The Friends of Winchester Cathedral’s 90th anniversary festal evensong on Saturday looked back to St Swithun and the beginning of the cathedral . The service, broadcast online to Friends unable to be present, included impressive camerawork featuring unusual views around the building. After a procession to St Swithun’s shrine there were prayers of thanks invoking […]
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Choral evensong is being broadcast online live from Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday the Feast of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury. Before the pandemic the annual service was in the choir and followed by a procession of canons to the shrine in a pre-Reformation tradition. At present services are sung in the nave. This […]
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David Guest, vicar of Otford, is coming up the Pilgrims’ Way to host Southwark Cathedral’s Stories of Cats day. Cathedral cat Hodge is expected to be around on Saturday 7 August to welcome visitors joining the day event. Speakers include George Hoyle (aka Cunning Folk) on The Folklore of Cats, Dr Kathleen Walker-Meikle on Literary […]
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Nancy Sullivan, who has appeared in west end productions and BBC1’s Call the Midwife, is bringing theatre to Lesnes Abbey. She has formed the The Ruined Theatre company to stage Our Teacher’s a Troll, a play for all the family by Dennis Kelly. The performances are in mid August and will be at 10am and […]
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These days will pass and we shall more easily be able to go on pilgrimage. But we don’t know what it will be like. ‘Please believe these days will pass’ is the message seen by visitors to Southwark Cathedral and most certainly by those present at the midday Eucharist at 12.45pm which is usually at […]
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Canterbury’s own Thomas Becket anniversary exhibition has opened after the long delay caused by the virus. Has the wait been worth it? Certainly Thomas Becket: World Celebrity Healer at The Beaney is very well researched with the organisers having the advantage of access to local material. Even the chronology at the entrance is extremely thorough […]
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Paulo Seth’s introductory film about cycling from Winchester to Canterbury is now online. Fifteen further films for each stage follow weekly. The route is not exactly the same as the footpath since cyclists have to avoid kissing gates as well as other problems. But the Pilgrims’ Way often has parallel paths even for walkers and […]
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The long-awaited Thomas Becket: Murder and the making of a saint exhibition has opened at the British Museum. This was to have been part of the 2020 Becket anniversary programme of events until we were hit by the pandemic. The show will now run until Sunday 22 August but tickets should be booked in advance. […]
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Pilgrimage is again possible. Winchester, Southwark, Rochester and Canterbury Cathedrals are all open from today. We can now attempt walking to Canterbury from Southwark in London or Winchester in Hampshire. Pilgrim passports can be obtained at Winchester or Southwark on the day you set out. Pubs and bed & breakfasts are allowed to reopen but […]
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St Oscar Romero Day is Wednesday 24 March. This year is the 41st anniversary of St Oscar Romero’s martyrdom. He died in church at the hands of the state like another archbishop, Thomas Becket. ‘The name Romero means pilgrim,’ said Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ earlier this month. ‘If we need a companion to help us […]
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