A friend and I drove to Guildford Cathedral this morning. Daffodils blazed golden across Stag Hill. We had coffee and flapjack in the cafe, and attended the Lady Day service, an annual event, to mark the annunciation of the birth of Jesus, nine months before Christmas.
Photo by Clicker Finger on Pexels.com
The service also commissioned the Mother’s Union diocesan officers for the year. Bishop Jo Wells spoke on the theme of ‘Are you up for it in a time of change?’ It seemed appropriate as we thought of the sudden change in Mary’s life, the turbulence in our own lives, and the bright flowers springing up around us. It reminded me that Guildford Cathedral was built one brick at a time by public donation. This new cathedral sprang up by public donation, a sign of hope after the Second World War.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Do you ever experience chiaroscuro moments when light and shade contrast? As representatives of many Mother’s Union groups paraded their banners down the aisle from the darkness of the entrance into the sunlit nave, it seemed as though we joined with Mother’s Union members worldwide. I have seen processions in many cathedrals in South Sudan, usually involving more dancing and clapping than is common in the UK! There are conflicts and sorrows in our world today but there are many are up for helping.
All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen. The Mary Sumner prayer
Letitia Mason 
The clean and sweetly Gothic lines,
the warmth held by the bricks for us,
an edifice born of its times,
Maufe’s gracious gift of genius
that blesses Surrey’s gentle land
with a home that fits so well
a Lord who stoops to understand
an England that had gone through hell.
The eyes are drawn to arches’ peaks,
up, up the smoothly climbing stone,
reminder of a soul that seeks
to know it’s never been alone
but even as war rent the air,
our living God was always there.
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Andrew, that is a wonderful poem, which exactly captures the essence of this cathedral of the Holy Spirit. I will share it with family and with the group who were at the service last Friday. Thank you for looking into the history of this holy place. The land was given by a local benefactor. God bless you.
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I’ve never heard of Lady’s Day nor Mother’s Union. Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience.
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