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Cathedral Evensong Sermon by The Dean
Eve of the Feast of All Souls, 1st November 2009
Commemoration of the Faithful Departed and Dedication of the Trinity Garden


Memory is a powerful thing. Through much of our lives we take it for granted, until it begins to fail us. The struggle to put a name with a face; a forgotten appointment; the punch line at the end of a long joke. Even those of us in our middle years begin to realise the need to keep a good diary and write things down.

And while we might joke at times about our failing memories, most of us either know or have observed the very deep pain which comes through the complete failure of someone’s memory in the later stages of their life. I have often seen how difficult it is for families to bear the effective loss of a loved one because their failing mind prevents them from recognising those with whom they have shared their lives most closely.

Memory then is a powerful thing and a precious gift, for it is memory that enables us to remain in relationship with one another. Each encounter builds on what has gone before. Memory in human relationships is more than the recognition of names and faces and the calling to mind of facts. It is the accumulation of experiences, and the discovery through them of the essence of the other as a result of those interactions. We build on what we know of others to deepen relationship. So trust grows, affection emerges, love deepens, because of what we know of others and what we carry of them with us. Memory draws us back to those whom we come to know and love.

We might at times then wonder at the epitaph which we will leave behind. And I must confess here that I have always had a quiet concern that I might end up with a headstone which reads: Here lies Ross Bay – he meant well.

But what will others have to say about us? What will they remember about us as being our true essence as fellow human beings? What might we hope that people can carry with them as having emerged from the example which our lives have offered? I pose those questions not to encourage a sense of self-importance among us, but rather to encourage a reflection as to what it may be that we have to pass on. And I do so because for me that is what these festivals of All Saints and All Souls are about.

They are now ancient festivals but they emerged once the church had begun to develop a calendar of remembrance for particular figures of faith from the past. What about the many other people, lost from human memory, whose lives nevertheless have been an example to others of faith?, it was asked. And so the Feast of All Saints was developed around the 8th century to capture that. All Souls is in a way an extension of All Saints, but as the word “saint” began to be applied more popularly to those who were heroes of the faith, there was an urge to have a day on which all the faithful departed could be remembered. It was the 11th century when that feast day was formally established.

So in the remembering of these festivals of All Saints and All Souls, what is encouraged is the calling to mind not only of the deeds of those lives, but more especially what they reveal to us of the nature of faith, the virtues of Christian character, and therefore of the image of full humanity.

I often find that in eulogies at funerals, people are able to describe the achievements of someone in respect of their career or chosen work, but do not always find it so easy to capture the essence of the person and what they might leave for us to carry ahead with us. Of course these are things that can be difficult to articulate. How do you put words around the nature of someone revealed to us through their life and deeds? That essence that draws us to them, that holds us in relationship, that inspires our own living, cannot always be easily reduced to words, and the words that we find may seem trite or inadequate.

And yet we must do so. We must name what it is that we seek to remember, and celebrate it as we incorporate it into our own being, journeying on hopefully, and enriched in faith and in life through what we have gained. Our memory not only of name, but of essence, holds us in relationship with those who have gone before. The mortal, physical nature of the relationship has gone from us, but the invisible spiritual aspect of it as we are caught up together in Christ, part of the communion of saints, can never be taken away.

So as names are read tonight of those whose funerals we have conducted here in the past year, and as each of us brings to mind the names of loved ones who have died in other places and at other times, we can allow the memory of their essence to speak to us of that abiding relationship, and through the memory we can be inspired once again to reflect on the ways in which our own lives might make a difference to others just as the lives that we remember have made a difference to us.

Which brings us to the garden – a place to remember and to contemplate. When the last Trinity Garden Festival was held, a decision was taken to allocate some of the funds from it towards the beautification of the Cathedral grounds. It encouraged further thinking about the idea of a memorial garden within the precincts which had been in the ether for a little while. So the Cathedral Council established a working group to progress the idea, and a competition was called to design such a sacred space. Twelve designs were submitted and from them three were chosen for further development. From those final three, Jacky Bowring’s design was chosen with its focus around the spaces to the east and west of St Mary’s. I want to pay tribute here to the advice and guidance of those who were part of the judging panel throughout the competition process. And among the many people involved from the Cathedral community in all of this early stage of the project, I want to offer particular thanks to Lyndal Print. Lyndal has carried the idea and vision of a space such as this for a long time, was enthusiastic to see it come about during the competition phase, and has never waned in her support for the garden and her determination to see it finished.

Over the past two years, Jacky’s design work has been carried through by another working group who have allowed the substance to emerge and these first stages of the garden to be completed. Our thanks especially go to Dawn Jones and John Wilson for this, along with Val Sinclair who has taken up the responsibility of the administration of the columbarium.

To conclude then, a few words about the space which we will shortly move into in order that we might dedicate it. Jacky’s idea was to create a space for memory which would be a tableau on which visitors could create their own memorial rituals and contemplative experiences. The symbols of labyrinth, mound, groves and pool which will form the completed garden allow the area to resonate with eternal ideas of space and time, through the use of earth and water. When you move outside in a little while, you will assemble on the terraced lawn which acts like a carpet on which to stand and form our memories.

Our particular focus tonight will be on the first columbarium which has been constructed and within which already reside the ashes of five people who have for some years been interred underneath the chancel of St Mary’s. During this past week we have transferred those ashes to their new resting place and we will acknowledge their presence there tonight. The family members of those people are invited to stand in the gathering area adjacent to the columbarium during the dedication. You will note within it a large stone which is a source of running water, a reminder to us of our baptisms and of all that refreshes our lives.

The final elements of the garden are yet to be completed and will be developed over time as the funds to do so allow.

Use this sacred space well. Return to it. Allow it to be a place where memories re-gather of loved ones who have gone before. Contemplate in it those things which are the true essence of our lives, and so allow God to speak to you anew, and the Spirit to continue to form the very nature of Christ within you, that our lives may be lived to God’s glory and become an example and an inspiration to others.