Cathedral of St Chad - PowerPoint Presentation

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Cathedral of St Chad

Information PackSlide2

Information Pack

Thank you for visiting the Cathedral of St Chad.The following slides give you some further information about the Cathedral.

Always remember that the Cathedral is your Church – it belongs to you, your family and your friends and you can visit the Cathedral and attend Mass whenever you wish.

We hope to see you again.

The Dean

Cover photograph taken by Michael BeckwithSlide3

Facts about the Cathedral

St Chad’s Cathedral was designed by the

architect

Augustus

Welby

Northmoor

Pugin in the Victorian Gothic style and was consecrated and opened for worship in 1841.

The Cathedral’s patron, St Chad, was born in Northumbria and became a monk under St Aidan on the island of

Lindisfarne

. He subsequently became the bishop of Lichfield where he became famous for his hard work in spreading the Gospel and helping the poor. He was a humble man who chose to travel everywhere on foot and the story goes that Archbishop Theodore had to persuade him to ride by lifting him bodily on to a horse. He died of the plague in 672 and pilgrims soon began coming to his grave in Lichfield. Eventually his bones (or relics) were transferred from the graveyard to a magnificent tomb in Lichfield Cathedral and his shrine became one of the great centres of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.

In St Edward’s Chapel there can be seen a series of windows which depict the subsequent history of St Chad’s relics. At the Reformation, the shrine to St Chad at Lichfield was destroyed, but a brave priest, Fr Arthur Dudley, was able to save a few of the relics which were kept in a separate box. Throughout the years of persecution they

wer

kept hidden by various Catholic families, including the Hodgetts brother and one of the windows depicts the box of relics placed for safe keeping on the top of Henry Hodgetts’ four poster bed. The relics can now be found in the Cathedral, over the High Altar.

A statue of St Chad can be seen in the South Aisle, holding a model of Lichfield Cathedral. He is depicted wearing a mitre and holding a crosier, symbols of a bishop.

Most of the windows were designed by John Hardman. A brass monument to the Hardman family can be found in the North Aisle, on the floor in front of the Lady Chapel, and some members of the family are buried in the Crypt. Nearby is a monument to the bishop responsible for building the Cathedral, Thomas Walsh. Also in the North Aisle can be found the pulpit, from which priest used to preach to the congregation in the past, and the font, used for baptisms. Behind the font is the Chapel of the Oils where you can find the chrism oil used in Confirmation and other sacraments. The Cathedral is fortunate to also have some personal effects of Blessed John Henry Newman.

To one side of the Sanctuary there is a plaque commemorating where a bomb fell through the roof in 1940.

On the Sanctuary is the Archbishop’s chair, the

Cathedra

,

from which we get the word ‘cathedral’. The name of our Archbishop is Bernard Longley.Slide4
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St ChadSlide6
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Quiz

What is the name of our Archbishop?

St Chad was a bishop and the statue of him in the Cathedral shows him wearing a bishop’s special hat. What is this called?

The statue of St Chad shows him holding something under his left arm to show he is a bishop. What is this called?

The statue of St Chad shows him holding the model of a building. What is the name of this building?

Why is St Chad shown holding this building?

What is the special word used to describe the bones of saints, or other things that belonged to them?

Where did Henry Hodgetts hide the bones of St Chad?

The bones of St Chad are now kept in St Chad’s Cathedral. Whereabouts in the Cathedral are they?In the Cathedral, what is the name of the object, like a bath, in which babies are baptised?In the Cathedral there is a big wooden box-like structure with steps leading up to it; the priest used to preach from here in the past. What is it called?Special oil for use in Confirmation is kept in the Chapel of Oils. What is this oil called?There is a monument in the Cathedral to the bishop who was responsible for building the Cathedral. What is his name?What is the name of the architect who designed the Cathedral.What is the name of the person who designed most of the windows? There is a monument o his family on the floor in front of the Lady Chapel and some members of his family are buried in the Crypt.A bomb fell on the Cathedral during the Second World War. It happened 99 years after the Cathedral was opened. In what year did the bomb fall?Slide10

Answers:

Bernard Longley.

A mitre.

A crosier.

Lichfield Cathedral.

He was bishop of Lichfield and his relics were originally kept there.

Relics.

On the top of his four poster bed.

Above the High Altar.The Font.The Pulpit.Chrism oil.Thomas Walsh.Augustus Welby Northmoor Pugin.John Hardman.1940.Slide11

Augustus

Welby

Northmore

Pugin

(

1812-1852)

John Hardman(1811-1867)Slide12

His Grace, Archbishop Bernard LongleySlide13

The Archbishop and Archdiocese’s coat of armsSlide14

Archbishop’s Coat-of-Arms

The coat-of-arms is surrounded by an archbishop’s hat with its many tassels.

The right-hand side of the coat-of-arms is made up of features which Archbishop Bernard has chosen himself. There is a

beehive

, because the bee is a symbol of Archbishop Bernard’s patron saint – St Bernard of

Clarivaux

. St Bernard was a monk who was born in France in 1090. He was such a good preacher and writer that people said his words were as sweet as honey. The bee is also part of the coat-of-arms of Manchester, where Archbishop Bernard was born. Manchester was a great centre of industry in the nineteenth century and the ‘busy bee’ was chosen as a symbol of the hard work of the people of that city. Bees also work together for the good of all the bees in the hive, so for this reason the beehive reminds Archbishop Bernard of unity within the Church.

Above the beehive are three blue

fleurs de lys. The fleur de lys is a kind of lily and it is a symbol of Our Lady. It is a reference to another of Archbishop Bernard’s patrons, Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God. Blessed Dominic Barberi was an Italian priest who received Blessed John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church.The left-hand side of the coat-of-arms is used by all Archbishops of Birmingham and does not change when a new Archbishop is appointed. At the top is the cross of St Chad. Underneath is the pallium; a special woollen band, given to him by the Pope, which the Archbishop of Birmingham wears around his neck. The pallium is given to our Archbishop because he is a particularly important kind of archbishop; called a Metropolitan.Underneath the coat-of-arms is Archbishop Bernard’s motto in Latin – Ut Imi, Sint. This means ‘May they be one’ and is taken from Our Lord’s prayer that his disciples would be united (Jn 17:11). Archbishop Bernard chose it to emphasise the importance of unity within the Catholic Church and amongst all Christians.