The magnificent central tower of the Cathedral of the Blessèd Virgin Mary at Lincoln
The Chapter House of Lincoln Cathedral
The carved stone Choir Screen in Lincoln Cathedral
The Head Shrine of Saint Hugh
The West Front of Lincoln Cathedral
The Saxon Chancel of Stowe Minster, first seat of the bishop
We were able to be present at Eucharists and Evensongs in the cathedral, and a final Eucharist beside the Tomb of Saint Hugh.
We stood in places hallowed by centuries of faith; we saw the work of ordinary people like ourselves as well as that of the great ones of this world; we were more than sightseers;
As the poet said of places similar to the places we saw:
You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.
Here, the intersection of the timeless moment
Is England and nowhere. Never and always.
