church, has been due to be renovated for years. Currently Luton Town Football Club proposes to develop the site with a stadium, apartment blocks, retail and other facilities.

Saint Mary’s Church is in the Diocese of Saint Albans and stands in the Open Evangelical tradition. It is known for its youth work in the town and its pioneering peace and reconciliation ministry. The Vicar of Luton is Canon Mike Jones, and the ministry team includes the Revd Andy Pike, the Rev Joseph Adewale and the Rev Chris Adams. Saint Mary’s is open on Tuesday to Thursday, from 9 am to 1 pm, and on Sundays from 9 am to 12 noon.

The parish hall and offices and vestries were built as a block in the chequered style at the east end of the church in 1968-1969 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

• The Sunday services are at 9 am and 10:30 am. The 9 am service is quiet and reflective with Holy Communion and hymns, followed by tea and coffee. The 10:30 service alternates between All-Age worship and Holy Communion. A Shona-language service on the third Sunday afternoon each month is designed for the Zimbabwean community.

The Sunday services in Saint Mary’s Church, Luton, are at 9 am and 10:30 am (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 22, Friday 29 May 2026

‘He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves’ (Mark 11: 15) … abandoned tables and furniture at an abandoned house in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 50-day season of Easter, which began on Easter Day (5 April 2026), came to an end on Sunday with the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday (24 May 2026), and in the Church Calendar we have been back in Ordinary Time since Monday.

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 Cleansing of the Temple, Giotto, the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 11: 11-25 (NRSVA):

11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’

18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ 22 Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

25 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’

‘Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it’ (Mark 11: 13) … a fig tree in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

If I had the space and the soil, the patience and the time, the two trees I would like to try to grow are an olive tree and a fig tree.

They are signs of life and God’s blessings in creation, of life and of continuity in life. There is a very large fig tree off the High Street in Stony Stratford and small potted olive trees outside some of the restaurants in Milton Keynes. Fig trees and olive trees at any time of the year also bring back warm memories of Greece.

But during a visit to Saint Mary’s Church, Watford, last year I heard the story of one of the most unusual fig trees in an English churchyard.

The churchyard has 13 prominent tombs, including the Fig Tree Tomb, once a popular tourist attraction in Victorian Watford. Local lore says the person buried there was an atheist who had asked that something be buried in the tomb that could germinate if there was life after death. If there was a God, this would grow and burst the tomb to prove to his family that his soul was alive. If not, then nothing would happen and he would be proved correct.

The existence of God was said to have been proven when a fig tree sprouted up from the tomb and dislodged the lid. The strange sight drew visitors to the graveyard in large numbers, who came to hear the story and left taking a twig from the tree as a souvenir.

Whoever was buried in the tomb must have come from a wealthy family as the tomb is of Portland stone with an elaborate design, and the slate panel once had crisp carving with the name and details of the dead person. It is unlikely though that an atheist would have been given such an impressive tomb so close to the church. But, the slate panel is eroded, the inscription is no longer legible, and the details of the legend are impossible to verify.

Yet details in the story were embellished as the story of the Fig Tree grew, attracting visitors in ever-increasing numbers. Henry Williams, in his History of Watford (1884), described the fig tree growing through the tomb and how each year it ‘exhibits considerable luxuriance and sometimes produces figs.’ He said the fig tree had ‘probably grown there for close upon 100 years’, dating it to the 1790s or even the 1780s.

Williams described hundreds of people visiting the churchyard, many making long excursions to see the fig tree and taking home a leaf or small branch. However, he said that when the tomb was opened it was found that the root of the tree was four or five feet above where the dead man’s head must have been. Some tendrils had become attached to the bottom of the vault and this was said to explain the luxuriant growth of the fig tree.

Yet another theory suggests the seed of the fig tree could have been accidentally thrown into the tomb by the Revd the Hon William Robert Capel (1775-1854), Vicar of Saint Mary’s (1799-1855) and a son of William Anne Capell (1743-1799), 4th Earl of Essex. The vicar grew fig trees and had a taste for eating figs as he walked to church, spitting out the pips along his way from the vicarage.

Sadly, the Fig Tree itself died in 1963 after a long and cold winter, though some writers suggest it was helped on its way by local officials who thought it was in the way. The fig tree may be long gone, but the legend and the tomb remain with several versions of the story.

In this morning’s Gospel reading, Saint Mark uses an intentional ‘sandwich’ technique, wrapping the story of the cleansing of the Temple within the narrative of the withering fig tree (Mark 11: 12-14, 20-21).

The fig tree represents the religious leadership of the day: it has the appearance of bearing fruit, but upon closer inspection, it is barren. The cleansing of the Temple serves as an acted-out parable. The Temple has become a place of exclusion, extortion, and superficiality rather than a house of prayer for all nations.

The fate of the fig tree in this morning’s reading is in sharp contrast to the fate of the fig tree in a parable in Saint Luke’s Gospel (Luke 13: 6-9). In that parable, it seems to make logical, economic and financial sense for the owner to want to chop down the fig tree that is bearing no fruit – after all, not only is it taking up space, but it also costs in terms of time, tending, feeding, caring and nurturing. The owner knows what it is to make a quick profit, and if the quick profit is not coming soon enough he wants to cut his losses.

