Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 3, Thursday 5 February 2026

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers on the beach in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, at the end of the day (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and less than two weeks away from Ash Wednesday (18 February 20256 and the beginning of Lent.

Later this afternoon, I hope to be with the Stony Playreaders in the Library in Stony Stratford, as we begin a new term following our two evenings of plays in the recent Stony Words programme. Then, later this evening, I hope to find somewhere appropriate to watch Ireland’s match against France (8:10 pm) at the Stade de France, the opening fixture in this year’s Six Nations Championship. But, before my day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

When I set out on journeys, too often I take too much with me … ‘A Case History’ or ‘The Hope Street Suitcases’ by John King in Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 6: 7-13 (NRSVA):

7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

‘He ordered them … to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics’ (Mark 6: 8-9) … sandals in a shopfront in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Mark 6: 7-13), Jesus sends out the 12 Disciples in pairs, two-by-two, on a limited commission, but advises them to prepare for rejection and to be ready to move on.

Going out in pairs was a well-known practice at the time. For example, Yose ben Joezer of Zeredah (first half of the second century BCE), is often paired with his colleague, Yose ben Johanan of Jerusalem. They are the first of the zugot(Hebrew זוּגוֹת, ‘pairs’; singular זוּג; zug), the name given to the pairs of sages responsible for maintaining the chain of the Oral Law from Antigonus of Sokho, the pupil of Simeon the Just, to Johanan ben Zakkai. They represent a link between the prophets and the tannaim or rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.

Yose ben Joezer was the nasi of the Sanhedrin and his colleague was the av bet din. Because of their profound erudition and piety, both Yoses were called ‘the grape clusters’. Yose ben Joezer says in the Mishnah (Avot 1: 4), ‘Let thy house be a meeting place for scholars; sit amid the dust of their feet; and drink in their words with thirst.’ The Midrash (Gen. R. 65: 22) says he was sentenced to death by crucifixion.

So, in this passage, Jesus echoes the wise sages of the Mishnah, in teaching and in practice. And, indeed, his death has many similarities with the crucifixion of Yose ben Joezer.

When Jesus tells the 12 they are to fasten their belts, put on their sandals and wrap themselves in their cloak, he is sending them out into the world on a limited mission. But in places that are not welcoming or receptive to their teaching, they are to leave and to shake the dust off their feet.

In this reading, we are challenged to see how being sent by God is always being in service and as being part of the ‘Sent Community.’

What do you take with you on a journey? What are the essential items you pack in your case? Is it a small bag for an overhead cabin on a Ryanair or EasyJet flight and a short overnight stay? Or is it a large suitcase or two for a two-week summer holiday, filled with towels, sun cream and swimwear?

Apart from my passport, the requisite toothbrush, plastic cards, phone chargers, presents for hosts and friends, and changes of clothes and sandals, I always need to take my laptop and more than enough reading: books, magazine, journals and newspapers.

And I always regret that I have packed too much – not because I do not wear all those T-shirts or read each and every one of those books, but because I find there is not enough room for all the books I want to take back with me, and because restrictions on cabin bags often mean I cannot return with a bottle of local wine.

In this Gospel reading, as the disciples prepare for their journey, we might expect them to take with them an extra wineskin, an extra tunic, an extra pair of sandals, some water, some spending money.

But Christ tells the disciples, as he sends them out in mission, two-by-two, to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money, no spare shoes, no change of tunic, no coins for tips in the taverns or inns where they stay and eat.

Perhaps the disciples set out filled with doubts and uncertainty, full of fear and anxiety, rather than with full suitcases.

But what the disciples would soon learn is that for the people they are going to encounter along the way, it is not food or money or clothes that they need most. What those people need most, like the women in Tuesday’s Gospel reading (Mark 5: 21-43), is healing. And so, Christ requires the disciples to give what is the hardest thing in the world for us to give: the hardest thing to give is ourselves.

Sometimes, the moments when we put aside the comforts of home and step into uncertainty and risk are moments when we find we are closest to God.

Perhaps this Gospel reading is challenging me to ask myself: What baggage have I been dragging along with me in life, on my journey of faith?

Have I been carrying this baggage around not because I need it, but because I am comfortable with it?

What unnecessary junk am I still carrying around with me in life that I ought to have left behind long ago?

For the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933), in his poem ‘Ithaka’ (1911), the beginning of the journey is as important as the end itself, the journey as important as the destination.

In this poem, Cavafy transforms Homer’s account of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War to his home island, and, after a long absence finding Ithaka disappointing. Cavafy tells Odysseus that arriving in Ithaka is what he is destined for, that he must keep that always in mind: one’s destiny, the inevitable end of the journey, is a thing to be faced for what it is, without illusions.

The meaning of Ithaka is in the voyage home that it inspired. It is not reaching home or again escaping its limitations once there that should occupy Odysseus so much as those elevated thoughts and rare excitements that are a product of the return voyage:

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Christ sends his disciples out, as he has been sent, with no real resources, but ready to rely on the hospitality of others for their basic needs, and depending on God for the power to fulfil their mission.

We are challenged to embrace the call of God, and go out as servants of Christ in dependence on God’s resources, God’s strength, to sustain us.

There is no shortage of work to be done in the world today. The issues of justice are many and diverse and require people of passion, commitment and with a sense of being ‘called’ or being ‘sent.’

But, for justice to become a reality in this world, in our country, in our communities, there must be a sense in which all the individual initiatives connect and form part of a larger whole. It is not just as individuals that we are sent out into the world, but we are sent out as groups and communities. As we work together, each with our own particular gifts or focus, we can make a significant difference.

