Finnian has just completed his week in Liverpool cathedral where he has led the ‘scriptural rosary’ from Tuesday 17^th August to Saturday 21^st. Approximately 55-60 people actively participated in total, with an unknown number of others observing the group in the gallery. The gallery provided a view of the lady chapel where we met. This allowed people to participate without having to commit to joining the group fully. In response to a tweet I posted 36 people asked for the pdf we were using. 

During the week people sent me prayer requests over social media, I also talked with members of the public in the cathedral and was asked to bless people too. After the ‘scriptural rosary’ I had lunch in the cathedral coffee shop, this provided the space for members of the group to have a chat.

Where did Br Finnian stay during the week?

I stayed in a property owned by the cathedral. This provided me with a pleasant room and access to a private chapel for my silent prayer time. I spent a lot of time in silent prayer during the week, both in the house and in the cathedral itself.

What did Finnian do each day?

I went to Morning Prayer, the Eucharist and Evening Prayer each day in the cathedral. I also led the Scriptural Rosary in the lady chapel.

Who came to the scriptural rosary?

I knew several of the people already as I lived in Liverpool in the past. A Companion of SSF joined us who remembered the SSF friary in Liverpool, as did a member of TSSF. Two members of the Community of Saint Aidan and Hilda travelled from Runcorn to join in. And Mark Soady, the Secretary of ARC and the founder of the Holywell new monastic community travelled to join us. I met two R.C. Missionaries in the cathedral who loved the ‘scriptural rosary’ pamphlet I provided them with. They asked for a blessing. They were married by a friar of the renewal and now run a Charismatic event in Surrey that gets around 5,000 participants. Members of the ‘Be With’ community also came to watch in the gallery, in response to a tweet they saw. I had lunch with an Inquirer into SSF/TSFF, a person who was new to the CofE also came who was surprised to learn about Anglican communities but wanted to know more.

Only one person was critical of what I offered. They told me, “It was too long and too much about Mary,” outside of this though people spoke about it in surprising moving terms. One person told me this gave them the space to enter into the scriptures, and another that it had provided them with the space to ‘slow down’. Several of the participants without any prompting said they would be interested in doing the ‘scriptural rosary’ again after the end of the week. My aspiration was that an ongoing group would form as a result of my five day of intensive input. I collected emails from the people who came and Rev. Philip Anderson is going to be the contact person in the cathedral ‘moving forwards’. Several members of the cathedral staff participated as did members of local churches.

I emailed the poster to a variety of local churches I knew. This paid dividends. St John’s Tuebrook advertised the event, resulting in several members of their church attending. The curate of St Nick’s also came, as a result of me sending a poster over. I sent the poster over to the TSSF web link, this may have resulted in the member of TSSF attending, or this may be because they saw the advert on the SSF Facebook page. Most of the participants mentioned they had become aware of the event on the monknunCofE twitter account. I hosted this account during the week and posted photos and updates of what had happened to build up a sense of momentum.

Why did Finnian go to Liverpool cathedral to share the scriptural rosary?

I originally came across the ‘scriptural rosary’ online several years ago. I made a folder with the readings in, and incorporated this into my daily life. Around a year ago when I was praying in my room I had a very clear moment of calling to share the scriptural rosary with others. This resulted in me and Tobias meeting Fr Philip Kennedy the vicar of the church Moot meets in, in London. As a result of this meeting we started a weekly scriptural rosary group. Due to covid this group moved online. A benefit of going online was we were able to connect with people around the UK and beyond. This group has met once a week for around a year. Liverpool cathedral had followed this development and invited me to share the scriptural rosary in their lady chapel. My invitation in many ways is the fruit of me stepping out in faith after experiencing a moment of ‘calling’. If or when a regular group emerges in Liverpool it will be further fruit of stepping out.

A lot of the participants who came to the scriptural rosary in Liverpool cathedral had never done the rosary before. Several people told me they had seen rosary beads and prayer beads but had never known what to do with them. They thanked me for showing them what to do. It surprised them how much scripture we used. People were thankful we provided them with the pamphlet to take away, as this included all the ‘mysteries’ for them to use. I was told a week of the scriptural rosary was like a retreat in daily life. 