It takes much tender care and many years – at least three years – for a fig tree to bear fruit. Fig trees are planted in vineyards to shelter the weaker vines. An old and elegant fig tree is a common site in many Mediterranean vineyards and has its own intrinsic value. It may even have vines wrapped around it, bearing their own fruit, which are a generous bonus, beyond the purpose of planting the tree.

Even if a fig tree bears early fruit, the Mosaic Law said it could not be harvested for three years, and the fruit gathered in the fourth year was going to offered as the first fruits. Only in the fifth year, then, could the fruit be eaten. So, if Saint Luke’s fig tree was chopped down, and another put its place, it would take longer still to get fruit that could be eaten or sold. In his quest for a ‘quick buck’, the owner of the vineyard shows little knowledge about the reality of economics.

The gardener, who has nothing at stake, turns out to be the one who not only has compassion, but has deep-seated wisdom too. The gardener, who is never going to benefit from the owner’s profits, can see the tree’s potential, is willing to let be and wait, knowing what the fig tree is today and what it can do in the future.

It takes much tender care and many years – at least three years – for a fig tree to bear fruit. And even then, in a vineyard, the figs are not a profit – they are a sweet bonus.

When a tree bears fruit, the Mosaic Law said it could not be harvested for three years, and the fruit gathered in the fourth year was to be offered as the first fruits. Only in the fifth year, then, could the fruit be eaten.

In Saint Luke’s parable of the fig tree, we are called on to wait, we are urged not to be too hasty to pass judgment on those who seem in our eyes to do nothing to improve their lot.

But I can decide where I place my trust – in the values that I think serve me but serve the rich, the powerful and the oppressor, or in the God who sees our plight, who hears our cry, and who comes in Christ to deliver us.

The destruction of the Temple’s corrupt system offers hope of the birth of a new way of accessing God. Christ connects the effectiveness of prayer directly to our capacity to forgive others. Right worship of God and right relationships with our neighbours are intrinsically intertwined. This passage is a challenge to us to ensure our own spiritual lives are bearing real fruit and that our churches and communities are places of grace and mercy rather than exclusion.

In the latter part of today’s reading (Mark 11: 22-26), our focus shifts to the nature of faith, prayer, and forgiveness. We are called on to wait, to not be too hasty in our judgment on others, and to be forgiving: ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses’ (verse 25).

The ‘Fig Tree Tomb’ at Saint Mary’s Church, Watford … the fig tree – and the inscription – have long disappeared (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 29 May 2026):

This week in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), from 24 to 30 May 2026 (pp 58-59), the theme is ‘Carriers of the Flame’ and was introduced on Sunday with reflections by Carol Miller, Church Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 29 May 2026) invites us to pray:

Bring justice and dignity to the oppressed and the forgotten, and guide USPG and its partners in our mission to uphold the worth of every person.

The Collect:

O Lord, from whom all good things come:
grant to us your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration
we may think those things that are good,
and by your merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord 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:

Gracious God, lover of all,
in this sacrament
we are one family in Christ your Son,
one in the sharing of his body and blood
and one in the communion of his Spirit:
help us to grow in love for one another
and come to the full maturity of the Body of Christ.
We make our prayer through your Son our Saviour.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

A fig tree in full bloom close to the ruins of Saint Mary Magdalene Church in Stony Stratford (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 Bertelin’s Chapel is part of the story of early Stafford, but archaeologists disagree about interpreting the site

The site of Saint Bertelin’s Chapel, in front of Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church, Stafford, is said to date from the year 700 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I was writing yesterday about my visit to Stafford last week and to Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church in the centre of the town. At the west end of the church is the site of a chapel associated with Saint Bertelin or Saint Beorhthelm, who is said to have established a hermitage ca 700 CE that is said to mark the beginnings of Stafford.

Saint Bertelin was an obscure Anglo Saxon saint. He is said to have established his hermitage ca 700 CE on the Isle of Bethnei in the marshes around the River Sow. Bertelin – whose name gradually took the form Bertram in some areas – later moved his hermitage to Ilam in Derbyshire, where his shrine and well made Ilam a popular place of pilgrimage.

The first building on the site in Stafford seems to have been a Late Saxon timber chapel, commemorating Saint Bertelin, although The first historical reference to Saint Bertelin at Stafford appears in a list of tombs of saints for pilgrims by Hugh Candidus of Peterbrough, who died ca 1175, in a reference ‘in Stefford sanctus Berthelmus martyr’.

Saint Mary’s Church was rebuilt in the late 12th and early 13th century, and was joined to Saint Bertelin’s chapel through a doorway in the west wall. The chapel became a shrine to Saint Bertelin, and was a place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages.

The chapel was later used as a council chamber and a school, before it was pulled down in 1801 to allow more room for burials in the churchyard. Following the demolition, the site of Saint Bertelin’s Chapel was destroyed largely by burials in the 19th century and only patches of wall and floor and several early graves definable.

The blocked former west entrance into Saint Mary's was the only surviving evidence for the existence of the chapel until the local authority decided to clear the gravestones and create a garden of remembrance.

