Cinerarium Wall
On the Southwest end of the Nave, a Cinerarium stands which encloses the ash remains of many Canterbury friends and parishioners who have died. We believe that when we celebrate Holy Eucharist at the Altar, we are as close to the communion of saints as we can be so it is fitting that our loved ones are so close by when we gather for communion. Adorning the cinerarium is a stone wall created by local artist and parishioner in 1989. The artist Lucy Maki offers the following commentary on this profound statement of faith in sculpture:
Statement concerning the wall:
The general design for the wall was derived from a page in the Anglo-Irish Eternach Gospels, 700 AD. A circle, a symbol of unity, was inserted into the four squares in the corners to represent the four corners of the universe. The black squares function as marking individual existence and the cosmic space of the soul. The yellow triangle symbolizes the Trinity and becomes the eternal light of God burning brightly within the individual. It also serves to light in one’s mind the memory of those who have passed from this world. The blue line, the color standing for religious feeling, devotion and innocence, traces a shape that gives rise to a subliminal feeling of an eagle. This feeling is made manifest in the ornamental wood cutout based on a stone carving of an eagle over the portal of the medieval Church of San Pablo del Campo, Barcelona. According to St. Jerome, the eagle is the symbol of ascension and prayer. Finally, the composition as a whole is based on the relationship of vertical and horizontal, or cross and consequently affirms the primary relationship between the celestial and earthly, and conjunction with life and death.
Lucy Maki, 1989
This superb artist has continued to work in this form and for a perspective on the cinerarium wall, do take the time to check out Lucy’s current work on her studio website.
Lucy Maki: Lines of Direction: Take No Center (2018)