Madam, - About 18 months ago, when I was tidying away after a mid-week communion in St Mary's, Nenagh, one of the three churches I am privileged to serve, a woman came into the church. She carried a bag, and in very broken English she asked me to bless the contents - a little wooden cross about six inches high, and a rosary.
As our Church of Ireland St Mary's is on the same campus, effectively, as St Mary of the Rosary, our Catholic neighbours, I presumed she might have entered the wrong building, but she was quite insistent that she was in the right place.
So, I relit the candles, put my stole back on, placed the cross and the rosary on the altar, and together we prayed. I blessed the cross and the rosary, praying that they would sustain, comfort, encourage and give hope to those who used them in their spiritual journey. She said "Thank you" and left. She saw no theological difficulties. How could I? - Yours, etc,
Rev MARIE ROWLEY-BROOKE, Rector, Nenagh Union of Parishes, Co Tipperary.