Christopher Howse

Ignored by many art critics, the bed in many Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation has a strong symbolic meaning

I joined the Chaldeans in church on the morning after the night that the rebels in Syria took control of Damascus. We weren't in Aleppo or on the plains of Nineveh but cocooned in a warm church at West Acton in London, where a community of Christian migrants from Iraq has settled in recent decades. Many came to this country during Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime or after facing persecution from Islamists and militias after the invasion of Iraq.

‘Sæsterrne’ was the English version devised by a Lincolnshire monk of a title for the Virgin Mary in use since the fourth century

’Tis the season to merrily panic buy in a flurry of festive feverishness, then wallow in the sweaty regret that inevitably ensues

(Getty) Why, my sharp-minded colleague Tom Utley once asked after a Telegraph Christmas Carol service, should anyone think God would abhor the Virgin's womb?

J R R Tolkien had more than whales to contend with when he translated the biblical Book of Jonah

Stretching your legs used to be about fresh air and the thrill of discovery — now it’s just another KPI. Things have gone too far

After the journey of the Magi, Lancelot Andrewes turned to the Baptism of Jesus

From Radio 3’s relaxation mixes to the piano in the spare room, the much-vaunted soothing power of music is sometimes overrated

An advertisement in the late 19th century showed Pope Leo XIII on his throne, wearing the triple tiara on his head and holding a steaming mug, under