London: Celebrating St Ethelburga in the City

Today at 6.30pm, St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconcilation and Peace, in the City of London, will be celebrating St Ethelburga. "Her life and work are an inspiration to our work" says the centre, "and we are looking forward to an evening giving thanks with friends and neighbours."

There will be a service of evensong with the singers of St Boltolphs-without-Aldgate, followed by a sharing of drinks and nibbles, remembering the past year and sharing excitement about the year ahead.

All are welcome. Places are free, but registration is essential as seats are limited. For more information contact Jane Morton on jane.morton@stethelburgas.org

A shrub rose is named after St Ethelburga; it repeat blooms with a highly fragrant scent, aptly named for a woman who so effectively dedicated her life, indeed gave her life, caring for her community.

The centre says: "We will celebrate this and be reminded of the values we hold dear here at the centre. We recall her effective leadership - she was the first Abbess of the great Benedictine Abbey at Barking in Essex, one of the first religious houses for women in the country. We will remember her boldness, respect for life and service to the whole community. Her heroic conduct in caring for the sick during an outbreak of the plague in 664 eventually killed her and most of her community. During this time she is said to have had a vision of a light "brighter than the sun at noonday" which inspired her and her community to carry out works of great compassion in caring for others.

The centre says the faith in action of St Ethelburga and so many invisible women who deal with problems in the world "are inspiring for the programmes run here at the centre; all of which are challenged by the question; 'what is it I can do for our neighbours, our community, our world?'"

St Ethelburga's is one of the few surviving medieval City churches in London. Many were destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666 or the Second World War. On 24 April 1993, the IRA detonated a bomb in a tipper truck loaded with almost a ton of fertiliser, parked right outside St Ethelburga's. 70% of St Ethelburga's was destroyed. It was the vision of Bishop Richard Chartres, the then Bishop of London, that it be rebuilt and serve a different function. The new Centre for Reconciliation and Peace commenced its work in 2002. Today, it aims to inspire and equip people from all backgrounds to become peace-builders in their own communities and lives.

For more information see: https://stethelburgas.org/

Note: The feast day of St Ethelburga is also listed on 11 October.