Saint Bertelin’s Chapel was pulled down in 1801 to provide more space for burials in Saint Mary’s churchyard (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Before the clearance work began, an archaeological investigation was carried out in 1954 at the site of Saint Bertelin’s Chapel by Adrian Oswald (1908-2001), curator of archaeology at Birmingham City Museum.

Oswald found a set of stone foundations interpreted as belonging to Saint Bertelin's mediaeval chapel. Beneath the stone was a set of post-holes with a central grave-shaped pit in the centre of the structure containing a large lump of oak with a cylindrical base that had been placed in a pit.

The archaeologist and historian CA Ralegh Radford (1900-1998) initially interpreted this as a 1,000-year-old a wooden cross of the Mercian period and a later reconstruction was put on the site.

In the popular retelling of these interpretations, it was said that the remains of a timber cross buried 5 ft below the surface, and from this it was deduced that ‘it is entirely possible that this cross was the one used by Saint Bertelin himself. Beneath the cross were the remains of a timber building, which it seems reasonable to assume was the one built by Bertelin.’

The site of Saint Bertelin’s Chapel at the west front of Saint Mary’s Church, Stafford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

However, a re-assessment of the site was made in in 1984 by Professor Martin Carver, who considered the finds in the context of other archaeological investigations at Stafford. Carver is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of York and director of the Sutton Hoo Research Project. He founded the Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit (BUFAU), later called Birmingham Archaeology, at the University of Birmingham, and is the author of The Birth of a Borough. Archaeological studies of Anglo-Saxon Stafford (2010).

Carver argues that the shape of the wood lump, with a cylindrical base, and the leather attached inside to the top, all suggest that this was a coffin, not a cross, resembling the tree-trunk coffins known from the seventh century onwards in East Anglia.

The general sequence reported by Oswald was largely endorsed, seeing the site as one of a timber structure succeeded by a later stone chapel. However, the earliest part of the sequence associated with the timber structure and coffin was found to be inverted in respect of the dates. A layer of ninth century charcoal (830-845 CE) lay above the layer containing a Saxon farthing of Athelred II (971-1016) lost before 1000 CE, which in turn lay above the 12th century log coffin.

From this evidence, it could be argued that the coffin was buried in a late 12th century stone chapel, and the coffin was simply part of a late 12th century foundation process.

Carver suggests the log coffin was buried within a timber structure dated to the period 800-1000, and so too late to be used to support legends of an eighth century foundation associated with an ‘Isle of Bethnei’.

The timber chapel, or possible mortuary house, may have burnt down in the ninth century, which would account for the charcoal layer. Carver rejected the date 1180 for the log coffin. The timber chapel was superseded by a stone chapel with a truer east-west alignment. The floor of this stone chapel would have sealed the log coffin and the layers above it.

This stone chapel appears to have fallen into disuse and was probably demolished around the time of the Conquest and then rebuilt in stone on an improved alignment. A layer of brown soil, interpreted as a layer of ‘disuse’ appears to separate the floor of the first stone chapel from the second, later stone chapel rebuilt on the same site, slightly offset to the south, laid out in dressed stone indicating a small nave and a narrower chancel, with a tiled floor laid in the 14th century.

The muddled evidence may suggest the first chapel was built of timber between 800 and 1000. A tree-trunk burial was placed centrally in this structure, and presumed to be an object of veneration. The date range of other finds allows the construction of the timber chapel to belong to the foundation of the burh by Æthelflæd in 913 CE, and it seems likely the chapel was built during the reconquest of English Mercia.

The plaque marking the site of Saint Bertelin’s Chapel at Saint Mary’s Church, Stafford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Still, local publications continue to maintain this was Saint Bertelin’s preaching cross and this is echoed on the plaque at the site:

‘Site of St. Bertelin’s Chapel

‘This site was excavated in 1954 AD. The foundation stones have been restored upon the exact plan of the chapel built about 1000 AD.

‘The wooden cross is a replica of the cross lying five feet below with indications of a wooden building of much earlier date. The position of the cross indicates that it was regarded with great sanctity and may be the preaching cross of St. Bertelin the founder of the town of Stafford circa 700 AD.’

Meanwhile, the name of the early hermit and saint is continued in Saint Bertelin’s Church, the parish church for the north end of Stafford, on the corner of Holmcroft Road and Eccleshall Road.

Saint Chad’s Church is the oldest surviving building in Stafford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

After visiting Saint Mary’s Church and Saint Bertelin’s Chapel, I went to see Saint Chad’s Church opposite the Ancient High House on Greengate Street. Saint Chad’s is the oldest surviving building in Stafford, with a story stretching back to the 12th century, and perhaps even back to the time of Saint Chad, the first Bishop of Lichfield (669-672).

Saint Chad’s was built ca 1150-1190 and an inscription names the founder as Orm: Orm vocatur qui me condidit (‘He who made me is called Orm’). Orm was a major landowner of Danish origin and the dragons in the carvings are a pun on his name ‘Orm’ or ‘Worm’.

Saint Chad’s was restored from a forgotten and ruinous state in the mid-19th century. The restoration was carried out by Henry Griffiths, Robert Ward and George Gilbert Scott, who also built the Norman-Romanesque front and donated the statue of Saint Chad in the central niche. At the same time, Scott was carrying out extensive restorations of Lichfield Cathedral.

