Praising God in Devon

Dearest friends, I write to you from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in North Norfolk. It’s a thin place that seems to wash away the detritus of the everyday and leave you feeling rather exposed in front of Jesus. Our Lady has a way of looking into your soul and telling you exactly what you need to take to the altar, what you need to put down, what you need to pick up. We’ve been very lucky to…

Dearest friends, Each year on or near 3 February, the Church remembers St Blaise, bishop and martyr, and celebrates the Blessing of Throats. This simple but striking rite connects our everyday human vulnerability with God’s healing grace. St Blaise was a bishop in Sebaste (in modern-day Turkey) in the early fourth century. Very little is known about his life, but what has been handed down tells of a pastor devoted to prayer and to the care of those who were…

Dearest friends, This Sunday is set apart as the ‘Sunday of the Word of God’. We are encouraged to consider how scripture has impacted our lives and faith. How has the Word of God altered our day-to-day life?  Each Sunday, as we get to the Gospel Reading we set it apart as important. We sing, we process the Gospel Book from the Altar into the throng of the congregation, we surround it with incense. Our senses are assaulted by sound,…