"Be joyful, keep the faith, do the Little Things"
St David’s final teaching to his followers was “Be joyful, keep the faith, do the little things.”
To mark this 900th year, we invite the wider community from across the world to join us in doing One Little Thing to add up to 900 Little Things we have created together. You might be a church (and we'd love to hear from all the churches dedicated to St Davids around the globe), a local community, a school, a family, a youth club, a group of friends - or someone solo setting off or on your spiritual journey. This invitation is open to everyone of all ages, wherever you live, whatever your faith.
This invitation runs from 25th July 2023 – when we hold our Festal Service at the Cathedral to mark the 900th Anniversary – to 1st March 2024, St David’s Day.
What do we do?
Plan your Little Thing. We'll be adding ideas to the section below to inspire you through the year.
Tell us what you did. We'd love to hear from you: send us an email to info@stdavidscathedral.org.uk or even better a postcard through the post! You could write and describe what you did; write a prayer, a poem or a hymn; send a photo or a drawing... it's up to you how you want to record your Little Thing.
We'll post what you send us on this page to build up to 900 Little Things. (Please make sure, if you send photos, that you have everyone's permission for us to include it on this page.) It's our legacy from this Year of Pilgrimage to inspire people in the future to 'do the Little Things'.
Ideas
- Come to St Davids on pilgrimage! We run regular short and long pilgrimages which culminate at the Shrine of St David within the Cathedral.
- Start a pilgrimage from St Davids - where will it lead you? To Ferns Cathedral, Co Wexford on the revived pilgrimage route? To Lowestoft on the Via Beata? To Santiago de Compostela? To the place you've always meant to go?
- We know it's a long haul to St Davids, but you could make a virtual pilgrimage to us! You can buy our 'pilgrimage in a bag' which contains all you need to do this from our online shop. Click here.
- Buy a Pilgrim Passport to inspire your journey around the cathedrals of Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland... and beyond. The passport can be purchased from our online shop (https://st-davids-cathedral-online-shop.myshopify.com/collections/books/products/pilgrim-passport) or from the Association of English Cathedrals, who created the passport and provide more information (https://www.englishcathedrals.co.uk/resources/pilgrim-passport/)
- Write a prayer
- Take time out for reflection - what is it to 'be joyful, faithful and do the little things'?
- Walk on the beach and watch your footprints wash away
- Call a friend you've been meaning to for ages
- Organise a 'sale of skills' which will help your local community, from cutting the hedge to putting together flat pack furniture!
The First Little Thing
We held our a Service of Celebration of St Davids on the 900th anniversary of his international recognition and affirmation of St Davids as a place of pilgrimage on Tuesday 25th July 2023. It was a glorious occasion, with the Most Reverend Andrew John, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor, celebrating the Eucharist. We will post the Archbishop's sermon here soon. We welcomed the Bishops of Llandaff, Swansea & Brecon, Monmouth and St Asaph, together with Chapter members of the Cathedral, clergy from across the Diocese, representatives of the other faiths as well as the Lord-Lieutenant of Dyfed plus other local and national civic dignitaries. The Cathedral Choir performed outstandingly, including a premiere of a setting by Neil Cox combining the poem by Sir Walter Raleigh 'Give me my scallop shell of quiet' with St Luke's account of the meeting with Jesus Christ on the road to Emmaus. Little things done by many people combined to make it an outstanding service: even the fickle Pembrokeshire weather broke into bright sunshine for the day!
