Additional Information

We are providing some additional information about the Jubilee Year of Hope logo, pilgrimages, Reading Abbey and other items that might be of interest.

The Jubilee Year of Hope Logo

The logo shows 4 stylised figures representing all humanity coming from the four corners of the earth, embracing each other to indicate the solidarity which should unite all peoples. The one at the front is holding a cross, a sign of faith and hope. They are positioned above rough waves symbolising that life’s pilgrimage does not always go smoothly. The cross is elongated into an anchor let down in the waves as a symbol of hope.

Pilgrims of Hope

All jubilee years begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica followed by those of four others in Rome. Entering these sacred spaces can confer special graces or “indulgences”.

For those not able to travel to Rome, the local Diocesan Bishop designates Shrine Churches. We have a number in the Portsmouth diocese – including the lovely church of St James’ in Reading, the most convenient for us to visit from Corpus Christi, St. Joseph and St. Margaret Clitherow, and Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Conception parishes.

WALKING as Pilgrims

Pilgrimage is a practice of many religions and has been a part of the Jubilee experience in the past. It is a journey but much more than a walk. A pilgrimage may allow time for solitude, wonder at creation, exposure to the elements, dependence on others and coming together as a joyful community.

Come with us on Sunday 22nd June. Using the most sustainable option you can, get to one of several starting points for routes of different distances to St. James (including one for cyclists.)

We will suggest reflections and prayers for the journey before coming together for a picnic in the abbey grounds followed by our entrance of the holy door of St James’ for Mass - exact timings will be given nearer the date.

Information about Reading Abbey

The abbey was founded by King Henry I in 1121 as a Benedictine monastery. Henry was buried in front of the high altar in the church dedicated to St James in 1136. It became a site of prayer and pilgrimage for over 400 years before the monks were expelled during the Dissolution of Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1539. Their abbot Blessed Hugh Faringdon was martyred.

Some ruins are extant, some have disappeared under Forbury Gardens and surrounding areas.

Find out more:

https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/short-history-reading-readings-royal-abbey

Information about St James' Church

Following the Reformation, Catholics did not practise openly in England until 1791 when the Catholic Relief Act was passed. The number of priests increased with their expulsion from revolutionary France. The first purpose-built Catholic chapel built in Reading opened in 1811. With the coming of the railways and expansion of the population, the need for a larger church was evident.

A very rich local Catholic, James Wheble, donated part of his land in the Forbury and engaged the young architect, Augustus W N Pugin, a recent Catholic convert, to design a new church, dedicated to St. James. The church was built in the late 1830s, over part of the abbey site, in a style reflecting the Romanesque period of the old abbey. It opened in 1840.

Additions were made in 1926 and in the late 1960s.

Find out more:

https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/pugin/mullaney1.html

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