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers set out into the light of day in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 5 February 2026):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Serving the Lord with Dignity’ (pp 24-25). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Mauricio Mugunhe, Executive Director of Acção Social Anglicana, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 5 February 2026) invites us to pray:

We pray for the Most Revd Vicente Msosa as he leads the newest province of the Anglican Communion. Grant him wisdom, courage, and compassion as he guides the church in mission and ministry.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted
and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of truth,
we have seen with our eyes and touched with our hands the bread of life:
strengthen our faith
that we may grow in love for you and for each other;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:
God of our salvation,
help us to turn away from those habits which harm our bodies
and poison our minds
and to choose again your gift of life,
revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers in the narrow streets of San Marino (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: 4, Thursday 6 February 2025

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers on the beach in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, at the end of the day (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and less than four weeks away from Ash Wednesday (5 March 2025) and the beginning of Lent. The Calendar of the Church of England today (6 February) remembers the Martyrs of Japan (1597).

In 1597, 26 men and women, religious and lay, including Paul Miki, were first mutilated then crucified near Nagasaki. The period of persecution continued for another 35 years, and many new martyrs were added to their number.

After a long and demanding day in Milton Keynes University Hospital yesterday with consultations and hearing the results of a number of tests, I am planning to spend much of today in Lichfield, visiting the chapel in Saint John’s Chapel and attending the mid-day Eucharist and Choral Evensong in Lichfield Cathedral. Later in evening, I hope to be in the Old Grammar School on Saint John’s Street, which dates back to 1577 and is about to become home to the local history group Lichfield Discovered.

Over the coming years, Lichfield Discovered plans to transform some of the spaces at the Old Grammar School and to collaborate with local people, groups and the city’s museums and heritage sites to celebrate the history Lichfield.

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

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

When I set out on journeys, too often I take too much with me … ‘A Case History’ or ‘The Hope Street Suitcases’ by John King in Liverpool (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 6: 7-13 (NRSVA):

7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

‘He ordered them … to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics’ (Mark 6: 8-9) … sandals in a shopfront in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Mark 6: 7-13), Jesus sends out the 12 Disciples in pairs, two-by-two, on a limited commission, but advises them to prepare for rejection and to be ready to move on.

Going out in pairs was a well-known practice at the time. For example, Yose ben Joezer of Zeredah (first half of the second century BCE), is often paired with his colleague, Yose ben Johanan of Jerusalem. They are the first of the zugot(Hebrew זוּגוֹת, ‘pairs’; singular זוּג; zug), the name given to the pairs of sages responsible for maintaining the chain of the Oral Law from Antigonus of Sokho, the pupil of Simeon the Just, to Johanan ben Zakkai. They represent a link between the prophets and the tannaim or rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.

Yose ben Joezer was the nasi of the Sanhedrin and his colleague was the av bet din. Because of their profound erudition and piety both Yoses were called ‘the grape clusters’. Yose ben Joezer says in the Mishnah (Avot 1: 4), ‘Let thy house be a meeting place for scholars; sit amid the dust of their feet; and drink in their words with thirst.’ The Midrash (Gen. R. 65: 22) says he was sentenced to death by crucifixion.

So, in this passage, Jesus echoes the wise sages of the Mishnah, in teaching and in practice. And, indeed, his death has many similarities with the crucifixion of Yose ben Joezer.

When Jesus tells the 12 they are to fasten their belts, put on their sandals and wrap themselves in their cloak, he is sending them out into the world on a limited mission. But in places that are not welcoming or receptive to their teaching, they are to leave and to shake the dust off their feet.

In this reading, we are challenged to see how being sent by God is always being in service and as being part of the ‘Sent Community.’

What do you take with you on a journey? What are the essential items you pack in your case? Is it a small bag for an overhead cabin on a Ryanair flight and a short overnight stay? Or was it a large suitcase or two for a two-week summer holiday, filled with towels, sun cream and swimwear?

Apart from my passport, the requisite toothbrush, plastic cards, phone chargers, presents for hosts and friends, and changes of clothes and sandals, I always need to take my laptop and more than enough reading: books, magazine, journals and newspapers.

And I always regret that I have packed too much – not because I do not wear all those T-shirts or read each and every one of those books, but because I find there is not enough room for all the books I want to take back with me, and because restrictions on overhead bags often mean I cannot return with a bottle of local wine.

In this Gospel reading, as the disciples prepare for their journey, we might expect them to take with them an extra wineskin, an extra tunic, an extra pair of sandals, some water, some spending money.

But Christ tells the disciples, as he sends them out in mission, two-by-two, to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money, no spare shoes, no change of tunic, no coins for tips in the taverns or inns where they stay and eat.

Perhaps the disciples set out filled with doubts and uncertainty, full of fear and anxiety, rather than with full suitcases.

But what the disciples would soon learn is that for the people they are going to encounter along the way, it is not food or money or clothes that they need most. What those people need most, like the women in Tuesday’s Gospel reading (Mark 5: 21-43), is healing. And so, Christ requires the disciples to give what is the hardest thing in the world for us to give: the hardest thing to give is ourselves.

Sometimes, the moments when we put aside the comforts of home and step into uncertainty and risk are moments when we find we are closest to God.

Perhaps this Gospel reading is challenging me to ask myself: What baggage have I been dragging along with me in life, on my journey of faith?

Have I been carrying this baggage around not because I need it, but because I am comfortable with it?

What unnecessary junk am I still carrying around with me in life that I ought to have left behind long ago?

For the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933), in his poem ‘Ithaka’ (1911), the beginning of the journey is as important as the end itself, the journey as important as the destination.