Saint Paul’s Church, which I passed on the way to Rugeley and Lichfield, is a Grade II building on Lichfield Road. It was designed by Henry Ward and built in 1844. The steeple was added in 1887 by Robert Griffiths. The stained glass includes late 19th and early 20th century work by Hardman and Co, AJ Davies of Bromsgrove, and Smith of St John’s Wood, including a particularly good 19th century east window.

I had visited four churches and chapels in Stafford – Saint Mary’s, Saint Bertelin’s Chapel’s Chapel, Saint Chad’s Church and Saint Paul’s Church. But before leaving Stafford last week I also visited Sir Martin Noel’s Almshouses on Earl Street, which still has its chapel.

As for Saint Bertelin, his feast day is celebrated on 10 August.

Saint Paul’s Church on Lichfield Road, Stafford, was designed by Henry Ward and built in 1844 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Searching for the Old Rectory by Swinfen Harris among the old thatched houses in Maids Moreton

The Old Rectory in Maids Moreton, on the edges of Buckingham, was rebuilt by Edward Swinfen Harris in 1878-1879 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

As I continue my ‘field trips’ in search of buildings in this area designed by the Stony Stratford architect Edward Swinfen Harris (1841-1924), I visited the small village of Maids Moreton earlier this week.

In recent weeks, these ‘field trips’ have taken me to Roade in Northamptonshire, where Swinfen Harris designed Tylecote House (1894) for a local GP, Dr O’Ryan; Addington, outside Winslow, where he designed the Old School House (1876); and Buckingham, where the U3A (University of the Third Age) Architecture Group invited me to speak in Buckingham Library about his life and work (11 September 2025).

In Maids Moreton, the Uthwatt family commissioned Swinfen Harris to rebuild the Old Rectory (1878-1879) beside Saint Edmund’s Church, the oldest building in the village.

Corner Cottage on Duck Lane … the right-hand half is timber-framed with whitewashed plaster and brick infill and a whitewashed stone plinth, the left-hand half is of brick with rubble stone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Maids Moreton is about a mile (1.6 km) north-east of Buckingham, on top of a plateau overlooking Buckingham, at the north end of the Vale of Aylesbury. The historic core of the village is concentrated along three principal streets: Duck Lake and Towcester Road to the north-west, Church Street to the south-east and Main Street, which runs between these two from north-west to south-east, and around Saint Edmund’s Church on Church Street, a short distance south-west of Main Street.

Modern development has made a significant impact on the setting of the village, with the growth of modern housing estates such as Manor Park, Hall Close, Church Close and Glebe Close along Main Street and Church Street. Yet, despite the expansion of Buckingham reaching the edges of the village, Maids Moreton retains its independence and a strong, separate identity.

As I strolled around Maids Moreton, I found a high concentrations of old historic buildings at the north-west and south-east ends of Main Street, with clusters of old buildings also along Duck Lake, around the junction of Duck Lake, Towcester Road and Main Street and close to Saint Edmund’s Church at the south-east end of the village.

Maids Moreton has many 17th century houses and cottages with timber frames, brick or plaster filling and thatched roofs. The Old Rectory and Maids Moreton Hall close to the church are two large 19th century buildings that are widely spaced set within substantial grounds, dating from an important period of change in the village.

The Wheatsheaf, a 17th century timber-frame public house on Main Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Archaeological evidence suggests the area around Maids Moreton was settled from at least the Iron Age. Maids Moreton itself probably began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement on the south slopes of the valley of the River Great Ouse, where the land was rich and fertile and the river provided good access to water and to transport.

The historic core of the village is found around Saint Edmund’s Church, probably the oldest part of the village and dating from the Anglo-Saxon period. The village may have assumed its current form through the coalescence of farmsteads and manors over the course of time and the gradual development of buildings along the tracks and roads interconnecting them.

At the Domesday survey in 1086, Maids Moreton is listed as ‘Mortone’. The name may mean the ‘farm on the mor or swampy ground.’ The origins of the prefix Maids is said to date back to the 15th century, and local lore says two maiden sisters of the Pever, Poevre, Poever or Peyvre family who are said to have rebuilt Saint Edmund’s Church.

The sisters are said to have been conjoined twins and that when one sister died, the other died also. Whether they are legendary or historical, the sisters are recalled in the name of Maids Morton, in a poem by the Revd J Tarver of Filgrave, and in a wall painted epitaph above the north door and brasses in Saint Edmund’s Church. But more about them in a posting next Tuesday (11 November 2025).

Holly Tree Cottage on Main Street, once the old off-licence, dates from the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

There were several early manors within Maids Moreton. After the Norman Conquest, a manor at the south end of the village remained in the possession of an Englishman named Leofwin of Nuneham Courtney.

Maids Moreton became part of a royal hunting forest of Whittlewood, but was it was disafforested sometime before 1286. The earlier manor had fallen into disrepair by the 1290s and a new house was built in the 1300s, possibly on the site now occupied by Maids Moreton Hall. The manor became known as Greenham’s Manor, after the family that held it during the reign of Henry IV. It was held by the Crown for a time before it was granted to All Souls College, Oxford, in 1442. The home farm of this manor is confusingly called the Old Manor, and was once known as the Manor Farmhouse.

