Novena for the Fallen Through ~ our seventh prayer for the people of Grenfell

Here is the seventh of our Novenas for the Fallen Through, which for this month are devoted to Brigid and to seeking justice and healing for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. If you would like to read more about this work please pop and have a look here.

Today we weave a prayer appealing for fair reporting of tragedies such as the Grenfell fire in and by our press and media, whether in newspapers, on television/radio, or on line.

Among so many other things, St Brigid is also known as the Patron Saint of journalists. There is a holy well dedicated to her; St Bride’s Well, in Fleet Street in the south eastern corner of the land belonging to St Bride’s Church, which is one of the oldest in London. Although the ‘wedding cake’ like structure that many of us know now was designed by in 1672 by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London, there is a much older church below this from the 6^th or 7^th Century, which is said to have been founded by St Brigid of Kildare herself. There may be an older still pre-Christian sacred site beneath even these. The well was built over during the building of a modern part of the church, following damage by WWII bombing, but there are records of it being accessible into the 19th century.

The church has been associated with journalists and journalism for many hundreds of years. It might be assumed that this is simply because it is to be found on Fleet Street, the historic home of the press, but the association runs deeper than this. In 1500, publisher and William Caxton’s apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, set up a printing press in the building next to it and until 1695 London was the only city in England where printing was legal. After bombing during the Blitz, it was was newspaper proprietors and journalists who raised the money for its repair. Indeed, by the 20^th Century, Fleet Street and the surrounding area were dominated by national newspapers and related industries. It was Rupert Murdoch who, in 1986, moved the publication of The Times and The Sun from Fleet Street to Wapping in East London, causing great controversy and protest and removing their activity from the immediate gaze of St Bride, removing the press from sacred space. Make of that what you will!

Reporting of the Grenfell fire has not always been as compassionate and fair as many of us might have wished. In the days following the event The Independent Press Standards Association received more than 1,300 complaints about an article in the Daily Mail, which appeared to be victim blaming by focusing on the actions and behaviour of the man in whose flat the fire is believed to have started. Complaints made referred to concerns about privacy and harassment and to intrusion upon grief and shock. The Mail is said to have ‘toned down’ the article following the reaction, although they deny having done so. Labour MP David Lammy, whose friend Khadija Saye and her mother Mary Mendy were killed in the fire, has accused the mainstream media of colluding with the Government to underplay the possible death toll, a suspicion shared by many members of the local community.

As individuals we are also responsible for the things that we write and share. For example, Falmouth resident Pauline O’Brien was greatly criticised for a letter which she wrote to her local newspaper complaining about Grenfell survivors being offered free holidays in Cornwall. That letter is now easily found via an internet search and her words, which she may or may not regret, are recorded there forever. We all need to be mindful of the words that we choose.

At the same time, both social media and certain sections of our press have been instrumental in revealing the scale of the fire, keeping it in the public eye, and in drawing attention to the underlying inequalities that may have contributed to its happening. The Mail on Sunday, for example, has reported that the fire riskconsultant who inspected Grenfell Tower repeatedly advised the managing group to “bury” the fire risk assessment, or risk further “expensive fire safety measures”. The Guardian and The Independent, together with The Mirror, have also done much to open eyes to the lives of those who lived in the Grenfell Tower, both before and after the fire. Many uncomfortable truths about the society we live in have been spoken.

In her stunning and thought-provoking book, ‘Gossip from the Forest’, Sara Maitland shares the progression of meaning held within the word ‘gossip’..

“Gossip: God + Sib (akin, related)

1. One who has contracted a spiritual relationship with another by acting as a sponsor at a baptism.

2. A familiar acquaintance or friend, especially applied to a woman’s female friends invited to be present at a birth.

3. Idle talk; trifling or groundless rumour, tittle-tattle.”

(Oxford English Dictionary)

This change in meaning is somehow revealing of the ways in which the sharing of information, of news, which was once a sacred contract between the offerer and the receiver has been degraded until it is believed to be of no value at all. It is this sacred relationship that we must insist upon our journalists and national media upholding in the face of pressure from Governments and powerful corporations. Without that we will all be vulnerable to manipulation and to believing the worst of our neighbours, whether badgers, foxes, refugees, benefit claimants, the disabled, or victims of tragedies like Grenfell.

(Michelle Lee Phelan)

Novena for the Fallen Through ~

Justice, healing, and wholeness for the people of Grenfell, and for us all.

This prayer begins with Fire.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

St Bride of Fleet Street,

of the river of holy water and of words running beneath the City,

we thank you for our journalists, for our national media,

and for all who seek to share the truth.

We know that many have suffered in the pursuit of justice

and of truth-telling and we honour the deep heart and courage of their work.

We ask that our media be protected from pressure by Government,

corporations, media moguls, or anyone with an agenda

to manipulate the things that we hear and see,

or from their own agendas to be more acceptable or popular.

And we ask for the sacred contract of the speaking of truth to power

to be upheld, and where it is broken to be mended, for trust to be regained.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We hold sorrow for all the times that we have believed news

that made us feel more comfortable without justification,

less willing to act in another’s defence,

more willing to judge, or to be moved to anger,

where care and compassion might have been our response

had we not allowed the media to soothe us into apathy.

