[40487] Sheffield : St Mary, Bramall Lane - Helen Whittaker 2008

St Mary, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, 1826-30.

East Window - Pilgrimage, 2008.

By Helen Whittaker, Barley Studio, York.

Detail - signature HW B 2008.

 

This work is a meditation on the human and the divine through the theme of pilgrimage, represented by two sculpted copper figures and a large, five-light stained glass window. ‘Pilgrimage’ was commissioned for this multi-purpose space by Canon Julian Sullivan following the success of my scheme at Beverley Minster, also on the theme of Pilgrimage. It was dedicated by the Archbishop of York, The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr John Sentamu, in March 2009.

 

Psalm 84 provides the starting point for this exploration. The Psalmist grieves at being far from God’s house, the temple of Zion. Weak with longing to reach his destination, and in the company of fellow pilgrims, he is filled with awe because his entire life and being cries out for the Living God.

 

Helen Whittaker 2015.

 

Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,

Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

 

Done