Tuesday, September 05, 2017

On the feast of St Gregory the Great...to Winchester...

...for a gathering of Knights and Dames of St Gregory and of the Holy Sepulchre.

We processed - robes, swords,cloaks etc - into St Peter's Church for Mass. A fine large church with a glorious stained glass window dominating the sanctuary...

Afterwards, an excellent Lunch, and  a talk by Dr Michael Straiton telling of the origins of "Peter's Pence" - did you know that it originated with silver pennies collected by Offa of Mercia from among his prosperous farmers and tradesfolk?

Odd to be in Winchester...city of King Arthur, of St Swithun, of Jane Austen... pondering  St Gregory and his sending St Augustine to us...and to be doing so in this 21st century, with ghastly world events centred on North Korea...and the sense of a collapsing West, and fewer and fewer people in our land naming themselves as Christians..




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