Christ Church

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Swithun (d. 862), Bishop of Winchester (source):

Almighty God,
by whose grace we celebrate again
the feast of thy servant Swithun:
grant that, as he governed with gentleness
the people committed to his care,
so we, rejoicing in our inheritance in Christ,
may ever seek to build up thy Church in unity and love;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Bishop or Archbishop, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-43

Saint Swithun was a respected ninth-century bishop and is one of England’s best-known early saints. Although little is known about his early life, he became Bishop of Winchester around 852 during the reign of King Ethelwulf of Wessex.

As bishop, Swithun gained a reputation for piety and learning. He is credited with restoring and expanding Winchester Cathedral and played a significant role in the spiritual life of Wessex during a period of Viking incursions and religious renewal. Medieval hagiographies portray him as a humble, charitable leader devoted to monastic reform and pastoral care.

Before his death in 863, he asked to be buried outside the cathedral where rain would fall upon his grave and people could walk over it, believing that he deserved no special honour. In 971, however, his remains were transferred inside the cathedral to a magnificent shrine. According to folklore, this disruption of his wishes provoked a violent rainstorm that lasted for forty days. This legend birthed the famous British weather lore: whatever the weather on Saint Swithun’s Day (July 15), it will persist for the subsequent forty days.

After his death, miracles were attributed to his intercession, particularly healing miracles associated with his shrine at Winchester. This led to his widespread veneration as a saint.

Artwork: Saint Swithun, stained glass, Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, England.

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The collect for today, the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O God, who hast preparest for them that love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 6:3-11
The Gospel: St Luke 6:27-36

Artwork: Rudolf Yelin, Sermon on the Mount in the Black Forest, c. 1912. Oil on canvas, Reinerzau Protestant Church, Reinerzau, Germany.

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The collect for a Bishop or Archbishop, on the Commemoration of Stephen Langton (c. 1150-1228), Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who didst raise up thy faithful servant Stephen Langton to be a Bishop in thy Church and to feed thy flock: We beseech thee to send down upon all thy Bishops, the Pastors of thy Church, the abundant gift of thy Holy Spirit, that they, being endued with power from on high, and ever walking in the footsteps of thy holy Apostles, may minister before thee in thy household as true servants of Christ and stewards of thy divine mysteries; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-43

Stephen Langton was one of the most distinguished churchmen, scholars, and statesmen of medieval England. Born in Lincolnshire, he studied theology at the University of Paris, where he became a renowned biblical scholar and teacher.

In 1206, Pope Innocent III consecrated Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. This appointment triggered a bitter, eight-year dispute with King John, who refused to recognise Langton and barred him from England. Langton remained in exile in France until John finally capitulated under papal interdict in 1213.

Langton’s leadership helped secure Magna Carta in 1215, whose first clause famously declared “the English Church shall be free.” Though briefly suspended by the Pope for supporting the barons, Langton later returned, guided the regency of Henry III, and secured the 1225 reissue of Magna Carta.

Stephen Langton also made a lasting contribution to biblical scholarship. He is traditionally credited with dividing the books of the Latin Bible into the chapter system that is still used today, greatly improving the organisation and study of Scripture. His work as a theologian, church leader, and defender of justice earned him lasting respect. Langton remained Archbishop of Canterbury until his death in 1228, leaving a legacy that influenced both the Church and English constitutional history.

Langton died on 9 July 1228 at Slindon, Sussex, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. A scholar-primate who prioritized justice and ecclesiastical liberty, he helped embed the principle that even kings are subject to law—an enduring legacy in Western constitutional thought.

Artwork: Stephen Langton, stained glass, Southwark Cathedral, London. Photograph taken by admin, 20 October 2014.

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The collect for today, the commemoration of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), Lord Chancellor of England, Scholar, Reformation Martyr (source):

Almighty God,
who strengthened Thomas More
to be in office a king’s good servant
but in conscience your servant first,
grant us in all our doubts and uncertainties
to feel the grasp of your holy hand
and to live by faith in your promise
that you shall not let us be lost;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 3:13-16
The Gospel: St. Mark 12:13-17

A meditation of Thomas More, written in the Tower of London a year before he was beheaded:

Give me your grace, good Lord, to set the world at nought,
to set my mind fast upon you and not to hang upon the blast of men’s mouths.
To be content to be solitary.
Not to long for worldly company,
little and little utterly to cast off the world, and rid my mind of the business thereof.
Not to long to hear of any worldly things,
but that the hearing of worldly fantasies may be to me displeasant.
Gladly to be thinking God,
busily to labour to love him.
To know own vility and wretchedness,
to humble and meeken myself under the mighty hand of God,
to bewail my sins passed;
for the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity.
Gladly to bear my purgatory here,
to be joyful of tribulations,
to walk the narrow way that leads to life.
To bear the cross with Christ,
to have the last thing—death—in remembrance,
to have ever before my eye death, that is ever at hand;
to make death no stranger to me;
to foresee and consider the everlasting fire of hell;
to pray for pardon before the Judge comes.
To have continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me;
For his benefits incessantly to give him thanks,
to buy the time again that I before have lost.
To abstain from vain confabulations,
To eschew light foolish mirth and gladness;
To cut off unnecessary recreations.
Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all–
To set the loss at nought for the winning of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends,
for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good
with their love and favour as they did with their hatred and malice.

Artwork: Peter Paul Rubens (after the portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger), Thomas More, 1630. Prado, Madrid.

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