MORNING — A TRANSFIGURATION
The Gospel is processed to the centre of the nave.
My body turns to face it
and I’m captivated
by high pale yellow stone
and the morning sun all of a sudden
shivering
the great west window.
EVENING — ASCENSION
There have been a thousand thanks given,
a thousand vows shaped in golden beeswax
carefully suspended in the nave.
There have been curling clouds of incense
ascending at the Eucharist with Christ Jesus
and the prayers of all the faithful
and all there is is present in the lingering
whispers of thanksgiving and incense
as the sun due west reveals
the highway to the altar thronged
with angel flecks a-flickering
and longing shadows all a-glow.
Clare Bryden “Westering, Exeter”, The Merton Journal, Vol. 33 No.1, Eastertide 2026.
Musson+Retallick “From the Vow Made” was a sculptural installation in the Cathedral nave during 1-4 June 2025. It featured a thousand offerings hand-carved out of local beeswax by a thousand people in Devon, each motivated by gratitude, inspired by something for which each person wants to give thanks.