In this poem, Cavafy transforms Homer’s account of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War to his home island, and, after a long absence finding Ithaka disappointing. Cavafy tells Odysseus that arriving in Ithaka is what he is destined for, that he must keep that always in mind: one’s destiny, the inevitable end of the journey, is a thing to be faced for what it is, without illusions.

The meaning of Ithaka is in the voyage home that it inspired. It is not reaching home or again escaping its limitations once there that should occupy Odysseus so much as those elevated thoughts and rare excitement that are a product of the return voyage.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Christ sends his disciples out, as he has been sent, with no real resources, but ready to rely on the hospitality of others for their basic needs, and depending on God for the power to fulfil their mission.

We are challenged to embrace the call of God, and go out as servants of Christ in dependence on God’s resources, God’s strength, to sustain us.

There is no shortage of work to be done in the world today. The issues of justice are many and diverse and require people of passion, commitment and with a sense of being ‘called’ or being ‘sent.’

But, for justice to become a reality in this world, in our country, in our communities, there must be a sense in which all the individual initiatives connect and form part of a larger whole. It is not just as individuals that we are sent out into the world, but we are sent out as groups and communities. As we work together, each with our own particular gifts or focus, we can make a significant difference.

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers set out into the light of day in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 6 February 2025):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Common Humanity and Love for Religious “Other”.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Reflection by the Revd Dr Salli Effungani, a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC), Programme Officer for the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), and Adjunct Lecturer on Interfaith Relations at Saint Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 6 February 2025) invites us to pray:

We pray against discrimination, bigotry, and torture meted out by people because of their religious affiliations.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted
and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of truth,
we have seen with our eyes and touched with our hands the bread of life:
strengthen our faith
that we may grow in love for you and for each other;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:
God of our salvation,
help us to turn away from those habits which harm our bodies
and poison our minds
and to choose again your gift of life,
revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers in the narrow streets of San Marino (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 prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (2) 6 November 2023

The Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino, one of two co-cathedrals in the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday before Advent yesterday (5 November 2023).

The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (6 November) remembers Leonard, Hermit, 6th century, and William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher of the Faith, 1944.

Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.

In recent prayer diaries on this blog, my reflections have already looked at a number of Italian cathedrals, including the cathedrals in Amalfi, Florence, Lucca, Noto, Pisa, Ravenna, Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint John Lateran, Rome, Siena, Sorrento, Syracuse, Taormina, Torcello and Venice.

So, this week, my reflections look at some more Italian cathedrals, basilicas and churches in Bologna, San Marino, Pistoia, San Gimignano, Mestre, Sorrento and Ravello.

Throughout this week, my reflections each morning are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on an Italian cathedral or basilica;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Inside the Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino, designed by the architect Achille Serra of Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Basilica of Saint Marinus, San Marino:

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, is an independent microstate but totally landlocked by Italy. It is the fifth-smallest country in the world, with a land area of about 61 sq km and a population of about 33,660. It is about 10 km from Rimini on the Adriatic coast, the official language is Italian, the Euro is the official currency, and there are no border formalities with Italy.

The Basilica di San Marino in the Republic of San Marino, the main church of the City of San Marino, is on Piazzale Domus Plebis in the north-east edge of the city. The church is dedicated to Saint Marinus, the founder and patron of the Republic. It is the shrine of his relics, a Minor Basilica and World Heritage Site.

The church is one of two co-cathedrals in the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro, which is in both Italy and San Marino. The diocese includes all parishes in San Marino. The diocesan cathedral, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, is in Pennabilli, 140 km south-east of Bologna and 45 km south of Rimini. There are two co-cathedrals: the Church of San Leo, in the town of Saint Leo, once a cathedral with its own diocese, and the Basilica di San Marino, in San Marino.

The present church was built in 1836. An earlier church dedicated to Saint Marinus is said to have been built on the site in the 4th century, but the first documentary references to the church are in the year 530 and a later document dated from 885. The first document directly related to the Pieve di San Marino or Parish Church of San Marino is dated 31 July 1113.

The building was in a critical condition by the early the 19th century. It was demolished in 1807 and the architect Achille Serra of Bologna was commissioned to design a new church in the neoclassical style. Building work began in 1826 and the church was opened in 1838, and was consecrate by Bishop Crispino Agostinucci of Montefeltro in 1855 in the presence of the Captains Regent, San Marino’s heads of state.

Pope Pius XI gave the church the rank of basilica in 1926. Pope John Paul II visited San Marino and the basilica in 1982, when he venerated the relics of Saint Marinus.

The Holy See issued a decree in 1992 recognising the basilica as the mother-church of all churches within the Republic of San Marino, and the priest in charge holds the title of Rector. Pope Benedict XVI visited the basilica and the relics of Saint Marinus in 2011.

The basilica is built in the neoclassical style, with a porch of eight Corinthian columns, six at the front and two either side. A Latin inscription above that reads: Divo. Marino. Patrono. Et. Libertatis. Avctori. Sen. P Q. Above the main door is the coat of arms of the Republic.

Inside, the basilica has three naves, supported by 16 Corinthian columns that form a large ambulatory around the semicircular apse.

The towering statue of Saint Marinus behind the High Altar was sculpted in 1830 by Adamo Tadolini (1788-1868), a student of Antonio Canova. The relics of Saint Marinus, found in 1586, are Under the altar. Some of his relics were donated to the island of Rab in Croatia, his birthplace, in 1595.

Under the High Altar, a small urn holds the bones of Saint Marinus found on 3 May 1586. On the right of the chancel, inside a marble monument, a silver case from 1602 holds the upper part of the skull of Saint Marinus.

