A prayerbook in stone

CLIMBIN'G THE Derby Road as it rises from Nottingham city centre the bright stone of the cathedral church of St Barnabas arrests the gaze of the casual passerby. Like a series of steps the smaller chapels gradually ascend to the main body of the cathedral which in turn seems to anchor the transepts and east end from sliding back down towards the town below
Turning into the front entrance of the cathedral, I can't fail to notice the proximity of the Nottingham Playhouse Theatre across the road. Like competing attractions, its fine towered frontage is framed in the eye beside the remarkable spire of St Barnabas. One marks humanity' s desire for artistic expression and the other marks its need of the things spiritual.
Monsignor David Forde • the Administrator of the cathedral parish, is my host and without further ado we set off on a tour of the church. He explains that the Pugindesigned cathedral was built in 1842, the first stone being laid in the early morning for fear of causing civil unrest, and consecrated in 1844. The financial support of John Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury, was crucial to its construction but it was the Rt Rev R W Willson who was the driving force behind it.
The first native English Catholic priest in Notting ham since the Reformation, Fr Wilson became nationally famous due to his efforts working within the penal system of the time. His expert knowledge and experience eventually were rewarded when he was made the first Bishop of Hobart Town in what was then called Van Diemen's Land.
Much of David Forde's efforts since he became Administrator in 1992 have been directed towards the renovation and re-ordering of Willson s church. Originally to mark the 150th anniversary of the consecration in 1994 it is now a beautifully lit and liturgically fitting space to be the flagship of the diocese. The 1,100 parishioners who attend Mass there on the Lord' s Day are now centred on art altar whose symbols of faith, carved from local white Mansfield stone, form the focus of their Eucharistic community.
The beautifully detailed windows of the north and south transepts frame the three chapels of the east end. The uniqueness of the Unity chapel for Christian Ecumenicism is moving in the simplicity of its message. It is a message which the community who gather in the mother church of Nottingham, its full choir, 50 readers, folk group and vergers take seriously. Indeed on 25 January the cathedral will be the home to a service of thanksgiving to mark the 30th anniversary of Radio Nottingham. Beyond the Unity chapel lie the Lady chapel and the chapel of St Hugh of Lincoln, the secondary patron of the
diocese. Facing the Lady chapel and standing against what was the choir is a statue of St Bernadette. Monsignor Forde asks me if I see anything unusual about it but only when he points it out do I notice that Bernadette is standing. Only then do I realise how often one of the Church s best known saints is nearly always depicted kneeling.
To one side of the church's crypt lie the remains of the Venerable Mary Potter who founded the Little Company of Mary at Hyson Green in the Diocese of Nottingham. Her remains were re-interred there on 3 December last year. Today the company she founded has Sisters on five continents and a special place in the hearts of Nottingham's Catholics.
As we turn to leave the cathedral we reach what is for me the defining moment of my visit and the most solid testament to the faith of the Catholic population of Nottingham. It is the Blessed Sacrament chapel which, in contrast with the rest of the cathedral, is still heavily decorated with the ragged cross of Pugin s own design which became known as the Nottingham Cross. It surely stands as a sign of where the community places its faith and strongest loyalty. David Forde calls it "a prayer book in stone".
The Administrator emphasises the role that all who call the mother church of Nottingham their parish play in allowing him and his assistants, Fr Cahill and Fr Brentnall, to provide the sacramental core and preaching of the community. The cathedral hall which stands behind the church is in almost constant use and there is thriving participation in RCIA, prayer groups and the Legion of Mary.
The accounts of the consecration of the cathedral in 1844 tell how, unlike the laying of the foundation stone in the early morning, there was an elaborate ceremony which started at 3pm on a Tuesday and stretched over into the Wednesday. Perhaps it was the sheer physical presence of their cathedral church standing before them which gave the Catholics of Nottingham the courage within two short years to celebrate openly and unashamedly what had been hidden. This was surely a tribute to the vision of Bishop Willson of Hobart Town who realised that the re-birth of the Church in England would need the physical reminders of St Barnabas and its "prayer book in stone" to encourage and strengthen the Catholic community on its journey of faith.