A manor along Main Street on the site of the Manor Park estate passed from the Clare family and the Stafford family who were Dukes of Buckingham to Christ Church College, Oxford. The Scott family farmed it for several generations.

Woodbine Cottage on Main Street, a 17th century house with a timber frame, whitewashed brick infill, a half-hipped thatch roof and an off-centre brick stack (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The earliest domestic buildings date from the 16th and 17th centuries. However, earlier fabric is often hidden behind later facades as for example at Yew Trees where a cruck-built core probably dating from the 15th or 16th century was recently found within a building that had previously been dated to the 17th century.

Timber was the main material used in the construction of buildings in Maids Moreton up to the18th century. Although there are examples where timber framing is hidden beneath render or later re-fronting of buildings, in the majority of cases the timber frame is visible.

The majority of surviving timber-dframe buildings were built in a simple box frame although there is also an example of a surviving cruck frame at Yewtrees on Duck Lake, although the cruck frame at Yewtrees is disguised beneath render and hidden from external view. The majority of the panels between the timber elements have been infilled with brick. Brick became a relatively common building material in Maids Morerton from the late 18th and 19th centuries. It was used in older timber framed buildings as an infill for the panels between the timber elements and was also used to refront or extend earlier buildings.

Maids Moreton Hall, built by the Burrows family in the 19th century, is now a care home (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Because Maids Moreton was so close to Buckingham, it became an attractive place to live in from the mid-19th century. A number of larger properties were built for more affluent families, including the Elms, now the Red House, on Main Street and Maids Moreton House, now Vitalograph.

Maids Moreton Hall was built by the Burrows family in the 19th century on the site of former manor. It is a large brick building with stone dressing, a complex roof form and prominent decorative chimneys. There are mullion and transom windows and some dormers.

The house became the centre of Buckinghamshire lace industry in the late 19th century under Miss MEB Burrows.

The Uthwatt family commissioned Edward Swinfen Harris to redesign and rebuild the Old Rectory in 1878-1879 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Uthwatt family became prominent in the village in the 19th century. They commissioned Edward Swinfen Harris, who lived and worked in Stony Stratford, to redesign and rebuild the Old Rectory. At the time the Rector of Maids Moreton was the Revd Bolton Waller Johnstone (1823-1903). His parents, the Revd John Beresford Johnstone and Elizabeth Waller of Castletown Park, Co Limerick, were married in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, and he was born in Kilkenny and educated at Trinity College Dublin.

The 2½-storey Old Rectory is built in brick, with a steeply-pitched tiled roof, a prominent chimney, and irregular fenestration with stone dressings. A stringcourse runs between the ground and first floor and on the gable end between each storey. On the gable, the stringcourse forms an arch above each window opening at the first floor level and a staggered effect below the window between the ground and first floor. This decorative effect enlivens the elevations and creates interest in the form of shadows and texture.

Due to its scale and its location close to the church, the Old Rectory is a visually prominent building that makes a strong architectural statement and a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the village.

Swinfen Harris also designed the Uthwatt’s new house, named Southfields, and he may also have designed Foscote Lodge and Foscote Rectory nearby.

The Old Rectory is a visually prominent building in Maids Moreton that makes a strong architectural statement and a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the village (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The expansion of Maids Moreton in the 20th century began when the sale of the Uthwatt’s family manor in 1928 released land for development in the village.

Maids Moreton Hall was a private residence until the time of World War II, when it became the Buckinghamshire county branch of the National Heart Hospital. Extensions were added in the 1960s, and it has been in use as an old persons home to the present day.

The village experienced a major period of growth in the 1960s when Manor Park and the new school were built. The old post office, at the junction of Main Street with the A413, closed in the mid-1990s and is now a private house.

Maids Moreton received unwanted attention in 2019 when Ben Field was jailed for the murder of a local resident Peter Farquhar in 2015. The case was the centre of the 2023 BBC drama The Sixth Commandment.

Despite its close proximity to Buckingham, Maids Moreton was once a self-sufficient community with a church, school, public houses, bakery, forge, cobblers, post office and other commercial buildings located along Main Street. Today, there are no shops surviving in the village.

The current resident population is 1,080, according to estimates, compared with 425 in 1901 and 239 in 1801. The majority of working age residents now commute from Maids Moreton to work in Buckingham, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury or even as far away as London. Today, Maids Moreton is facing how to deal with two greenfield planning applications to build 163 and 15 houses that would increasing the size of the village size by 50%.

But more about Saint Edmund’s Church tomorrow (9 November 2025), hopefully, and about the Maids of Maids Moreton in the days to come (11 November 2025).

The Whitney Box and Whitney Box Cottage, a pair of 17th century cottages on Church Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, and the patronage and influence of a local Oxfordshire magnate

Saint Mary’s Church in Thame, Oxfordshire, seen from Church Meadow and the grounds of Thame Cricket Club(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

One of the nearby towns that I have enjoyed exploring recently is Thame, a pretty market town in South Oxfordshire, about 21 km (13 miles) east of Oxford, 16 km (10 miles) south-west of Aylesbury, and with a population of about 12,000.