The 17th century walnut throne of the Captains Regent is to the left of the High Altar.

The basilica has seven altars, statues representing Christ and the 12 apostles and a number of valuable paintings. A small altar dedicated to Saint Mary Magdelene has a painting by Elisabetta Sirani, ‘Noli me tangere’.

The basilica is the venue for several liturgical celebrations, including the election and the establishment of the Captains Regent; the anniversary celebration of the Republic’s Militia (25 March); national and religious holidays. It is also a venue for concerts and recitals. It was once the venue for the arringo or meeting of the heads of the households of San Marino, the first local democratic body.

The Romanesque bell tower was rebuilt in the 16th century and has seven bells cast in 1961-1963.

The Chiesa di San Pietro is to the side of the front steps leading up to the basilica. Archaeological investigations show the site was used as a cemetery in Roman times. The first chapel on the site of the church is said to have been built in the first century AD.

A later, cruciform church built in the 11th century is said to have stood on the site of a smaller church built by Saint Marinus and dedicated to Saint Peter. The 11th century church was partly demolished in 1826 during work to enlarge the basilica, and only one of the four arms of the original cruciform building still stands. The church was rebuilt by Antonio Serra in 1826-1838.

The church has an altar with inlaid marble donated by the musician Antonio Tedeschi in 1689, and surmounted by a statue of Saint Peter by Enrico Saroldi. Two niches cut into the rock in the crypt are said to be the beds of Saint Marinus and Saint Leo. Gino Zani restored the chapel and crypt in 1940-1941. The altar has an image by Romeo Balsimelli of Saint Marinus with a bear, recalling one of the miracles associated with the saint.

The towering marble statue of Saint Marinus behind the High Altar is by Adamo Tadolini, a student of Antonio Canova (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 14: 12-14 (NRSVA):

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

A side altar in the the Basilica of Saint Marinus in San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 6 November 2023):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Community Health Programmes’. This theme was introduced yesterday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (6 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your creation. For the restorative qualities it can bring when we take time to stop and look at the world around us.

The Chiesa di San Pietro is to the side of the front steps leading up to the basilica (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
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 of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

In the narrow streets of San Marino (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 tourist visa for San Marion … there are no border formalities with Italy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Sunday intercessions on 4 July 2021, Trinity V

‘He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts’ (Mark 6: 8) … figures carrying heavy bags in a shop window in Santiago de Compostela (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Let us pray:

‘We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God … your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is full of justice’ (Psalm 48: 9-10):

Heavenly Father,
as we journey through this world,
we pray for the world, for the kingdoms and the nations of the world,
especially those nations torn by war, conflict, injustice and oppression.

We pray for justice, mercy and peace,
for all prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience,
for an end to hatred, oppression and gender violence,
that your praise may reach to the ends of the earth,
that they may know your right hand is full of justice.

We pray for Ireland, north and south,
We give thanks for all who are responding
to the pandemic crisis …

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

‘He … began to send them out two by two … So they went out and proclaimed’ (Mark 6: 7, 12):

Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray for the Church,
that we may be a pilgrim church, growing in faith, in hope, and in love.

We pray for our Bishop Kenneth as he prepares to retire,
we give thanks for his faithful and caring ministry,
we pray for our neighbouring churches and parishes,
and people of faith everywhere,
that we may be blessed in our variety and diversity.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer,
we pray this week for the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea,
and the Acting Archbishop of Papua New Guinea
the Right Revd Nathan Ingen, Bishop of Aipo Rongo.

In the Church of Ireland this month,
we pray for the Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry,
with which we will be united,
and for Bishop Patrick Rooke as he prepares to retire.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer,
we pray for those living with disability in our diocese,
that they may experience the healing touch of Christ.

We pray for our own parishes and people …
and we pray for ourselves …

Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

‘God has shown himself to be a sure refuge’ (Psalm 48: 4):

Holy Spirit,
We pray that you may dwell with us in the pilgrimage of life.

We pray for one another …
we pray for those we love and those who love us …
we pray for our families, friends and neighbours …
and we pray for those we promised to pray for …

We pray for those who feel rejected and discouraged …
we pray for all in need and those who seek healing …

We pray for those who are sick or isolated,
at home or in hospital …

Ruby … Arthur … Ann … Daphne … Sylvia … Ajay … Adam …

We pray for all who grieve and mourn at this time …
for all who are broken-hearted,
trying to come to terms with the loss of loved ones,
including the Casey family …
We remember and give thanks for those who have died …
May their memories be a blessing …

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

A prayer from the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity:

Heavenly Father,
Give us the strength to heal inequalities.
May we work together so that all can be healthy,
In body and soul.

Merciful Father …

‘He … began to send them out two by two’ (Mark 6: 7) … two walkers in the narrow streets of San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

How European borders can create division or enrich cultural co-operation

Médecins Sans Frontières … breaking down borders brings healing (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

As ‘Brexit’ begins to have its impact throughout this island, many of us are realising the harsh realities it is creating. Many popular brands and items are no longer readily available on the supermarket shelves, buying online has become more difficult – it’s not all that easy for everyone to access amazon.de or amazon.fr – and when we finally translate from German or French and find what we want, deliveries are slow and there is always the fear of those ‘hidden extras’ and unexpected charges.

Fishing boats have reduced areas to fish in, and they face greater complications in getting their catches to their markets.

Both the Vatican and San Marino – two of the three smallest internationally-recognised states in the world – are completely landlocked by Italy. The Vatican State has an area of just 44 ha (109 acres), and San Marino just 61 sq km (24 sq miles).

