I woke at the usual time though, to get ready for a live interview with John Florence of BBC Radio Leicester. It was good of John to take interest and ask so many questions. I just hope I made sense.
After a coffee in a nearby café, I enjoyed the radical architecture of the church of Joan of Arc. It's only thirty years old and is the most unusual church building that I've seen. It's controversial but I have to say I loved it.
I've seen photographs before but they didn't really help me understand how the building fits in its setting. The scheme combines the church itself, a covered market and a memorial to Joan, who was burned at the very spot.
I've big misgivings about the idea of beatification and the creation of saints and the cult of Joan seems to be a curious blend of nationalism and folk religion. But the building is a triumph. My one regret is that as I entered at the end of Sunday mass, so few people had worshipped there. I reckon the congregation was about half of what we'd expect at St Paul's, Oadby on a regular Sunday.
Inside, the wall behind the altar is almost all glass, retrieved from the church of St Vincent which used to stand on the site and whose members had the foresight to remove their precious glass before the war.
Unlike being in the cathedral yesterday, I felt immediately drawn to pray. Sadly my visit was cut short by the man who was locking the doors. It's disappointing to be asked to leave as one prays.
During the afternoon I wandered a bit more, checked on the powerboats (which were nearing the end of their 24 hour marathon race), watched the tremendously exciting Heineken Cup match between Cardiff and Leicester, and napped.
This evening I've been copying in longhand the French translation of a little speech I've prepared for Maromme tomorrow. My friend Hugh has kindly done the hard work, now all I have to do is deliver it tomorrow without sounding like Ted Heath.
On Sunday I talked about reading your blog in my sermon - to do with the importance of stories and eye-witness accounts of Jesus' resurrection appearances. Afterwards a lady said she'd heard you on Radio Leicester. That was the point at which I realised I'd missed it! Now that our Internet connection is back (it obviously thought the Bank Holiday meant it didn't need to work!) I'm going to 'listen again'. Hope these next three days of longer walks go really well for you.
ReplyDeleteRosemary