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![[Parish of Dwygyfylchi]](parish.gif)
The Parish has three churches, St. Gwynin’s (the Parish Church), St. Seiriol’s and St. David’s (Dewi Sant). St Gwynin’s is in Dwygyfylchi at the junction of Old Mill Road and Glan yr Afon Road. It has both a Welsh congregation and an English one, and there are therefore Welsh and English services. St Seiriol’s is the English-language Church, and is in Church Road. St. David’s, the Welsh church, is on Bangor Road.
The Vicarage,
Penmaenmawr
Dear Friends,
This is a Pilgrimage edition inspired by and in honour of Bishop Anthony who was a dedicated pilgrim. The diocesan pilgrimage was inspired by him and it would have been even more wonderful had he been well enough to be there. You will find below a variety of thoughts on pilgrimage. Do please read on. You will find here also the first part of an account by Joanne Drew of a visit to Taizé in France which is a famous place of pilgrimage (the second part will be in the October edition). I’ll say no more and let these pages speak for themselves.
The following was a message from the Dean and the Archdeacons:
The news of the death of Anthony, our Bishop, has come as a grievous blow. For almost four years he has served this Diocese with his own unique blend of distinction and delight. During this short time he has given the church a renewed confidence in its mission. He has been an inspiration to regular worshippers, to those who look to the church for support and guidance, and, above all, to the clergy who serve the parishes and communities of this Diocese. Although his time with us seems cruelly short, his ministry as our Bishop has been immensely fruitful and has made a lasting impression that will continue to sustain us long into the future. He has borne his illness over the past year and more with courage and determination, with an unwavering confidence and trust in God, and an unremitting concern for the clergy and people of the diocese. In our Bishop we have been given a unique gift from God: a man of vision, energy and wisdom. We can only be thankful for all that he has given us.
The following is a message from Caroline Crockett followed by Bishop Anthony’s last letter to us all.
In the afternoon of Sunday, 29th June 2008, Bishop Anthony, my lovely husband Tony, was told that he had a few hours left to live. Although his mind was beginning to wander, he immediately said, ‘Then I must write a letter to the diocese.’ Over the next two hours, as the children and I sat with him, he dictated this letter to us — somewhat shorter than his usual missives! We join him in thanking you for your love and prayers.
Bishop Anthony’s last letter to us:
Some people are fortunate enough in their journey through life, to know that their end has come. In the old book of Common Prayer, we used to pray that people were delivered from sudden death. That has certainly been true of my situation.
During the last 18 months, your love and prayers have given me the strength to continue my pilgrimage in faith and joy to the end. It is now time for me to bid one another farewell. I hope that you will not forget the ‘Obanga ber, naka naka’ — ‘God is good, all the time’.
Sir Walter Raleigh, 1603
The following extracts from To be a Pilgrim, by Bishop Anthony Crockett, were read at the two services in the cathedral on July 7th.
On April 21st 1995 I set out on my pilgrimage from Le Puy in the Auvergne in Central France to Santiago de Compostella in north-western Spain — a journey of about 1000 miles which took me six and a half weeks, walking at an average of about twenty-two miles a day.
I wandered around the old town of Le Puy, found the Place du Plot and bought some bread, some tins of fish and some oranges for the next few days. This was to be my staple lunchtime fare. I then found a restaurant where I had the most delightful Pizza Merguez together with half a pichet of red wine, which became my nightly tipple, topping up my liquid level and raising my spirits.
I frightened myself by getting lost in a blizzard. Eventually, after a forced detour of about five miles, I found the road to Espalion via Aubrac, where there is a festival of transhumance in late May, to celebrate the annual movement of animals and humans on to the summer pastures. Much the same used to happen in Wales when people moved from Hendre to Hafod. On April 25th, however, the Feast of St. Mark, Aubrac was closed. I comforted myself, as on many occasions, by singing Pantycelyn’s hymn Mi dafla’ ’maich oddi ar fy ngwar (I’ll throw my burden off my shoulders) — over and over again at the top of my voice.
Since it was Saturday evening, I found a room and went straight to Mass, so that I could get off early on Sunday. The sermon was very religious and dull, without any bearing, as far as I could tell, upon everyday life, as well were nearly all those I heard during my pilgrimage. This caused me much thought and I suppose that the irrelevance of a lot of our preaching may be in large measure responsible for the decline in church attendance generally.
Eventually I arrived at Santiago de Compostella. The cathedral is beautiful, overpowering and dominates the square. It is so ornate that it makes one want to stand and stare. I propped myself against a wall out of the way of visitors and, having safely reached my goal, said my Morning Office with a heart full of joy and gladness. This emotion found echo in the words of one of the psalms set for the morning — Psalm 5, verse 7: ‘But as for me, through the abundance of thy loving kindness I will come into thine house: and in reverence will I bow myself toward thy holy temple’.
As to St. James and his relics, it does not matter to me at all whether it is his bones or those of Priscillian or anyone else in the silver coffer. What is important is that in that Cathedral, where St. James is honoured, the Christian Good News has been and still is celebrated and preached, and millions down the ages have pilgrimaged to share in it. It was privilege beyond price for me to be one of them.
