To Ely Called

St Etheldreda's hand, exposed for veneration during the St John's, Calgary pilgrimage to Ely, May 2015

Ely Cathedral's 14thC octagonal tower, described by Pevsner as its 'greatest individual achievement of architectural genius'

1. Now, our hymn to God upraising,
Sing we of a queen’s amazing
Lowliness of mind, today;
Who her royal state rejected
And, impelled by love, elected
In Christ’s holy rule to stay.

2. See - as men her way impedeth,
As she follows where God leadeth,
Lo, her staff breaks out in flower.
Far aside all hindrance thrusting,
Loving God, Him only trusting,
She is strengthened in that hour.

3. See, the flood the saint protecteth;
God the plans of men correcteth;
She is safe from strife at last.
Bound to prayer for man’s salvation
And to daily adoration,
To her Lord alone held fast.

​4. So, by God to Ely called,
O’er His virgin flock installed
Mother, by Saint Wilfrid’s hand;
Now, through work and word, she teacheth
Of the blessed way that reacheth
Unto life's eternal land.

5. Ely’s shrine of wondrous beauty,
Kept by men of faith and duty
Through long years of change and strife,
Still is here to tell the story
Of how grace leads on to glory
And to everlasting life.

6. Etheldreda’s holy living
Urgeth us to heartfelt giving
Of ourselves to God today.
May her prayers, for us ascending,
Gain us joys that know no ending
With the saints on high for aye.
Amen. Alleluya.

The ‘Ely Sequence’, sung at Ely Cathedral on 23rd June and 17th October