We are the people of the Lord, the flock that is led by his hand: come, let us adore him, alleluia.
Year: C(I). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Green.
In other years: The Dedication of Leeds Cathedral
The story of St Anne’s Cathedral begins in 1786 when a Dominican priest moved the long established Roundhay Mission to premises in the centre of Leeds. In the autumn of that year some rooms were obtained in a building off Briggate to house the mission, and so the town’s first Catholic place of worship since the Reformation came into existence.
This chapel, an upper room adjacent to the Pack Horse Hotel, served the small Catholic community in Leeds for several years, until a purpose-built chapel, St Mary’s, opened in Lady Lane in October 1794. By 1833 the Dominicans had handed over the responsibility for the Leeds Mission to the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District, Bishop Thomas Penswick, who appointed Fr Henry Walmsley to St Mary’s. At this time the Catholic population of Leeds was growing rapidly as a result of the town’s economic development and the influx of settlers from Ireland.
In 1836 a site for a new church in the town centre to replace St Mary’s was found. This church, designed by a local architect, John Child, opened on 24th October 1838. It was dedicated to St Anne in honour of Anne Humble, the late sister of Grace and Sarah Humble the principal benefactors of the new church, which stood at the junction of Guildford Street (the present Headrow) and Cookridge Street.
St Anne’s was raised to Cathedral status on 20th December 1878 upon the creation of the Diocese of Leeds. Twenty years later Leeds Corporation announced plans for the development of this part of Leeds, which involved the demolition of the Cathedral. Having considered various possible sites it was decided to accept the Corporation’s offer of land just yards from the existing church, at the junction of Cookridge Street and Great George Street.
Construction of the present Cathedral began in the autumn of 1901 and was completed in the early part of 1904. The architect was John Henry Eastwood (1843-1913) from London, who had been born near Leeds. He in turn engaged the services of a talented assistant, Sydney Kyffin Greenslade (1866-1955). Together they produced an outstanding design in the Arts and Crafts neo-Gothic style with an unusual layout to accommodate the Cathedral’s relatively small city centre site. It was consecrated by Bishop Cowgill on 18th July, 1924.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: St Ignatius of Antioch (- 107)
He was the second bishop of Antioch after St Peter (the first being Evodius). He was arrested (some writers believe that he must have been denounced by a fellow-Christian), condemned to death, and transported to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. In one of his letters he describes the soldiers who were escorting him as being like “ten leopards, who when they are kindly treated only behave worse.”
In the course of his journey he wrote seven letters to various churches, in which he dealt wisely and deeply with Christ, the organisation of the Church, and the Christian life. They are important documents for the early history of the Church, and they also reveal a deeply holy man who accepts his fate and begs the Christians in Rome not to try to deprive him of the crown of martyrdom.
He was martyred in 107.
Liturgical colour: green
The theological virtue of hope is symbolized by the colour green, just as the burning fire of love is symbolized by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like them, is always new and always fresh. Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time, the orderly sequence of weeks through the year, a season in which we are being neither single-mindedly penitent (in purple) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white).
| Mid-morning reading (Terce) | 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 © |
|---|
Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.
|
| Noon reading (Sext) | Deuteronomy 10:12 © |
|---|
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to follow all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.
|
| Afternoon reading (None) | Song of Songs 8:6-7 © |
|---|
Love is strong as death,
jealousy as relentless as Sheol.
The flash of it is a flash of fire,
a flame of the Lord himself.
Love no floods can quench,
no torrents drown.
|