This was one of the hymns sung at the funeral of Bishop Anthony:
John Bunyan
A shortened version of the Vicar’s sermon following the Diocesan Pilgrimage:
On Saturday June 21st in Aberdaron it rained and the wind blew — yet, there we were — ready to be a witness at the Diocesan Pilgrimage. There was good humour and there was most certainly joy — the joy of being together. I suspect too that the Bishop’s presence was felt even though he lay very ill in hospital. His sparkle and humour came through in his sermon which was read for him. I would suggest that in ancient times such a person would be regarded as a saint — why? Because he turned the diocese around, and brought joy and friendship, courage and a future for all. And in his illness he maintained his faith, his courage and his — yes, joy.
The pilgrimage was about the togetherness of Christians in the diocese. We didn’t know each other but we knew what we were. The pilgrims in Aberdaron went back to their usual places of worship. From what I hear, there are some churches in rural areas where attendance is in single figures. Let’s hope that people from such churches who were at Aberdaron were cheered and encouraged by the wonder of worship in large numbers — not least the stunning hymn singing! But much more. A pilgrimage is not only about a walk to a place — it is crucially about the gathering at the end of it as well. Going to church in this parish involves a mini pilgrimage — and that gathering at the end of it.
On June 8th the total number attending services in this was 84 – and there were those who were sadly ill and unable to be there or who were prevented from coming for other good reasons. 84 people made a pilgrimage to church.
Whenever we have a united parish service the parish is invited to make a mini pilgrimage to one of the three churches. It is not a day off, so to speak. It is not an occasion for an assertion to be made that ‘I only go to my own church’.
If this parish is really so strong then every united service should be a gathering of the faithful — and perhaps, a little matter of swallowing pride and believing it is more important to be together than to emphasise division.
If when we have united services we emphasise our divisions then the parish will undoubtedly pay for it in years to come when times may be hard. I know that no-one here would say, ‘It doesn’t matter, we won’t be around to see it’ — it being the end of Christian witness through the parish.
We are part of a great cloud of witnesses — we do not want to be the last of a long line. W.H. Auden begins a passage of verse and prose which describes the actions of the disciples with these words:
Without arms or charm of culture, persons of no importance, from an unimportant province, they did as the spirit bid, went forth into a joyless world of swords and rhetoric to bring joy.
The cloud of witnesses down the centuries has included for the most part everyday Christians. It has also included inspirers like Bishop Anthony. The invitation to us is that which is given to all pilgrims — to share and to display ‘the glory of the story’.
Guy’s/St. Thomas retreat to Taizé March 2nd—7th 2008: Joanne Drew
This year I was invited by my friend Bev to go to Taizé with her hospital chaplaincy. Having been previously to Caldey and having heard loads about Taizé since the early 80’s I thought it would be worth a visit. I’d also enjoyed singing their chants over the years, e,g., O Lord, Hear my Prayer. Here is the background to Taizé for those who’ve never heard anything about it.
Brother Roger left Geneva in 1940, to set up home in the almost abandoned village of Taizé. His dream was to bring together a monastic community which would live out a ‘parable of community’ set at the heart of the distress of the time. Centring his life on prayer, he used his house to conceal refugees, especially Jews, fleeing from Nazi occupation. Brother Roger spent the first two years alone. Others joined him later and by Easter 1949 seven brothers committed themselves together in the common life and celibacy. Year by year others have joined the community, each one making a lifelong commitment after several years of preparation. Today there are over one hundred brothers,— Catholics, and from various Protestant backgrounds, — from over thirty different countries. Some of these are living in small fraternities in poor neighbourhoods in Asia, Africa, North and South America. The brothers accept no donations or gifts for themselves, not even family inheritances, and the community holds no capital. The brothers earn their living and share with others entirely through their own work. In 1966, Sisters of Saint Andrew, an international Catholic community founded 750 years ago, came to live in the neighbouring village to share the responsibility of welcoming people to Taizé. Young people and less young have been coming to Taizé since 1957. Hundreds of thousands of people from Europe and far beyond have been brought together in a common search. Intercontinental meetings take place each week, Sunday to Sunday, throughout the year, and they include youth from between 35 and 60 countries in any one week. The meetings give each person the opportunity to explore the wellspring of faith and to reflect how to unite the inner life and human solidarity. The meetings in Summer can have up to 6,000 participants a week, while in spring there are between 500 and 1000. The greatest numbers are at Easter, Pentecost and All Saints. Three times every day the brothers and everybody on the hill come together for common prayer in the Church of Reconciliation, built in 1962 when the village church became too small. The community has never wanted to create a movement around itself, and young people are called rather to commit themselves in their church at home, in their neighbourhood, their city or village, or in their parish.
To support them in this, Taizé is animating ‘a pilgrimage of trust on earth’. At the end of each year, the pilgrimage has a ‘European meeting’ which brings together tens of thousands of young adults from every part of Europe for several days in a major city. From time to time, similar meetings are held on other continents, e.g., Madras, India, in 1985 and 1988. Every year Brother Roger writes an open letter to young people. This is usually completed in one of the poor regions of the world. These are translated into 30 languages and provide themes for reflection for the following year. This year’s letter was from Cochabamba and was written by Father Alois who has taken over the leadership of Taizé following the death of Brother Roger.
To be continued next month
For your Diaries
Thursday September 4th - PCC Meeting in Dewi Sant at 7 p.m. — please note venue
Tuesday September 16th – Mothers’ Union meet in St. Gwynin’s for Eucharist followed by the meeting in the hall.
Harvest Thanksgiving
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