Late last month we visited Saint Alban’s cathedral at Saint Albans. Did you know that the spelling of the name of the place came about because of an error in the application to become a city in 1877 when a Parliamentary Draughtsman accidentally omitted the apostrophe. Whether that error would matter to the saint after whom the cathedral and city is named is moot.
There are some fascinating features in the ancient place, and we learned much about the risks that pilgrims faced together with the lengths the cathedral went to in the early days to guard the shrine of the country’s first martyr from any more abuse than he suffered at the end of his life. It is easy to assume that martyrs are part of ancient history, a myth made more real when we see stone statues that are colourless.
In 2015, a new row of statues of modern martyrs was added as part of celebrating the 900th anniversary of the cathedral. They are to be found in the medieval nave screen erected in a hurry in 1350 and they make a different sort of history too as they are thought to be the first painted statues to be put up in such a setting since the reformation. Four have local connections while three are twentieth century martyrs whose names you may recognise: Russian Orthodox St Elisabeth Romanova, German Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Britain’s cathedrals enshrine more than ecclesiastical history alone, for they tell the stories of real people. Lives given faithfully, work started lovingly and completed respectfully. Another feature is that with the clever use of lighting it is possible to see the original colours in the now faded and almost vanished wall paintings on some of the pillars.
We are living in changing times politically, but the Church of God continues its work and witness in suffering and in celebration. The story of life for many people. Mistakes, fading colours and then the new and the startling.
A Prayer
Loving God our lives are a mixture of colours and moods; change is everywhere and constant but the worship we offer you transcends everything. Some things are done quickly, and others are not complete for hundreds of years. Give us the grace to know we are part of your every rolling stream of time and all things work ultimately to your rhythm, not ours. Changeless God, we praise you. Amen.