The River Thame on the north side of the town and forms part of the county border between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. I have passed through Thame on the bus between Aylesbury and Oxford at times, and I wanted to see the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, which is an impressive sight when seen from the bus, looking across Church Meadow and the grounds of Thame Cricket Club.

Thame was founded in the Anglo-Saxon era, when it was part of the kingdom of Wessex. The town began as a settlement by the river from which it takes its name, and was probably founded in 635 CE as the administrative centre of the endowed lands of the Bishop of Dorchester. After the Norman Conquest, the diocese moved to Lincoln and a royal charter was granted in 1215 for the market that is still held every Tuesday.

Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, was first built in the 13th century on the initiative of Bishop Robert Grosseteste of Lincoln (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The earliest feature in Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, is the 12th century base of the font (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Thame had a lengthy monastic presence for 400 years, and the Cistercians founded Thame Abbey in 1138. The abbey church was consecrated in 1145, but the abbey was supressed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the Tudor reformation in the 16th century, the church was demolished, and Thame Park was built on the site.

Saint Mary’s Church was first built in the 13th century on the initiative of the Bishop of Lincoln, Saint Robert Grosseteste. He has been described as ‘the greatest product of Oxford University’ and the real founder of the tradition of scientific thought in mediaeval Oxford’, and he gives his name to Lincoln College, Oxford. The first reference to a bell being rung was while Saint Mary’s was still being built in the mid-13th century and Bishop Grosseteste lay dying in 1253. It is said that the bell rang without mortal assistance.

Parts of the original church can still be seen, including the pillars and arches in the nave and the aisle windows that date from the early 14th century. The earliest feature is the 12th century base of the font. The font’s octagonal bowl was re-cut in the 13th century.

The impressive sights in Saint Mary’s include the Tudor-era tombs in the chancel and the south transept, including the very dominant tomb of John Williams, a local magnate, and the chancel stalls with linenfold panelling.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, looking towards the east end, chancel and east window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church and the neighbouring prebendal houses were both attacked repeatedly in the early 1290s during a violent conflict between the Bishop of Lincoln, Oliver Sutton, and Sir John St John.

Saint Mary’s is a cruciform church. The chancel is Early English Gothic and was built ca 1220, with six lancet windows in its north wall and presumably a similar arrangement in the south wall. It was twice altered in the next few decades: a three-light plate tracery window was inserted in its north wall in the mid-13th century and the five-light east window with geometrical tracery was inserted ca 1280.

If there were lancet windows in the chancel south wall, they were replaced with three two-light Decorated Gothic windows with reticulated tracery, and a double piscina was added at the same time.

The transepts and tower arches also date from the early 13th century. The nave has five-bay north and south aisles with arcades built ca 1260. The aisles were widened in the 14th century, when they acquired their Decorated Gothic windows and doors. The Decorated Gothic south porch has two storeys and a two-bay quadripartite vault.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, looking from the chancel screen towards the west end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Perpendicular Gothic clerestory is 14th or early 15th century. The tower piers were strengthened in the 15th century and the two upper stages of the tower were built. The north transept was rebuilt in 1442 with five-light Perpendicular Gothic north and east windows with panel tracery. At about the same time, the south transept acquired similar windows and was extended eastwards to form a chapel with a 15th-century piscina.

The south transept was known as Saint Christopher’s Chapel and houses two table tombs belonging to the Quartermain family. The tomb of Richard Quartermain, his wife Sybil and their godson Richard Fowler, dates from 1477 and is notable for the armour depicted on its brasses.

The stalls with linenfold panelling in the chancel came from Thame Abbey in 1540.

The Perpendicular Gothic nave west window was inserted in 1672-1673, making it an example of Gothic survival.

The tomb of John Williams and his wife Elizabeth dominates the chancel of Saint Mary’s Church, Thame (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The chancel has several interesting tombs. The most prominent tomb is that of John Williams (1500-1559), 1st Baron Williams of Thame, and his wife Elizabeth. Williams was a man of great influence and wealth and a courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I.

The chancel also has the tomb of Sir John Clerke, who was knighted by Henry VIII for his part in the capture of Louis I d’Orléans, Duke of Longueville, at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513.

Clerke died in 1539 and his effigy in the chancel in Thame shows him in armour, kneeling at a prayer desk with a prayer book. The scroll above his head is inscribed Sancta Trinitas Unus Deus Misere Nobis, ‘Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us’.

Sir John Clerke is depicted in Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, kneeling at a prayer desk with a prayer book (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The north aisle north wall was rebuilt in 1838 under the direction of George Wilkinson. The church was substantially restored between 1889 and 1897 by the architect John Oldrid Scott (1841-1913).

Saint Mary’s tower has a ring of eight bells in F# tenor of approximately 580 kg, all cast by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1876 from the metal of the former ring of six, and hung in a 19th century oak frame.

The present bells were named in 1997, from the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5: 22-25. They are, from treble to tenor; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Humility and Forbearance. There is also a Sanctus bell dedicated to the Virgin Mary which probably dates back to the late 1500s.

The Prebendal House facing the west end of Saint Mary’s Church, Thame (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Facing the west front of the church, the Prebendal House is known to have existed by 1234, and it has and Early English Gothic chapel built ca 1250. The solar room was also 13th century but was enlarged in the 14th century, when the present crown-post roof was added. The rest of the Prebendal House dates from the 15th century.

