Richard Ratcliffe with the image of his wife during his Hunger Strike of 21 days
The Bishop of Chelmsford, The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has written this prayer about the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and all being imprisoned unjustly in Iran.
It is timed to coincide with Nazanin’s husband Richard’s ending of his hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in the hope that the British Government might make a real effort to persuade the Iranian Government to free her.
Bishop Guli is an Iranian refugee who with her family had to flee from Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution. At that time her brother was murdered. Her father was an Anglican Bishop in Iran at the time. This prayer comes, therefore, from her heart and she invites us all to pray it daily with her over the time ahead.
O God, the source of all that is good and holy, who through your Son calls the weary and heavy-laden to find comfort in your presence: look upon Nazanin, and all those who are imprisoned unjustly, with your gentle gaze; surround them and their loved ones with the assurance of your love; give them the gift of hope; and soften the hearts of the powerful, so that justice may roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Bishop Guli, the new Bishop pf Chelmsford, offers us this prayer.
God, who is both Father and Mother, In whom we have our beginning and our end, We give thanks for the wonder of your creation, For the beauty of the universe, And for all that lives on earth.
We pray that the redeeming grace of your son Jesus Christ Would draw us ever closer to his likeness; So that we might be good stewards, Caring for our habitat, And living as those who are part of it rather than exercising power over it.
Give us courage to transform our prayers into meaningful action; And by the fire of your Holy Spirit Sustain the world, And everything in it.
Amen.
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Chelmsford 1 November 2021.
Statue of the Curé d’Arsphotographed in Falaise by Mr G.
A Faithful Priest
The Curé d’Ars feast day 4th August
One of my most treasured possessions is a plain plaster statue of a French parish priest known universally as the Curé d’Ars —so named because for over 40 years he served the parish of Ars-en-Dombes in France. John-Marie Baptiste Vianney (whose feast day is today) was brought up in a peasant farming family near Lyons. He was born in 1786 and as a child of farmers he was given very little formal education. Yet, by the time he was 20 he had heard God’s call to ordination and had begun to study for the priesthood. He found study very hard and on more than one occasion his superiors thought to end his time in the seminary. However, they noted his devotion to God and a quality of holiness which far outweighed academic ability. They saw a young man whose heart God had touched.
He was ordained and after a curacy he was appointed the Parish Priest of a backwater village—Ars. He went there in 1818 and remained until his death in 1859 on August 4th. Very quickly he gained a reputation for being a preacher and people began to flock to hear him. At the same time he became known as a priest who could give wise and gentle counsel to souls in distress. Very soon people began to consult him and to bare their souls to him. The trickle of people became a stream and then a torrent. Countless numbers of people would come to see him. Each day, after his own time of personal prayer and devotion, he would preach a sermon daily at 11am and then spend many hours hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction. He was often moved to tears by the things people told him and he brought to them the comfort born out of someone who understood human weakness and the power of God’s love.
As time went on he was offered more important jobs in the Church and he also struggled with a call to the monastic life but he stayed put and in so doing put the little village of Ars on the map—not only in his own day but for all time.
Not surprisingly, after his death, he was declared a Saint and he became known as the Patron Saint of parish priests. As an example of the devotion and service priests are called to emulate, this is hardly surprising. The simple statue I have, unadorned by paint, reminds me that at the heart of all service in God’s Name there must be humility. Here’s one of my favourite sayings of his: Speaking of the difference between private and public prayer, he said:
“Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there : if you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky. Public prayer is like that.”
A group of us at my church recently shared in a Quiet Day led by our Archdeacon Vanessa.
Her addresses were about different aspects of Prayer – Prayer and silence; Prayer and Place; Prayer and Time; Prayer and the Senses.
Each one has its own way of inspiring and creating reflection. We were encouraged to engage with the gift of silence to ourselves, each other, and especially to God. We were also encouraged to receive the Gift of prayer to us from God and seek the Holy Spirit at work within us. In a beautiful phrase we were to sense ‘God speaking to God from within.’
Looking at Prayer and Place, Vanessa prompted us to think of the places where God has been easily found. She herself, spoke to us of Lastingham in the Cleveland Hills in North Yorkshire. Here the Saxon monk Cedd, pupil of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, set up a monastery. This same Cedd brought the Gospel to Essex, to Bradwell which was consecrated by his presence and his prayer.
I haven’t been to Lastingham for many years but Vanessa opened up the memory and the experience within me. Below is the poem that I felt encouraged to write.
With it is a poem by Piers who was at the Quiet Day. Inspired, this time by the Abbey of Bec Hellouin in Normandy. Bec in the past supplied us with three Archbishops of Canterbury, Lanfranc, Anselm and Theobald. Bec still has a special relationship with Canterbury Cathedral. Today, only the tower remains of the Norman Abbey but a community of monks live in buildings near the tower. A sister community of nuns live in a convent a short distance away and on Sundays and Feast Days, the monks and nuns worship together. The serene and beautiful worship in their chapel inspired the first of the poems.
Both locations express the essence of what Vanessa spoke of to us. Thin places where heaven touches earth and God feels very near.
l’Abbaye du Bec
In my mind’s eye, I return: cream quietness… light bathing ordered stone, the scent of sung prayer hanging low.
Immanence re-discovered.
Piers Northam 10 July 2021
Lastingham
I come to this place, deep in the hills, where silence and conversation meld into stillness.
God is here, his sanctuary a stone rainbow over the seeker after meaning.
What am I looking for in this place, where the one who drew others to their knees, poured out his soul?
I sense and seek the company of the one who prayed here first, in the shadows of sweeping arches, pillars and faint light.
Seemingly impermeable rock – steeped in suffering and joy; pain and perfection; faltering hope and confident determination – enfolds me as I kneel with Cedd:
exhaling uncertainty… …inhaling God’s blessing and his love.
Geoffrey Connor 10 July 2021
Photos: The Apse Chapel Pennant Melangell Church Mr.G Abbey Church Bec Hellouin Piers Northam Crypt, Lastingham Church. Parish of Lastingham
Mr G's Ponderings 