There are other countries that are totally landlocked by EU member states: Andorra is surrounded by Spain and France; Monaco’s only land border is with France; In addition, Switzerland and Liechtenstein only have borders with each other and with EU member states.

Perhaps the most unusual land border that is legally an internal border in the EU is the land border between France and the Netherlands – not on the continental European landmass, but on the shared island of Saint Martin / Sint Maarten in the Caribbean.

Malta, the world’s tenth smallest country defined by land area, has three main inhabited islands, but no land borders. The land border dividing Cyprus is illegal by all standards of international law, and Portugal’s only land border is with Spain.

Derry Girls … television can create a shared, cross-Border humour (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

***

All the protocols promised that there would be no return to a hard border on this island. Now the Republic Ireland has become the only EU member state whose only land border is with a non-EU state.

I have crossed many of the internal and external borders of the EU, including the ‘Green Line’ dividing Cyprus. Even when a non-EU member state is part of the Schengen agreement, border crossings are not always smooth and seamless, as many people know when they arrive at the French ‘side’ or ‘sector’ of Geneva airport and want to hire a car to drive in Switzerland.

On the other hand, however, neither the Vatican nor San Marino is a party to the Schengen Agreement. Yet I have criss-crossed the borders between these two microstates without ever showing a passport, changing currency or facing customs … and sometimes not knowing which side of the border I was on.

Historically, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were never part of the UK or of the EU. Yet travel between the UK and the Republic of Ireland with those islands was always clean and simple – in pre-Covid days.

It seems, even in the first weeks of implementing ‘Brexit,’ that both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland got the worst possible deal, when we compare ourselves with tiny Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican.

San Marino is not in the EU … but visitors do not need a visa to cross the border (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Gibraltar … in or out
of the European Union?

One of the many unusual land borders I have crossed is the border at La Linea between Gibraltar and Spain. Technically, Gibraltar is not a member state of the Commonwealth, so it seems to be an anomaly that it was the only British Overseas Territory that was part of the EU.

After a ten-year campaign for the right to vote in European elections, the people of Gibraltar took part in European Parliament elections from 2004 to 2019 as part of the South-West England constituency, along with Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wilshire.

Before Britain left the EU, the constituency had five MEPs, including three Brexit Party members, among them the formidable Anne Widdicombe. But there was an 84 per cent turnout in the ‘Brexit’ referendum in Gibraltar in 2016, and 96 per cent of voters opted to remain in the EU.

The Economist, long part of my essential weekly reading, reported recently how the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, describes Gibraltar as ‘a perfect synthesis of Britishness and the Mediterranean way of life.’ There are red telephone boxes, the police wear ‘London Bobby’ style helmets, and there are English pubs and a Marks & Spencer shop.

The official language is English. But the 34,000 residents often lapse into Llanito, a kind of ‘Spanglish’, and their daily lives are intertwined with Spain.

Gibraltar exports few goods, and its economy depends on finance, online gambling and tourism. It also depends on 10,000 workers who cross the border each day from Spain, and it relies on its Spanish hinterland for space for homes and business expansion.

Crossing the border at Gibraltar … totally landlocked by Spain (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

***

Gibraltar got some consolation for Brexit on 31 December with an agreement that softens what is now a hard border. It was a victory for common sense. This agreement aspires to freedom of travel between Gibraltar and Spain. A corollary is that Gibraltar’s airport and port will be the external border of the EU and will fall within the Schengen passport-free area. Arriving passengers, including British visitors, will have their passports checked first by Gibraltar’s police and then by Frontex, the EU’s border agency, working in conjunction with the Spanish police.

The Economist points out that many of details have still to be hammered out before a treaty between the EU and Britain, perhaps later this year. But this involves many fudges. Spain continues to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar, although it was handed over to Britain over 300 years ago in 1713.

Without an agreement, the biggest losers would be the Spanish towns in the hinterland across the border. These are some of the poorest in Spain. In Linea, unemployment is already 27 per cent and drug-traffickers are powerful.

As I write, La Linea and Gibraltar are both locked down due to Covid-19, and there is little traffic across the border. But when the pandemic ends, both sides have much to gain, and Fabian Picardo says he looks forward to a ‘Bay of Prosperity.’

A red post box in Gibraltar … ‘a perfect synthesis of Britishness and the Mediterranean way of life’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A Cold War border
breaks down barriers

Among the many interesting but curious borders I have crossed between two EU member states is the old Cold War border that slices through the town that is known on one side in Italian as Gorizia and on the other side, in Slovenia, as Nova Gorica.

Like Berlin, this is one city is one despite straddling an old Cold War frontier, but unlike Berlin it remains in two separate states. Nicosia in Cyprus is also a divided capital, but this is in contravention of UN resolutions and international law.

In recent weeks it was announced the city has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2025, alongside the German city of Chemnitz, known in East Germany during the Cold War era as Karl-Marx-Stadt.

Galway and Rijeka in Croatia were the European Capitals of Culture last year, and this year’s Capitals of Culture are Elefsina in Greece, Timisoara in Romania and Novi Sad in Serbia.

Gorizia and Nova Gorica applied as one, single urban area as the candidate for 2025 in a unique gesture of cross-border co-operation. Together, these two cities will be the first capital of a region that stretches across two countries.

The mayors say this this gives the two cities the opportunity to become an important point in the EU as ‘the hub of the cross-border region.’

Crossing points in Gorizia have been a matter of curiosity since the end of the Cold War (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

***

After the collapse of Yugoslavia, the frontier dividing Gorizia remained in place until Slovenia became part of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007.