The hall is 14th century in plan but was later divided, and one part now has a fine 15th century roof. The antiquarian Anthony Wood reported in 1661 that the house was ruinous, and early in the 19th century the remains were in use as a farmhouse and barns. It was restored in 1836.

The Prebendal House was the home of singer songwriter and member of the Bee Gees Robin Gibb and his wife Dwina from 1984. He is buried in Saint Mary’s churchyard.

John Williams was heavily involved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was the receiver of Thame Abbey in 1535 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Lord Williams, who is buried with his wife in the chancel, was heavily involved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and became receiver of Thame Abbey in 1535. He was related by marriage to the last Abbot of Thame, Robert King.

Williams also obtained the Priory of Elsing Spittle in Cripplegate, London, and had a palace at Rycote which Henry VIII and Catherine Howard visited on their honeymoon. When he died at Ludlow Castle on 14 October 1559, his body was brought back to Rycote and then taken to Thame for burial.

He built the almshouses in Church Lane in 1550. He died in 1559, and his will established the local grammar school. Its original building, completed in 1569, stands next to the almshouses. The school moved to its current premises in Oxford Road in 1880, and it became a comprehensive school in 1971 with the name Lord Williams’s School.

The Perpendicular Gothic nave west window in Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, was inserted in 1672-1673 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A statue of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child above the south porch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Thame Church brings together Saint Mary’s Church, Thame, Barley Hill Church and Saint Catherine’s Church, Towersey. The ministry team includes the Revd Mike Reading, Team Rector since 2020; the Revd Andy McCulloch, Team Vicar, the Revd Graham Choldcroft, Associate Minister, and the Revd Heather McCulloch, Associate Vicar.

• There are two Sunday services at Saint Mary’s Church, Thame: 9 am Holy Communion (Common Worship); 11 am informal service, with Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. Morning Prayer is said every weekday morning at 9 am and Compline at 8 pm.

The five-light East Window with geometrical tracery was inserted ca 1280 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

There are two Sunday morning services in Saint Mary’s Church, Thame: Holy Communion at 9 and an informal service at 11 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 121, Monday 8 September 2025, Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A traditional Greek icon of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XII, 7 September 2025), and today the Church celebrates the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 September).

We got back to Stony Stratford late last night after a weekend visiting family and friends in York. As I awake slowly this morning, and 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.

Saint Anne with her young daughter, the Virgin Mary, holding the Christ Child, in a fresco by the icon writer Alexandra Kaouki of Rethymnon in Crete

Luke 1: 46-55 (NRSVA):

46 And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

The Virgin Mary with her parents, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, in a mosaic by the Russian artist Boris Anrep (1883-1969) in Mullingar Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on images for full-screen views)

Today’s Reflection:

Today is the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is one of four festivals in the Calendar of the Church of England that celebrate her life: the Annunciation (25 March), the Visitation (31 May), her death, the Dormition or the Assumption (15 August), and her birth (8 September).

There is a surprising number of cathedrals and churches in both the Church of England and the Church of Ireland that are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, including Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick, where I was the priest-in-charge for five years, Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, where I was once the canon precentor, and Saint Mary and Saint Giles, which is now my parish church in Stony Stratford.

Of course, the Gospels do not record the Virgin Mary’s birth. The earliest known account of her birth is found in the Protoevangelium of James (5: 2), a text from the late second century, in which her parents are named as Saint Anne and Saint Joachim. Tradition says they were childless and were fast approaching the years that would place Anna beyond the age of child-bearing.


Traditionally, the Church commemorates saints on the date of their death. The Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist and Christ are the only three whose birth dates are commemorated.

The reason for this is found in the singular mission each had in salvation history, but traditionally also because they were also seen as being holy in their birth – Saint John was believed to be sanctified in the womb of his mother, Saint Elizabeth, before his birth (see Luke 1: 15). In the same way, we respect that Christ first came to dwell among us in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

This morning’s Gospel reading includes the words of the canticle Magnificat:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed

The canticle Magnificat, which is part of the Gospel reading today, is traditionally associated with Evensong, sung every evening in cathedrals and many churches in the Anglican Communion across the world.

Differences of opinion about the Virgin Mary were not divisive arguments at the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther emphasised that the Virgin Mary was a recipient of God’s love and favour, accepted the Marian decrees of the ecumenical councils and the dogmas of the Church, and held to the belief that the Virgin Mary was a perpetual virgin and the Theotókos, the Mother of God.

Luther accepted the view of the Immaculate Conception that was popular then, over three centuries before Pope Pius IX, and he believed in the Virgin Mary’s life-long sinlessness. Although he pointed out that the Bible says nothing about her Assumption, he believed that the Virgin Mary and the saints live on after death.

Luther approved keeping Marian paintings and statues in churches, said ‘Mary prays for the Church,’ and advocated the use of a portion of the ‘Hail Mary.’

In 2004, the report of the Second Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ, noted: ‘In honouring Mary as Mother of the Lord, all generations of Anglicans and Roman Catholics have echoed the greeting of Elizabeth: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb’ (Luke 1: 42).’

