Wednesday 15 August 2007

The Assumption of Our Lady

Today the Church celebrates the Assumption of Our Lady - that feast which recalls how Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken up to heaven to share in Christ's glory. It reminds us that God calls us to follow, to one day share His life in heaven. The feast is being marked in the Cathedral by the presence of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, elevated on the Sanctuary, decorated with flowers and candles.

The Cathedral also has a stained glass window depicting the Assumption (below), made by the renowned Lancaster firm Shrigley and Hunt. The phrase at the foot of the window - Assumpta est Maria in coelum, gaudent angeli - is taken from the liturgical texts for the feast: "Mary is assumed into heaven; the angels rejoice".