Today, the border between Italy and Slovenia is almost invisible, an artificial line that slices through Gorizia and Nova Gorica. The most celebrated border crossing is at Europa Square, an open pedestrian square in front of the Transalpina railway station. But there are other border crossings between Gorizia and Nova Gorica, for the border is a straight line that ignores the natural contours and bends in the streets and buildings, still seen in the remains of a fence that once ran across streets and even divided gardens.

Today, the two towns form one conurbation that also includes the Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba. Since May 2011, these three towns are joined in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board.

As I stepped between three towns and two countries, no-one asked me for a passport, no-one asked me to take my place in a queue, asked for my identity, or sought my opinion on who should be in the European Union and who should be out.

Perhaps the most creative and inviting borders are the ones that invite us to step out of our safe space to enrich our cultural experiences and to appreciate diversity and pluralism in our own lives. And, conversely, the worst borders must be those I set up in my own mind, to exclude others and to put fences around my own inner, and all too comfortable prejudices.

Gorizia has been chosen as one city as the European Capital of Culture for 2025 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This feature was first published in February 2021 in the ‘Church Review’, the Dublin and Glendalough diocesan magazine (pp 14-15)

Stranded without coffee in a world Kafka could create

A lonely wait on the platform at Limerick Junction (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

A younger family member shares many of my interests, including travel, conflict and dialogue in the Middle East, Italian wine and food. We have shared connections with Trinity College Dublin and with Cambridge. Although we live on opposite sides of the Atlantic, we have met in the most unexpected places, including an hotel lobby in Dingle, and we have even worked together almost 20 years ago in an edition of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

He is better travelled than I am, and has joked sometimes – he may be half joking but wholly in earnest – that he feels safer in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon or the streets of Kabul than he does in Temple Bar in Dublin on a Saturday night. Not that I have been in Temple Bar on many Saturday nights, needless to day.

We were comparing travel notes during a recent lunch – in an Italian restaurant in Temple Bar.

Which countries had one been in that the other had never visited?

Indeed, how do you count whether you have been somewhere?

It’s a little like trying to count up the scores in Darts, I suppose.

Can you count if you have been in Syria if it has been a stopover in Damascus Airport? Or in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights?

Is swimming in the Dead Sea a visit to Palestine, to Jordan or to Israel?

How do you count – how do you even admit to being in – the Israel-occupied strip of south Lebanon?

Was Walvis Bay in South Africa or Namibia?

There are some places for which I have no stamps on my passport. The European travel areas have eliminated the need for many of them. I did go to the bother of getting my passport stamped – unnecessarily – in San Marino, but there is no obvious way of getting your passport stamped as you walk in and out and back in again in the Vatican City.

As we continued this line of silly talk that, perhaps, we agreed is only possible among family members, he suddenly said he had never been in Northern Ireland?

I was taken aback.

Never in Northern Ireland?

But then I realised his method of counting where he had been depended on staying overnight somewhere. Yes, he had walked and trekked through the Mourne Mountains in Co Down. Yes, he had visited Belfast on countless occasions, but he had never stayed there overnight. He felt he had never been to Northern Ireland.

On that basis, he might say I have never been to Morocco, North Korea, San Marino, Scotland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Symi, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, the Vatican … Yes, I have been to all of them. But in his books, they would not have counted, because I had never stayed overnight.

For my part, my minimum calculation for visiting anywhere is whether I have had a cup of coffee there.

Time having coffee is time well spent and time that is not wasted. And if I have had a coffee somewhere, then I have been there.

Since I moved to Askeaton, there are many places I have visited without staying over but where I have had time to enjoy coffee. That means I have visited Charleville, Fermoy, Killaloe, Nenagh, Thurles, Tipperary … so many cups of coffee are within range of a bus journey or two from Askeaton without ever having to stay overnight.

But there is one place I have to question. Catching the train from Limerick to Dublin or Waterford usually involves changing trains at Limerick Junction, as I have been doing this afternoon.

Now, Limerick Junction is an unusual place, to say the least. It is not in Limerick – in fact, it is in Co Tipperary. And sometimes, when connections have turned the cold statistics of timetables into Kafkaesque fiction, I have been left standing in the cold and in the rain for seemingly endless times on the platform at Limerick Junction – with no shelter against the elements. And with no place to buy a cup of coffee.

I dare not leave the platform to seek out a cup of coffee in the nearby village – the late train may arrive early, or the early train may arrive late.

It can be a solitary, lonely experience, exasperated by the lack of coffee.

So, by own standards, have I ever been to Limerick Junction? Was I really there this afternoon?

Celebrating Saint Francis and his love of creation

‘The Vision of Saint Francis’ (ca 1590-1595) by El Greco in the National Gallery of Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Tomorrow [4 October] is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. This day is popular for blessing the animals and also marks the end of ‘Creation Time’ in many parts of the Church.

I went to school in Gormanston, Co Meath, a school run by Franciscans, and now that I am living in Askeaton, I am reminded of Saint Francis and his values when I walk around the ruins of the Franciscan friary and its beautiful cloisters, where there is a mediaeval carved image of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Apart from figures in the Biblical figures, Saint Francis may be the most popular saint in the Church, and he is loved in the all the churches.

He has inspired Pope Francis, who took the saint’s name when he was elected Pope in 2013. Like Saint Francis, Pope Francis washes the feet of women prisoners each year on Maundy Thursday and he has visited a soup kitchen in Assisi.

Saint Francis was born in Assisi in Italy around 1181, and he was baptised with the name Giovanni (for Saint John the Baptist). But his father changed the boy’s name to Francesco because he liked France.