In its response the following year, the Church of Ireland pointed out that in recognising the role of Mary in the incarnation, Anglicans are following the Council of Ephesus (431), which used the term Theotókos (‘God-bearer’) to affirm the oneness of Christ’s person by identifying Mary as the Mother of God the Word incarnate. The Church of Ireland also identified with the statement that ‘in receiving the Council of Ephesus and the definition of Chalcedon, Anglicans and Roman Catholics together confess Mary as Theotókos.’

The response welcomed the acknowledgement that some of the non-scriptural devotions associated with the Virgin Mary have been to ‘excess.’ On the other hand, it said, the full significance of the role of Mary as the Theotókos or God-bearer ‘has sometimes been lacking in the consciousness of some Anglicans.’

Some widely used, unofficial Anglican office books, such as Celebrating Common Prayer, include the Angelus and Regina Coeli. But the response pointed out that language such as ‘co-redeemer’ are ‘theologically impossible for members of the Church of Ireland.’

So, is there a way that as Anglicans we can talk about the Virgin Mary that is theologically appropriate, without compromising key Anglican traditions and beliefs for the sake of being ‘ecumenically correct’ or on the other hand descending into accepting a series of devotional practices that most Roman Catholics have long since come to regard as outdated, irrelevant and theologically questionable?

In our responses, Anglicans can fall back on culturally defensive ways of thinking. I admit that many of the plaster cast statues and framed images of the Virgin Mary lack cultural finesse and taste. But they, like many other practices, including May processions and Rosary-based prayer cycles are recent innovations.

I am reminded that devotion to the Virgin Mary was part-and-parcel of the piety that sustained many Christians through decades of suffering and oppression in Eastern Europe. The use of icons of the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox tradition and talk about her as the Theotókos is consonant with Anglican thinking theologically if not always culturally.

The Orthodox Church disagrees with the concept of the Immaculate Conception. The Orthodox position is that since Jesus Christ is God, he alone is born without sin. Orthodox theologians argue that if the immaculate conception is taken literally, the Virgin Mary would assume the status of a goddess alongside God. At the same time, the popularity of the name Mary attests to the fact that the Virgin Mary is revered throughout the Orthodox world.

The Orthodox believe that she was conceived in the normal way of humanity, and so was in the same need of salvation as all humanity. Orthodox thinking varies on whether she actually ever sinned, though there is general agreement that she was cleansed from sin at the Annunciation.

It is easy to forget that the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are recent innovations, having been proclaimed by Popes in 1854 and 1950. They did not divide us and could not have divided us at the Reformation, and many Roman Catholics are still confused about their meaning. Places like Lourdes, the Knock Shrine, Fatima and Medjugorje do not share the antiquity or history of Anglican Marian sites such as Walsingham, the Anglican tradition of singing Magnificat at Evensong, or the names of our cathedrals, churches and lady chapels.

The Anglican tradition of singing Magnificat at Evensong, and the names of our cathedrals and many churches both in England and Ireland remind me of a message that she proclaims in the Gospel reading that challenges the rise of far-right racism and populism in the world today:

‘He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.’

Saint Andrew of Crete writes: ‘This day is for us the beginning of all holy days. It is the door to kindness and truth.’

Indeed, without the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, there would have been no birth of Christ, and then no Good Friday, no Crucifixion, no Easter, no Resurrection.

And there are only 108 days to Christmas.

The Virgin Mary with the Crown of Thorns in a window in a church in Bansha, Co Tipperary … without the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, there would have been no birth of Christ, and then no Good Friday and no Crucifixion, no Easter and no Resurrection (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 8 September 2025, the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary):

In my prayers this morning, I am remembering my parents, Stephen Edward Comerford (1918-2004) of Terenure and Ellen Murphy (1919-2014) of Monkstown, Co Dublin, but originally from Millstreet, Co Cork, who were married in Blackrock, Co Dublin, 80 years ago on 8 September 1945. They had waited until the end of World War II to get married; after their marriage, they lived in Bray, Co Wicklow, and then in Harold’s Cross and Rathfarnham in Dublin. He died on 27 December 2004, she died on 20 May 2014; five of their six children and nine of their ten grandchildren survive, as well as great-grandchildren.

The theme this week (7 to 13 September) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Cementing a Legacy’ (pp 36-37). This theme was introduced yesterday with reflections from Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 8 September 2025, the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary) invites us to pray:

Lord, we thank you for the life and legacy of Ms Eira Lloyd and her faithful service to you in Tanzania. May her example continue to inspire us to serve with love, dedication, and generosity.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
who stooped to raise fallen humanity
through the child–bearing of blessed Mary:
grant that we, who have seen your glory
revealed in our human nature
and your love made perfect in our weakness,
may daily be renewed in your image
and conformed to the pattern of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

God most high,
whose handmaid bore the Word made flesh:
we thank you that in this sacrament of our redemption
you visit us with your Holy Spirit
and overshadow us by your power;
strengthen us to walk with Mary the joyful path of obedience
and so to bring forth the fruits of holiness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

The birth of the Virgin Mary depicted in an icon by Mihai Cocu in the Lady Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, 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

A statue of Saint Anne with her young daughter, the Virgin Mary, in Nicker Church, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)