Archbishop of Canterbury leads St Albans Festival Pilgrimage
 |
The Archbishop of Canterbury and a lion, a new addition to the St Albans Festival Pilgrimage |
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, joined 3000 pilgrims in St Albans on 24 June paying tribute to Alban, Britain's first martyr who was beheaded for his Christian faith.
The Archbishop said to a packed St Albans Cathedral in an afternoon service, "Were Alban ever to be recognised as the patron saint of this country, an issue which I am told is much discussed in these parts, perhaps it would be a way of reminding our whole society, of the terrible dangers of misunderstanding loyalty and solidarity and the immense exhilarating and rather terrifying gift of being given the possibility of opening our lives, our hearts, our homes and our economies to strangers."
Pilgrims from Italy, Germany, Sweden, Poland and many parts of the UK joined in a carnival procession with giant puppets of the main characters in Alban's story from the place of Alban's trial and sentence to death near what is now the Verulamium Museum, to St Albans Cathedral which stands on the site of his execution. Alban, a Roman soldier, had sheltered a fleeing Christian priest and was ultimately tried for his faith and condemned to death.
The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Christopher Herbert, in his sermon in the morning service called for an end to the meanness of spirit in society. He said "I sense that meanness of soul, meanness of spirit, is now our besetting national sin." He added, " In the Anglican Communion the spirit of exclusion is having a field day - crashing and rampaging around, and causing deep hurt in the process." The Bishop said that there was a meanness in the way the NHS treats the mentally ill and the elderly and in the way society treats its civic spaces, describing them as "tatty town centres, strewn with litter." The Bishop contrasted this meanness of spirit with the generosity of Alban and of the organisers of the pilgrimage, saying, "let us resolve to work for a Church and a nation which is generous".
The Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, said, "By making a pilgrimage here to St Albans and by joining in the joy of creating and inhabiting the wonderful puppets we have all become part of Alban's story. I hope to see as many and more people here next year when Archbishop Desmond Tutu will join us."
To view more pictures of the day visit Three Counties Radio's website
To read the Bishop of St Albans' sermon go here
