About Today
Monday 13 April 2026
Monday of the 2nd week of Eastertide
or Saint Martin I, Pope, Martyr
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: White.
Pope St Martin I (- 655)
He was born in Todi in Umbria and elected Pope in 649. He called a synod to combat the Monothelite heresy concerning the nature of Christ. One of the people whose teachings were condemned was supported by the Byzantine Emperor, who in 653 had Martin kidnapped from Rome, taken to Constantinople, imprisoned and eventually exiled to the Crimea, where he died on 1 September 655. See the articles on Martin and Monothelitism in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and the article on Martin in Wikipedia.
Other saints: St. Margaret of Castello OP (1287 - 1320)
13 Apr (where celebrated)
Today's goapel reading John 3:1-8 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born anew.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’
Reflection on the painting
In this morning’s Gospel from John, we meet a most intriguing figure: Nicodemus. He belongs to the Pharisees, a group often portrayed as resistant to Jesus, and yet Nicodemus is different. There is an openness in him, a searching heart. He comes to Jesus first by night, cautious, unsure, but curious. That alone already sets him on a journey. By the end of John’s Gospel, this same man will step forward more boldly, helping to lay Jesus in the tomb with reverence and care. His path is one of gradual conversion, moving from hesitation to courage.
Nicodemus reminds us that faith is often not a sudden leap, but a slow unfolding. We may begin in uncertainty, even in the shadows, but the important thing is that we allow ourselves to be curious for Christ... wanting to know him more and more and more.
And yet, Jesus makes something very clear in his encounter with Nicodemus: this journey to know Jesus is not simply our own achievement. “You must be born from above… born of the Spirit.” Growth in faith is not self-made; it is Spirit-given.
It is like a sailing boat. A vessel may be beautifully built, its sails perfectly set, its course clearly charted, but without wind, it remains still! The sailor cannot manufacture the wind; he can only receive it, adjust to it, trust it. So it is with the Spirit. We are invited to raise the sails of our souls, to be ready, to be willing, but it is ultimately the Spirit who carries us forward.
So today we look a painting of a sailing boat with full wind in its sails propelling forward. The great clipper ships of the 19th century, such as the Cutty Sark (the main boat in our painting) and the Thermopylae (in the background), were marvels of speed and craftsmanship, racing across the oceans to carry tea and wool between continents. Built for endurance and speed, they became famous not simply for their design, but for how swiftly they could travel vast distances in record-breaking time driven by the winds that filled their sails. For example, with the opening of the Suez Canal, the Cutty Sark focussed on the fast-growing Australian wool trade. It was on this route that the Cutty Sark’s reputation for speed became world-renowned, with her fastest trip recorded as only seventy-three days between Sydney and London in October 1885. The stories of these ships are of adventure, and reliance on wind. Their eventual decline came as steamships took over.
Cutty Sark and Thermopylae,
Painting by Montague Dawson (1890-1973),
Oil on canvas
© Sotheby's New York, 5 February 2025, lot 254, sold $102,000
Monday of the 2nd week of Eastertide
or Saint Martin I, Pope, Martyr
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: White.
Pope St Martin I (- 655)
He was born in Todi in Umbria and elected Pope in 649. He called a synod to combat the Monothelite heresy concerning the nature of Christ. One of the people whose teachings were condemned was supported by the Byzantine Emperor, who in 653 had Martin kidnapped from Rome, taken to Constantinople, imprisoned and eventually exiled to the Crimea, where he died on 1 September 655. See the articles on Martin and Monothelitism in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and the article on Martin in Wikipedia.
Other saints: St. Margaret of Castello OP (1287 - 1320)
13 Apr (where celebrated)
Today's goapel reading John 3:1-8 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born anew.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’
Reflection on the painting
In this morning’s Gospel from John, we meet a most intriguing figure: Nicodemus. He belongs to the Pharisees, a group often portrayed as resistant to Jesus, and yet Nicodemus is different. There is an openness in him, a searching heart. He comes to Jesus first by night, cautious, unsure, but curious. That alone already sets him on a journey. By the end of John’s Gospel, this same man will step forward more boldly, helping to lay Jesus in the tomb with reverence and care. His path is one of gradual conversion, moving from hesitation to courage.
Nicodemus reminds us that faith is often not a sudden leap, but a slow unfolding. We may begin in uncertainty, even in the shadows, but the important thing is that we allow ourselves to be curious for Christ... wanting to know him more and more and more.
And yet, Jesus makes something very clear in his encounter with Nicodemus: this journey to know Jesus is not simply our own achievement. “You must be born from above… born of the Spirit.” Growth in faith is not self-made; it is Spirit-given.
It is like a sailing boat. A vessel may be beautifully built, its sails perfectly set, its course clearly charted, but without wind, it remains still! The sailor cannot manufacture the wind; he can only receive it, adjust to it, trust it. So it is with the Spirit. We are invited to raise the sails of our souls, to be ready, to be willing, but it is ultimately the Spirit who carries us forward.
So today we look a painting of a sailing boat with full wind in its sails propelling forward. The great clipper ships of the 19th century, such as the Cutty Sark (the main boat in our painting) and the Thermopylae (in the background), were marvels of speed and craftsmanship, racing across the oceans to carry tea and wool between continents. Built for endurance and speed, they became famous not simply for their design, but for how swiftly they could travel vast distances in record-breaking time driven by the winds that filled their sails. For example, with the opening of the Suez Canal, the Cutty Sark focussed on the fast-growing Australian wool trade. It was on this route that the Cutty Sark’s reputation for speed became world-renowned, with her fastest trip recorded as only seventy-three days between Sydney and London in October 1885. The stories of these ships are of adventure, and reliance on wind. Their eventual decline came as steamships took over.
Cutty Sark and Thermopylae,
Painting by Montague Dawson (1890-1973),
Oil on canvas
© Sotheby's New York, 5 February 2025, lot 254, sold $102,000