A throng of 10,000 paper angels will be looking down from on high in Ripon Cathedral early next month.
When the doors of the cathedral closed in March due to Covid-19, its development team was tasked with creating a new project to support the community during lockdown.
This led to the Wing and a Prayer initiative, which was run in partnership with Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA).
With the cathedral out of bounds, even for private prayer for many weeks, the project enabled people to pray for loved ones and key workers by sending prayers online through the cathedral website.
The prayers were then said by the cathedral’s priests during online services.
Phase two of project saw the creation of thousands of origami angels to reflect the prayers offered.
The final phase will see the creation of an awe-inspiring art installation of the angels that will fly over the nave of the cathedral. Its aim – to inspire quiet reflection and contemplation during these challenging times.
Donations to the appeal have raised more than £130,000, which will be shared between the cathedral and YAA.
The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, said:
“We never anticipated that this project would capture the imagination of people right across the region in the way that it has.”
Yorkshire Air Ambulance has raised valuable funds through the Wing and A Prayer project (Photograph courtesy of Yorkshire Air Ambulance)
“The thousands of angels speak of gratitude and prayer; adorning the wonderful space that is the nave of Ripon Cathedral. They will be a spectacular arrangement of beauty for all, and an expression of praise for the faithful.”
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YAA and the cathedral appealed for volunteers to help create the angels and within four weeks they had been made.
The volunteers, whose ages range from three to 90 – all live in the area covered by YAA. A number of schools also became involved with making the angels.
Volunteers are now invited to come to the cathedral to help with the preparation of the angels ready for hanging from Monday. They will be attached to a large net that will be fixed in place high across the nave.
The installation will be in place during August and September. Further details are available on the cathedral’s website.
Ripon Cathedral re-opens to the public for private prayer
Clergy, led by the Very Reverend Dean John Dobson, re-opened the doors of Ripon Cathedral at 10am on Monday to welcome in parishioners and visitors wishing to say private prayers.
After more than 10 weeks of lockdown caused by the coronavirus crisis, the cathedral is one of only a handful of places of worship in the Harrogate district to re-open at the first opportunity allowed by the government.
Dean John (pictured centre), told The Stray Ferret:
“We knew that this day would arrive and planned ahead and it was pleasing to see the first people back through our doors to say their prayers.”
The Cathedral, which will be open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Saturday and 12 noon until 4pm on Sundays, is following very strict social distancing and hygiene rules to protect the wellbeing of visitors who come to pray, or light a candle. Hand sanitiser is available on entry; seating has been reduced and signage is in place.
During lockdown, services have been streamed live on YouTube – including the Easter Day Sung Eucharist and these have attracted a growing audience.
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Dean John believes that prayer plays an important role in daily lives and said:
“Many people, through these weeks and months of lockdown, have sensed their need of spiritual nourishment and their need to pray and that is quite a universal thing among many people of different faiths and different parts of the Christian church.”
He and fellow clergy, Canon Ailsa Newby, Canon Michael Gisbourne, The Rev. Caitlin Carmichael-Davies and The Venerable Clive Mansell, welcomed in the first small group of people waiting for the cathedral’s doors to open.
The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, is one of the most ancient places of worship in the UK and prayers have been said at this location for more than 1300 years.