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Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

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KJV Bible

859

From the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, via Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University of Humanities. Licence: None stated (public domain assumed).

The Theotokos of Vladimir by Clay Lane

It is one of the world’s most recognisable works of art, and a symbol of God’s blessing on all Christian Rus’.

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860

© Julian P. Guffogg, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Fir and the Bramble by Clay Lane

A vain fir is stopped short in her boasting by a clear-thinking bush.

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861

© Andrew Smith, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Silent Hall from The Exeter Book

An unknown Anglo-Saxon poet shares with us the grief of those whose homes and feast-halls were laid waste by Viking raiders.

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862

© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Conversion of Saul by Clay Lane

A fiery fanatic wins support for the suppression of Christianity in its very cradle.

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863

© Oliver Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Jackdaw by William Cowper

A bird perched upon a church steeple casts a severe glance over the doings of men.

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864

© B. Leprêtre, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.5.

It is a Beauteous Evening by William Wordsworth

Walking with his ten-year-old daughter on the beach at Calais, Wordsworth considers the energy of God moving in all things.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 8 NS

April 25 OS

VE Day : On May 8th, 1945, Winston Churchill took to the radio to tell the British public that almost six years of war were ended.
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
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