The Great Cross

In Honour of St. Werburgh

Impressive Ceremony

Solemn Erection of Great Cross to Commemorate the Holy Year (1933)

From the chancel arch of St. Werburgh’s Grosvenor Park-road, Chester, there now hangs a magnificent cross, which was solemnly blessed by his Lordship the Right Rev. A. J. Moriaty, D.D., Coadjutor of Shrewsbury Diocese, on Sunday.

Preceded by cross-bearer and acolytes, followed by the full surplice choir and accompanied by a deacon and sub-deacon, with the Archpriest and the Very Rev. Canons Hayes and Tallon, his Lordship entered the church in solemn procession. At the foot of the Cross he halted and blessed the cross with the solemn blessing reserved to Bishops only.

When this ceremony had been completed, his Lordship went on to the Sanctuary and sang High mass at the faldstool. The assistant priest was the Rev. A. A. O. Pozzi. The deacon of the Mass was the Rev. J. McGinley, while the Rev. F Murphy was the sub-deacon. The Very Rev. M Canon Hayes was also in attendance on his Lordship.

The Very Rev. J. J. Tallon, of Birkenhead, preached the sermon.

In the evening his Lordship preached, and a solemn procession followed. The Bishop carried the Blessed Sacrament, assisted by deacon and sub-deacon, and four Council members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society carried the Canopy. Before the Sanctissimum proceeded two thurifers. In front of them were little girls in white attire strewing flowers, while the children of the Girls’ School and the choir were ahead of them.

The sight was most imposing. The Bishop in his Pontifical vestments, the deacon and sub-deacon in their white dalmatics and full lace albs, the scarlet and gold sashes of the canopy bearers, the lovely dresses of the children, and the red and purple cassocks of the choir and attendants made a wonderfully impressive spectacle. The great cross seemed a very prominent and fitting emblem in the ceremony. This was in honour of St. Werburgh, whose solemnity was being kept, as the actual feast day fell on the Saturday.
Pontifical Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament ended a wonderful day.

Description of Great Cross

The great cross weighs nearly 7 cwt. The figure is over 6 ft., and was carved for the Arts and Book Company of London by the same artist who carved the figure of St. Werburgh for the shrine on the left of the nave. The cross was made by Johnstone Jones and Co., Liverpool. The bronze chains, which number three, were made specially. The cross is to commemorate the Nineteenth Centenary of Christ’s Crucifixion. It was very generously subscribed to by the parishioners.

The colour schemes of the woodwork of the cross is in harmony with the scheme of the interior decoration of the sanctuary and the nave, which when completed will be counted one of the finest modern parish churches in England.

Names in the Great Cross

The image below is of a letter dated 21 Nov 1933 from Fr. Hayes to Edmund Bertram Kirby enclosing the list of names to be hung in the Great Cross. The letter indicates that the names should be placed either in the Cross or the vigane of the Rood.

Author’s Note – No evidence has been found as to where the list of names was placed.