Cardinal Hume remembered

The tenth anniversary of the death of Cardinal George Basil Hume takes place on 17 June.

To mark the anniversary, there will be a special service of prayers and music in the Abbey Church at Ampleforth on Sunday 14 June 2009, beginning at 8pm.

When he was told he was dying of cancer, the Cardinal's reaction was to go to the hospital chapel to spend some time in prayer before the crucifix. He had great devotion to the seven last words of Jesus from the cross and was in effect making Jesus' prayer his own: 'Into your hands I commend my spirit'.

During the service, Ampleforth monks will read excerpts from the Cardinal's own previously unpublished reflections on Jesus' Seven Last Words from the cross, and a string quartet will accompany the readings, with music taken from Joseph Haydn's 1786
composition 'The Seven Last Words'.

On many occasions throughout his life Cardinal Hume spoke to different groups about the seven last words of Jesus. Those reflections, previously unpublished, have now been compiled and edited by Liam Kelly and published by Darton Longman & Todd, with a Foreword by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.

*At 5.30pm on 17 June at Westminster Cathedral, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, will be saying a special Mass to mark the anniversary.