These are the words of Rt Rev Bishop Tricia Hillas at the service of blessing of the repositioned display of the ancient Manx Manx and Viking crosses in Kirk Andreas, a project initiated by Waveney Jenkins, a member of Andreas church.
At the service of blessing on Friday 1st May in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer, Waveney spoke of the events that had prompted her to work for improvement of the displays, which had previously been in a dark corner at the back of the church building. She also told of the many people and organisations who enabled the operation, overseen by Chris Weeks, Conservation Manager with Manx National Heritage.
Bishop Tricia blessed the stones in their new location in the North West corner of the nave, using water taken from St Maughold’s Well at Maughold Head.
The Lt Governor then did the official switching on of the lights, noting that what has been achieved here is “such a wonderful example of the community working together.”
Sir John Lorimer also referred to the historical and educational importance of the Crosses, and their significance for tourism on the Island.
This ties into the globally burgeoning interest in pilgrimage, with many pilgrimage sites and routes on the Isle of Man becoming increasingly popular, Kirk Maughold and Maughold’s Well being a significant location.
Bishop Tricia said: ‘We want to set up a pilgrimage route that can bring people around the various churches and connect them up. That is one of the hopes of what we have done here today.’
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