After a fascinating session
of storytelling from Joanna Bogle, we ventured out, in her words, for "a
romp around London". We first discussed a little history of St Patrick's
Church, the parish we are based at. In 1940, during a bomb raid, a bomb became
lodged in the floor, but miraculously did not explode. This church was founded
by Irish immigrants while Catholicism was still outlawed in England.
Our first stop was not far
from our St Patrick's. St Giles-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church, which was
once a hospital for lepers while it was Catholic before the reformation. We then walked past Lincoln Inn Fields which is now a
large square, but once fields in which Catholics were martyred for their faith
after King Henry XIII had outlawed Catholicism.
The Ship Tavern, from 1549, which has a nice amount of
character, was a place where Mass was held in secret while Catholicism was
illegal. Embassy chapels were a place that
Mass could be celebrated legally as technically each London embassy was not a
part of England, but of the country it represented.
We popped into St Anselm and St Cecilia's Church at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, a place of beautiful peace. Another lovely
church, St Brides, is the three tiered church that inspired the classic wedding
cake design.
Our last sight was the ornate Anglican cathedral of St
Paul's, which as many churches were, was Catholic before Henry XIII named
himself head of a new church. Because of this, much of the art of Catholic
churches was stripped.
The afternoon ended on a delightful and refreshing note
of three pots of tea and carrot cake at a tea shop across from the cathedral,
by the Thames. Here is to a year of exploring history and faith with hundreds
of cups of tea to come!
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| With Joanna outside St Paul's |
