...by the Tower of London, is now a Memorial Garden to all the men of the Merchant Navy - hundreds of their names, on the panels of white stone - who were killed at sea bringing food to Britain during two world wars. In the grey fizz of rain, early on a Saturday morning with not many people about, the carved young face of the merchant sailor in his greatcoat stared out towards the Thames.
Gradually, our group gathered, and in the end we were quite a crowd: we were there to commemorate a different chapter of history, starting at the site of the maryrdom of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, which adjoins the Memorial Garden. The rain was clearing as things began: the 2nd annual Martyrs Walk organised by "Continuity", the movement launched by the Catholic lay movement Miles Jesu.
After an intrduction and talk about More and Fisher, we set off through the City, stopping at various places for a short talk on the history: St Olave's church, St Peter-upon-Cornhill (oldest church in London: the first church on this site was built when we were still under Roman occupation), the Cross Keys pub. At Greyfriars, where we broke for lunch, we had a splendid talk by one of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal...wearing the same style of habit as worn by the brave Franciscan martyrs...) . Then on, praying the Rosary and singing hymns, to St Patrick's Soho Square, where we had Benediction, and welcome cups of tea, and buns, and an excellent talk about the Tyburn martyrs, and so on to Tyburn itself. I think the walk is about seven miles in all. It was extraordinarily moving to be singing a Litany of the English Martyrs as we walked along - all those English names and we sang "Ora pro nobis" after each one. By now it was warm and sunny. Mass at Tyburn, with Fr Nicholas Schofield officiating, in the cool white chapel, with the traffic roaring past on the Bayswater Road but everything calm within, and the words of consecration...
5 comments:
Thank you Joanna for your commentary and organising of our singing on Saturday. A memorable day for Christine, my friend, and I. We look forward to the brave martyrs walk next yearand meeting many of the friends we made on the day. God bless and much love. Maria Coates
It does sound wonderful. I may need to organize a trip around the walk next year. FWIW, we spent part of the day reading about Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More (from the Daughters of St. Paul volumes) and then following it with a fairly energetic Q&A session. My kids' favorite question: "What sort of pets did St. Thomas keep?"
If you cross the road to the Plaza by All Hallows-by-the-Tower you will find a Memorial to the WW II Siege of Malta dedicated to the civilians, the armed forces and merchant marine who participated in it. The monument was unveiled on August 15th 2005 with wreaths laid by, among others, Dr Fenech Adami, the Maltese President, and Prince Philip. This was preceded by a Service of Remembrance in the Church and blessing by the late Archbishop Emeritus Maurice Couve de Murville. Afterwards, a splendid feast was laid on in the atrium of the adjacent Marsh building for the Veterans of the Siege who attended the ceremony
Glad it went well Joanna...i remember well walking with you last year...
I hope someday I can make a trip to London to be a part of this. It sounds like a terrific event.
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