Sabbatical Diary – Day 50

St David’s Cathedral.

Beautiful day in St David’s. Literally didn’t see a cloud all day.

Inside St David’s Cathedral.

Visited the Cathedral this morning, and read Morning Prayer there. Went to Sung Evensong in the quire this evening. Choir incredible. About 50 in attendance.

The Cathedral is very impressive. Interesting mix of architecture. The floor slopes upwards all the way from the West door, through the nave, quire, and sanctuary, to the chapels at the Eastern end. An interesting feature. Also, the internal pillars all lean outwards, not 100% sure if this is a design feature or an engineering issue. We were told the latter, but I’m not convinced.

The Cathedral is built on the site of the monastery established by St David in the sixth century. In 1123 Pope Calixtus 2 bestowed a papal privilege and St David’s became a centre of pilgrimage for the Western world until the reformation. The Shrine was restored in 2012, increasing the renewed growth of pilgrimage visits in recent years.

St David’s is a lovely city, and the Cathedral is very impressive. Well worth a visit, and, ideally a stay over a few days.

I leave you with St David’s final words: ‘Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do.’

God bless,

Mike.