Everyone who came to the scriptural rosary was given a homemade rosary I made. I was a bit embarrassed at how amateurish these were. However people loved them! Several parents with children walked about the lady chapel before we began, the children especially enjoyed receiving the rosaries. One boy announced he was going to go and show everyone at his school what a friar had given him. The parents were also happy to receive rosaries as well. One mother with her two daughters participated in the group. The girls were around 9, I was very impressed at their ability to sit and be still for 40 minutes. Lots of families watched from the gallery, this provided them with the opportunity to leave without causing any disruption. One man had wandered into the lady chapel and was presented with a pamphlet and rosary, and so joined in; but I sense everyone who came made intended to participate in the group. 

It appears part of the appeal of the scriptural rosary was it was advertised as a ‘Franciscan’ expression of prayer. A photo of me in my habit was on the poster. It seems people were curious about meeting a friar and seeing what it was about. Several people were also aware of SSF already, and wanted the opportunity to reconnect with us. 

‘Moving forwards’ we are going to develop a Litany for Liverpool and edit the text we used in the pamphlet. Only a few minor changes are required. We may also add the option of having a song at the end as well. We may self-publish the text using Lulu.  During the review of the week it was decided that ‘publishing’ a booklet would make sense, as the pamphlets were not durable enough for a regular group to use.  

The way we led the scriptural rosary developed as the week progressed. During the first session I was miked and said everything in the pamphlet, with the group joining in. I realized this was difficult to sustain, so the next day Philip was miked to lead the responses. Being miked meant the background noises didn’t drown out the group, it also meant everyone could hear the verses being read. I intentionally was slower in pace than is usual in the cathedral. I emphasised this was a meditation where we ‘’chewed over” the scriptures. I was initially worried the participants would get bored, or not be able to enter into the rosary for theological reasons. I needn’t have worried however, as the feedback was extremely positive from the vast majority of the people who came. It surprised me how many of the people had travelled in to join in with the group. One participant had recently moved to Forby from London, others came from Tarleton,, Runcorn, Prescott and other parts of the city itself. A lot of the people had no connection with the cathedral itself. I was particularly moved when someone told me, “We are here for you.”  Although we had never met, they had followed me online for a period of time and wanted to support me. 

Outside of the rosary I was available in the cathedral. As you may be aware the cathedral currently has ‘doves of peace’ in ‘the well’. These doves represent prayer requests. The background music and lighting sets the scene for prayer. People came and prayed, and talked to me about life, faith and religious life. 

On the Saturday evening a vigil for peace was organised in the cathedral. This included around 10 speakers sharing on peace and justice issues. This input was followed by a time of prayer, ending in Compline I read the psalm in Compline. I realized I had known Kieran the founder of Open table for 13 years. We first met when I was a full time Intern with the Jesuit Volunteer Community. They placed me in the Bread Church, a new expression of church led by Barbara Glasson. I met another participant in San Francisco when I was ‘blurring the boundaries’, we knew each other from my Liverpool L’arche days. It was wonderful to finally meet Hannah Lewis. She has hosted the monknuncofe twitter account several times as a member of the Single Consecrated Life. We’ve had email contact for several years now, so it was nice to finally meet. 

On the Sunday morning I attended the Sunday service. This had a different group of people from who I had met during the week. After the service I spoke to several people over coffee. One of the group is going to take vows of Consecration with the Bishop. Several people who had not had the opportunity to come to the scriptural rosary asked about how it went, and said they were interested. One person came and told me they knew Alnmouth friary whereas others had never heard of Anglican religious life before. 

Before I visited Liverpool I prayed. I feel my prayers were answered. By the end of the week there was a desire to carry on with the scriptural rosary. I had enabled local people to engage with this form of spiritual practice, which had left them wanting to pursue this further in a group. I am happy so many people came to join in with the scriptural rosary. Before the first meeting I had a sudden realisation that no one might come, and this might be a total disaster. However by the time we began 15 people were sat in the choir stalls waiting for the group to begin.