Thoughts from The Vicarage with St Frideswide, looking towards Lent and a roll
Greetings on a chilly day as we look ahead to Sunday – the 3rd before Lent begins.
The Taizé service at Eastbury last week was really valued for being gentle, reflective and an opportunity to light a candle. Thank you to all who made the service so special.
- Looking ahead to Lent. Please remember to sign the list or contact me if you would like a copy of the Lent book. It’s ‘Searched Me Out and Known Me’ by Charlie Bell.
- March 10th Lent Group at Mellor Cottage Lambourn begins @ 2pm
- March 11th Lent Group @ The Vicarage Lambourn begins @7pm
A new electoral roll – all parishioners who wish to be on their church’s electoral roll must re-apply for membership. There is no automatic renewal. Each Parish Electoral Roll officer will soon be in contact with all members on the current roll with instructions. Hard copy application forms are available in church and from the Electoral Roll officer or myself. Anyone is eligible to apply and those who attend church on a regular basis are positively encouraged to do so. Being on the Electoral Roll makes a statement of belonging to and identifying oneself as part of the church to which you feel you ‘belong’.
For each Parish the Church Electoral Roll is a record of those qualified to attend the APCM, to vote in elections to the parochial church council (PCC) and the Deanery Synod, and to raise any questions regarding the church and parish. In this way, you help to ensure that the PCC, your Deanery Synod, the Oxford Diocesan Synod and the General Synod are fully representative of the Church members. Anyone wishing to take an official post within the church must have their name on the Electoral Roll.
A very special day for our Cathedral Christchurch –On this day in 1180, the relics of St Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint, were translated to a shrine by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Prior Philip of Oxford. The Antiquarian William Dugdale (1605-1610 suggests that nobles, bishops and even King Henry II may have been present to witness the moment when the Saint was laid in the Cathedral, establishing a new chapter in the history of pilgrimage to our Cathedral.
In 1289, St Frideswide’s relics were moved again to a precious reliquary atop a new pedestal shrine, carved with healing plants and depictions of the Saint’s companions. This second shrine was destroyed on the orders of the King in 1538. Incredibly, the stones survived by being incorporated into a nearby well and the cloisters. The rediscovery of the pieces centuries later allowed the pedestal that you see in the Latin Chapel today, making this one of the very few surviving English medieval shrines. The shrine remains a focus for pilgrimage and prayer, a place of peace to take inspiration from the holy life of the teacher, healer and leader whose community began the story of the city of Oxford.
And very finally a prayer … A Collect for St Frideswide
God of peace and strength,
whose abbess Frideswide,
built a community of love and learning with the gifts of the Spirit
and in the strong peace that comes from you:
renew us with healing waters of salvation,
increase in us courage and resolve and inspire us,
like Frideswide,
to teach your truth and bring hope to your world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Every blessing,
Julie