The Hand of St James

Today is the feast of St James the Great. In addition to the great pilgrimage centre of Santiago de Compostella there is also the English devotion to him centred on the Hand of St James from Reading Abbey.

The relic came to there from the Empress Matilda, daughter of the founder of the abbey, King Henry I. She had been married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and following his death in 1125 Matilda returned to England bringing with her the relic of the hand, which hitherto had been part of the Imperial treasure.

Emperor Henry V and Matilda

Image: Wikipedia

The King had founded the abbey of the Virgin and St John in 1121 with Cluniac monks, and endowed it with a formidible collection of relics. The Empress presented the apostle's hand to Reading where it became the principal one, being that of an apostle, the brother of St John the co-patron and a link with the Cluniac inspired pilgrimage to Santiago. From the relic came the use of the shell as an heraldic symbol by the abbey and town of Reading.

The story of the relic and the unsuccessful attempts of the Emperor Frederick I to regain it from King Henry II are retold by the late Prof. Karl Leyser in a splendid essay reprinted in his Medieval Germany and her neighbours. For an excellent biography of the Empress I would recommend Marjorie Chibnell's 1991 Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English.

A reconstruction of Reading Abbey

Image:www.berkshirehistory.com/churches

The relic remained at Reading until the destruction of the abbey in 1539. There is more about the abbey on the website of the Friends of Reading Abbey. In 1786 workmen found what appears to be the holy hand in the ruins of the abbey - there is more about that here. The relic is now held at St Peter's Catholic church in Marlow.

The Holy Hand

The Pope in Spain

The Pope's recent visit to Spain to Santiago de Compostella and to Barcelona has highlighted several themes clearly of importance in his papacy and also in the history of Spain and the Spanish church.

The Pope is greeted by the Prince of the Asturias at Santiago

The Santiago Holy Year - the Jacobeo - is an opportunity to recall the key role played by the belief in the intercession of St James the Great and the centuries old pilgrimage to Compostella in the formation of Christian Castile and Spain, and its sense of isdentity and mission as aCatholic country. The pilgrimage route, especially under the influence of the Cluniacs, became a major conduit of ideas, of arts and architecture, and of devotion linking much of medieval Europe. I believe that by the mid-nineteenth century it had declined to a small number of pilgrims. Today it is firmly re-established, with many walking the ancient routes across norther Castile and Galicia. Some may go more as holidaymakers than pilgrims, but go they do. Now they have been joined by the Pope, greeted at the cathedral as a pilgrim. This is a reminder of those ancient and traditional bonds of Christian Europe that the Holy Father so often speaks about and seeks to reinvigorate and re-establish. That happened at Santiago - it can happen elsewhere.

Santiago was a very suitable place for the Pope to remind Europe of its Christian roots, culture and heritage. The Holy father did not shirk addressing in his comments onthe journey to santiago the issue of ther emergence of anticlericalism in Spain, and reminding us of what that led to in the terrible enents of the years 1931-1939 in that country. The Church believes that 4,184 clergy were murdered, particularly in 1936. In recent years a considerable number of these, along with lay victims, have been beatified or canonized, or their caiuses are being considered - a reminder for the future of what happened, but which too many peopel prefer to forget.

The Pope greets the crowds in Santiago

The Pope inside the cathedral at Santiago

To understand something about the camino I would recommend Edwin Mullins The Pilgrimage to Santiago - it is a travel book as much as a history and the work of an agnostic - but you feel the attraction, the power of the shrine drawing you across the hills and valleys to the remote, windy, wet province of Galicia and the great church of Compostella. If you cannot go there, call in to the cast gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum to be awed by the cast of the great twelfth century west portal. This is serious religion.

From Santiago the Pope travelled on to Barceslon to consecrtae Gaudi's Sagrada Familia - begun in 1882 and still unfinished - and indeed designate it a Minor Basilica. The Wikipedia article on Sagrada Familia is here.

The Pope celebrates Mass at the church of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

The Pope pours holy oil on the main altar of Sagrada Familia during the consecration ceremony.

The Pope by consecrating so famous a building, whose architect's cause for beatification is being considered, again signifies one of the great themes of his papacy - the application of the arts to worship and devotion, and indeed to a true humanism - the historic Christian Humanism of our civilisation.

That it was in Barcelona, at the heart of a region which witnessed much of the worst attacks on the Church and its faithful in the 1930s, made it more significant and poignant, and also hopeful. Gaudi, who had died in 1926, left his church incomplete; during the Civil War the model and plans of the church were lost or dispersed. Yet now it is approaching completion - scheduled for 2026 - and has been consecrated by the Pope in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain. Those facts are redolent with hope.

Barcelona in particular, and much of modern Spain may indeed be socially liberal, but the heritage of the Most Catholic Kingdom is by no means exhausted. Like that of the rest of Europe it need to be sustained and reasserted. In Pope Benedict it has a sure and confident champion. We must support him in that, as it is vital to our future.

The Pope is greeted by the King of Spain

Photos from Associated Press

Walking to Compostella

Well, unfortunately, I shall not be doing so this summer - it is one of those journeys I would dearly like to undertake, with so many wonderful places to see en-route as well as being a pilgrimage to one of the great shrines of the world.

Not so long ago I read Edwin Mullins' The Pilgrimage to Santiago which, although forty or so years old, is still a good introduction to the history and to the art and architecture to be seen along the way, as well as being an enjoyable travelogue. For those who cannot make the journey you can go and admire the plaster cast sculpture of the late twelfth century (1168-88) Portico de la Gloria, the great west door of the cathedral, in the V&A cast gallery. All right, not the same as going to Santiago, but still awe-inspiring.

The Pórtico de la Gloria

However in this Jacobeo year, a jubilee year occasioned by the feast of St James falling on a Sunday, Fr Daniel Seward from the Oxford Oratory will be walking part of the camino from Leon to Compostella in August, and is seeking sponsorhip for the walk in aid of the Oxford Oratory Reaffirmation and Renewal appeal. To start that off the Women's Oratory are having a tea party from 3 until 5 in the Parish Social centre on Sunday - which is St James' Day - and are offering tea and cakes, Pimms etc, as well as the chance to sign up on a sponsorship form.

This jubilee year is, of course, seeing additional pilgrims going to Compostella - the Pope will be visiting in November and TRH The Prince and Princess of the Asturias have already walked the camino this year, as can be seen in the picture on the right.