'Life is only for love. Time is for finding God.' (St Bernard of Clairvaux)
St Laurence church is in the middle of Appleton village, down at the bottom of Church Lane, past the school.
Church Lane turns off Eaton Rd, on the right on the way in from the A420, after the road bends round the Manor.
The Statue of St Dorian
All Saints! A favourite festival
of countless lives well-lived;
for each, a hagiography,
a feast of facts, well-sieved.
Back in my days of pious youth
I kept them, every one:
a mantelshelf of images
adorned my humble home.
Virgin Martyrs, Doctors, Pastors,
Evangelists, all four;
an emaciated Curé,
Madonnas by the score!
I’d kneel before them night and morn
and pray my beads in Latin,
that were blessed, no less, by a mitred Abbess
while vested in crushed satin.
My prayer-books were quite exquisite,
beribboned and tooled with finesse;
their language was rich and archaic;
each volume set out to impress.
But after a season they started to pall;
accessories lose their appeal:
I gave all the statues away, except one:
the Curé, who didn’t look well.
I still think of the saints, and I try to be kind
as I potter along with my life.
I’ve done different jobs all over the place.
I’ve even married a wife.
I found that old statue yesterday,
and I’ll tell you – but how can this be?
You’ll think me deranged, but oh it has changed!
Sweet Jesu! It looks just like me!
A Happy All Saints to all our readers! WWB