As a young boy and a teenager, Francesco di Bernardone was a rebel. He dressed oddly, spent much of his time alone and quarrelled with his father.

His father expected him to take over the family business. But young Francis was too much of a rebel. All that began to change when he was taken prisoner in 1202 during a war. When he was freed, he was seriously ill, and while he was recovering he had a dream in which he was told ‘to follow the Master, not the man.’

He turned to prayer, penance and almsgiving. One day while praying, he said, God called him to ‘repair my house.’ In 1206, he sold some valuable cloth from his father’s shops to rebuild a run-down church of San Damiano.

His father dragged the young man before the religious authorities, and that was that, finally, for Francis and his father.

Francis turned his back on all that wealth, became a friar, put his complete trust in God, and made his home in an abandoned church. He wore simple clothes, looked after the lepers, made friends with social outcasts and embraced a life of no possessions.

Others joined him, and so began the story of the Franciscans.

Saint Francis is said to have once told his followers, ‘Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.’ In other words, people are more likely to see what we believe in what we do rather than believe us because of what we say.

The widely known ‘Prayer of Saint Francis’ has also been attributed to Saint Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

The cloisters in the ruins of the Franciscan friary in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Francis celebrated God’s creation, and his most famous poem is his ‘Canticle of the Sun.’ He also organised the first Crib to celebrate Christmas.

He was 44 when he died on the evening of 3 October 1226. By then, his order had spread throughout western Christendom.

A mediaeval carved image of Saint Francis of Assisi in the cloisters in the ruins of the Franciscan friary in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Collect (Common Worship):

O God, you ever delight to reveal yourself
to the childlike and lowly of heart:
grant that, following the example of the blessed Francis,
we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness
and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lights in the chapel at Gormanston, Co Meath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

These notes were prepared for a reflection at assembly in Rathkeale No 2 National School, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, on 3 September 2018

The Chiesa di San Francesco was built in San Marino by the Franciscans in 1351-1400 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino has been flying the flag of liberty for over 1,700 years

San Marino claims it is the world’s oldest, continuous democracy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

It is always interesting when a one-country holiday becomes a two-country holiday. When two of us were in Rome last year, we crossed in and out of the Vatican City, which is recognised internationally as a sovereign independent state, despite in its size and population.

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (Repubblica di San Marino), or the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is a microstate that is an enclave, and it too is totally surrounded by Italy.

Late last year, two of us caught an early morning train from Bologna to Rimini, and by mid-morning we were on the side of the Apennine Mountains, on top of Monte Titano in San Marino.

The other microstates in Europe – Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Vatican – are monarchies of one sort or another, and are dependent on their nearest, biggest and most powerful neighbours for their survival. Like them, San Marino is not a member of the European Union. On the other hand, San Marino, claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state in Europe and the oldest constitutional republic in the world.

San Marino stands on rocky outcrops on the side of the Apennine Mountains (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today, San Marino is the only surviving Italian microstate. Like Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco, it is an anachronism and a reminder of the time when Europe – particularly Germany, Italy and the Pyrenees – was made up of tiny political units, sometimes extending no further than a cannon could fire from a city’s walls.

San Marino’s territory is about 61 sq km (24 sq miles), and it has a population of 33,562, including 4,800 foreign residents, mostly Italian citizens. It has the smallest population in Europe, and in size it is the third smallest country in Europe – only the Vatican City and Monaco are smaller. It is the world’s smallest republic and fifth smallest country.

Founding saint

Saint Marinus, San Marino’s founding saint, depicted in a bronze statue on a street corner (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino takes its name from Saint Marinus, who left the Dalmatian island of Arba in present-day Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo. They settled in Rimini, where he worked as a stonemason and was ordained a deacon.

During the persecutions in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, Saint Marinus fled from Rimini to the slopes of Monte Titano. There he built a small church and is said to have founded the ‘Titanic Republic’ or San Marino on 3 September 301.

The independence of San Marino was recognised by the Papacy in 1631. Napoleon’s advance in 1797 presented a brief threat to the independence, but Napoleon eventually promised to guarantee and protect the independence of the Republic, even offering to extend its territory. After the Napoleonic Wars, the independence of San Marino was recognised in international law at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

The Palazzo Pubblico or Palazzo del Governo is the seat of government in San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

When San Marino offered Abraham Lincoln honorary citizenship in 1861, he replied that the republic proved that ‘government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring.’

During the Italian War of Unification, San Marino became a place of refuge, and Garibaldi accepted its wish not to be incorporated into the new Italian state in 1862.

A statue of Garibaldi, who guaranteed San Marino’s independence from the modern Italian state (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

During World War I, when Italy declared war on Habsburg Austria in 1915, San Marino’s neutrality gave rise to hostile Italian suspicions that it could harbour Austrian spies, while the presence of volunteers from San Marino in an Italian medical corps running a Red Cross field hospital led Austria to suspend diplomatic relations.

San Marino had a fascist government in 1923-1943, but it remained neutral in World War II and provided a safe harbour for more than 100,000 Italians, including many Jews, fleeing Nazi and Italian persecution. The fascist government collapsed three days after the fall of Mussolini, but when it regained power in 1944 it maintained neutrality intact. In September 1944, it was briefly occupied by German forces, but they were soon defeated by Allied forces.

European integration

A border crossing … the mountain republic is totally surrounded by Italian territory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Although San Marino is not an EU member state, an arrangement with the EU allows it to use the Euro as its currency and to use its own designs on the national side of Euro coins. But the small number of these coins means they are primarily of interest to coin collectors.

