Parish of Llandudno North Wales, Rector's letter

June 2009

Llandudno likes to portray itself as a quintessentially Victorian holiday resort, reflecting the fact that it still retains much of its nineteenth century elegance and spaciousness. But, as the book Llandudno Before the Hotels reminds us, our town existed as a small mining and fishing community on the slopes of the Great Orme for many centuries before the building of the resort was even a glint in the developers’ eyes.

Of course a vital moment in the history of this ancient community was the coming of the Celtic monk Tudno in the sixth century to establish his ‘Llan’ (monastic settlement) on the Great Orme and it was this which gave the town its name. The present civic coat of arms displays a prominent image of St. Tudno’s Church thus reminding civic leaders and townsfolk alike of our spiritual roots. (There is a very interesting article on this coat of arms in the latest edition of the Friends of St. Tudno’s Church Newsletter.)

Many citizens of Llandudno are very attached to St. Tudno’s Church and are aware of their spiritual heritage, and so it is rather sad that the feast of St. Tudno passes with hardly any attention being paid to it at all outside our parish. If we lived in certain parts of continental Europe things would probably be very different: our patronal festival would be an important day in the town’s calendar kept with a religious procession, a fiesta and perhaps other celebrations. Events of this kind did exist in medieval Britain but were discouraged or abolished by the Reformers, Puritans and others. The claim was that they were idolatrous and led to wildness and drunkenness etc. But something was lost – a sense of connectedness with the past and a real appreciation of the spiritual roots of the community.

We are not likely to revive such customs but what we can do as members of our parish community is to celebrate St. Tudno’s Day to the best of our ability and to encourage others to join us. To that end I have invited Bishop Andrew to celebrate and preach at the Eucharist on the Saturday after St. Tudno’s Day and I have also invited the Mayor and any councillors who care to accompany her to be present too. Unfortunately the Mayor cannot be with us but the deputy mayor is coming to represent her.

Our celebrations begin on St. Tudno’s Day itself (Friday June 5th) with a Pilgrimage Walk from Holy Trinity Church (representing if you like the present ‘Victorian’ town) to St. Tudno’s ( the place where it all began). We meet at 12.15 in Holy Trinity for a short service and will then walk via Happy Valley and the Ski Slope to St. Tudno’s, stopping along the way for short times of prayer. The Eucharist for St. Tudno’s Day will be a 2.30 pm and then by kind permission of the farmer we will be visiting St. Tudno’s Well for a short service of blessing. Do join us for all or some of these events if you can. On the following day (Saturday 6th), as already mentioned, there will be another Eucharist at 2.30 pm celebrated by our Bishop. Light Refreshments will follow the service.

Why bother with all this? Is it really relevant to the present age with all its problems – recession, unemployment, political corruption? My answer must be a definite ‘yes’. Christianity in Wales sprung from the flowering of spirituality in those ancient Celtic days and we are privileged to have a site connected with those ancient times. To be effective in our mission to the people of Llandudno and to our visitors in the 21st century we need to be aware of our spiritual roots and to be able to speak to the transient society of today of the eternal values of our Christian faith. This is the faith we share with St. Tudno and many who have worshipped in this place over the centuries. They are part of the ‘cloud of witnesses’ that surround us as we worship and proclaim Christ to those amongst whom we live and work. We need their prayerful support and encouragement as we walk the path of Christian obedience today.

So came along to celebrate St. Tudno on June 5th and 6th, honour our patron saint, rejoice in the centuries of faithful Christian witness, and celebrate the life and work of the Church of Christ in Llandudno today.

Fr John

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