As a schoolboy, I thought San Marino existed mainly on the revenue from selling collectable postage stamps. But, in reality, the economy of San Marino relies mainly on finance, industry, services and tourism, making it one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions.

In the narrow streets of San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The capital is the City of San Marino and the largest urban area is Serravalle. San Marino has a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus. It is said to be the only country where there are more vehicles than people.

The Basilica di San Marino is on the site of the mediaeval parish church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Although San Marino has a basilica on the Piazza Domus Plebis, this is not a cathedral, and there is no episcopal see in San Marino. The whole country is a small part of the Italian Diocese of Montefeltro-San Marino, and the bishop lives in Pennabilli. The Church of Saint Francis, founded in 1361 by the Conventual Franciscans, is the oldest church in San Marino. The church has a wooden crucifix dating from the 14th century and frescoes by Antonio Alberti da Ferrara dating from the early 15th century.

The Chiesa di San Francesco, was built by the Franciscans in I351-1400 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today, it is said, more than 97 per cent of the people are Roman Catholic, but there is no state religion and there is a tiny Waldensian and Jewish presence.

The Burial of Christ … a 15th century painting in the Chiesa di San Francesco (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A model democracy

The Palazzo Pubblico or Palazzo del Governo is the seat of government in San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino is a multiparty democracy, and the Captains Regent are both heads of state and heads of governments. The 60-member elected parliament is known as the Grand and General Council, and there is an independent judiciary.

In the past, San Marino was ruled by the Arengo, chosen from among the heads of each family. In the 13th century, power was handed over to the Grand and General Council, and the first two Captains Regent were nominated by the council in 1243.

The Statue of Liberty by Galletti outside the Palazzo Pubblico, donated by Countess Otilia Heyroth Wagener (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino claims to have had more female heads of state than any other country. Twice a year, on 1 April and 1 October, the council elects two Captains Regent as the heads of state, holding office for a six-month term. This system of two heads of state is said to be modelled on the Roman consuls in the Roman Republic, and the Council is the equivalent of the Roman Senate. The present Captains Regent are Enrico Carattoni and Matteo Fiorini.

San Marino’s military forces are among the smallest in the world. National defence is, by arrangement, the responsibility of Italy’s armed forces. Different branches have varied functions, including performing ceremonial duties, patrolling borders; mounting guard at government buildings, and assisting police in major criminal cases.

They include the exotically-named Crossbow Corps, the Guard of the Rock, the Guard of the Grand and General Council, known locally as the Guard of the Nobles, the Company of Unformed Militia, the Military Ensemble, which is a ceremonial military band of about 50 musicians, and the Gendarmerie. In addition, there is a modern police force.

The Guita Tower is the earliest of San Marino’s three castellated towers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino has been a member of the United Nations, since 1992, it has its own university, postal systems, banks and car registration numbers, and its own national football team. However, the San Marino Grand Prix never took place there: it was staged at Imola, about 100 km north of San Marino, but was removed from the international calendar in 2007.

San Marino has its own national university (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

San Marino has 220 km of roads, but public transport facilities are limited. There is no airport and no rail links to nearby Italian towns and cities. But there is a regular bus service between Rimini and the city of San Marino that is popular with both tourists and workers commuting to San Marino from surrounding Italy. The bus stops at about 20 places in Rimini and inside San Marino on the journey between the train station in Rimini and the bus station in San Marino.

A 1.5 km cable car also connects Borgo Maggiore at the bottom of Monte Titano and the City of San Marino at the top of the rocky mountain. But the cable car was not running this when I visited San Marino. Perhaps because the tourist season was over, it was a good opportunity for an overhaul.

Another passport stamp

Did I need another visa stamp on my passport? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The tourist office beside the cable car terminal offers €5 tourist visas. A visa costs as much as the bus journey from Rimini, and it is not necessary. Should I have got my passport stamped?

I certainly did not need a visa. San Marino has an open border with Italy, there were no checkpoints as the bus crosses the border, not just once but twice on each leg of the journey, and before I even reached the tourist office I had travelled along most of the roads through this tiny republic, and walked most of the streets of the old town.

But did I want a visa?

I had brought my passport, but ought I pay for a visa I did not need?

Very few countries these days bother to stamp my passport, even when they demand to see it. Switzerland is outside the EU but has never stamped my passport. I have walked in and out of the Vatican City and through Saint Peter’s Square on many occasions … but no-one ever asked for my passport as I stepped in from Italy, let alone offer to stamp it.

Britain may soon leave the EU, so I may be confused about which queue to join at an airport; but are they are going to reintroduce passport stamps for EU citizens queuing at airports? The only European country that bothers to stamp my passport these days is Turkey, and that is probably because it earns a hefty amount of foreign currency by charging tourists for visas.

A heavily-stamped passport is a rarity for EU citizens these days, even those of us who think we are well-travelled. The only other stamps on my present passport are from a visit to the US many years ago.

Of course, it could be costly filling a passport too quickly. At one stage in the 1990s, while I was working as a journalist, I had to apply for – and pay for – a second passport. My latest stamp in San Marino says goodbye to another visa page in my passport – five gone, 23 to go. I am sure, however, this one is going to last until it’s due for renewal later this year.

Afterwards, we had lunch at La Capanna, a restaurant looking over the rocks of San Marino and out to the Adriatic coast of Italy. The view was worth it, whatever about the visa.

Tables for two in a café in the streets of San Marino (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This feature was first published in the ‘Church Review’ (Dublin and Glendalough) and the ‘Diocesan Magazine’ (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory) in March 2018.

San Marino’s independent banking system is an important part of the thriving economy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)