We hold sorrow for all who have shared news that they knew to be untrue,

or to be designed to manipulate or hide the truth,

knowing that they have their own pressures which we cannot understand.

Let all stand together in the spirit of wild, courageous disclosure and communal truth,

and we ask for the Grenfell fire; it causes, its aftermath, and its investigation

to be held in this same spirit.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We ask that our own sharing of news, of story, of good gossip,

be blessed by your sacred presence in our hearts and in our words.

We ask that you make us mindful of the words we speak

and where we speak them,

knowing that others may be hurt, or discouraged,

or belittled by what we choose to say.

Let our words build up, where they might knock down,

offer comfort, where they might condemn,

offer truth, where they might conceal,

and offer love, where they might stir the pot of hatred and division.

For this we pray.

We ask this in memory of Mohammed Neda, Ali Yawar Jafari,

Karen Bernard, Lucas James, Rania Ibrahim and her daughters,

Fathia and Hania, Stefan Anthony Mills, Ligaya Moore.

We ask this in memory of Zainab Dean and her son, Jeremiah,

Khadija Saye and her mother, Mary Mendy, Gary Maunders,

Mohammad Alhajali, Hesham Rahman, Tony Disson, Sheila Smith.

We ask this in memory of Mariem Elgwahry and her mother, Suhar,

Jessica Urbano Ramirez, Deborah Lamprell, Steve Power,

Dennis Murphy, Amal Ahmedin and Amaya Tuccu, Isaac Paulos.

We ask this in memory of Marco Gottardi, and Gloria Trevisan,

Mohammed Nurdu, Fouzia el-Wahabi, her husband, Abdul Aziz,

Nur Huda and Mehdi, Yasin.

We ask this in memory of Nadia Loureda, Maria Del Pilar Burton,

Berkti Haftom and her son, Biruk, Nura Jamal, her husband, Hashim,

their children, Yahya, Firdaws, Yaqub, Kamru Miah.

We ask this in memory of Fatima Afrasehabi, her sister, Sakina,

Nadia Choucair, her husband, Baseem Choukair,

their children, Mierna, Fatima, Zainab,

their grandmother, Sirria, Raymond Bernard.

We ask this in memory of Majorie Vital and her son, Ernie,

Joseph Daniels, Logan Gomes, Khadija Khalloufi, Abdeslam Sebbar,

Fathia Ahmed and her son, Abufars Ibrahim. Of Omar Belkadi,

Farah Hamdan, Malak, Leena, and Tamzin who lived.

Of Mohamednur Tuccu, Husna and Rebaya Begum,

Mohammed Hanif, Mohammed Hamid, Vincent Chiejina, Hamid Kani,

a ‘woman’ unnamed, all the unnamed, the disappeared.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We thank you that we live in a society in which

we can at least hope to hear the truth through our media,

knowing that in many lands it is otherwise,

and knowing that many of those who lived

in the Grenfell Tower had experienced living

in countries where truth was very rarely heard.

We are blessed compared to so many,

yet we are made vulnerable by our own innocence.

We ask for discernment to know when we are being told half-truths,

or where there is more truth to find, or when we are being lied to.

We ask to be given the confidence to make up our own minds,

to seek and to find our own information, and to know when it is enough,

when it is time to clear our minds and hearts of too much news.

But most of all, we ask for the end of the scapegoating of the poor,

the stranger, and the ‘other’ in our press and in our communities,

and in our own hearts and minds.

We ask to see through the manipulation, through agenda, and prejudice,

and to become a hollow bone for the sharing of your loving presence.

This prayer ends with Fire. Let it be the Fire of Truth.

For this we pray.

Aho mitake oyasin, amen, blessed be. Inshallah.

Novena for the Fallen Through ~ our sixth prayer for the people of Grenfell

Here is the sixth of our Novenas for the Fallen Through, which for this month are devoted to Brigid and to seeking justice and healing for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. If you would like to read more about this work please pop and have a look here.

Today we weave a prayer of respect for the poor and for immigrants and refugees, as many of the dead and displaced of Grenfell Tower might have identified, amongst so many other things, as belonging to one or more of these groups. Indeed, they have been spoken about in these terms, often less than kindly on both social media and in the press. Wound upon wound. Grief upon grief. It is not to be borne by anyone of good heart. Timothy Miller in his book ‘Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just’ says that, “The justice of a society is measured by how it treats those with no social power; the poor, the outcast, the immigrant, the poor, the homeless...God defends those with the least social and economic power and so should we.”

“Them as can do has to do for them as can’t. And someone has to speak up for them as has no voices.” (Terry Pratchett)

There are many stories of Brigid protecting the poor and caring for the stranger. The saint was famous for her generosity as a young girl, giving away all her possessions to the poor, including some of her father’s belongings. Because of that her father is said to have taken her to the court of the king to sell her. After arriving he left her looking after their carriage whilst he went to make arrangements. Whilst he was gone Brigid gave away his jewel-encrusted sword to a poor leper. Seeing her pure heart, the king refused to allow her to be sold and she returned home with her, hopefully chastened, father. On another occasion she is said to have helped a poor man who risked execution having accidentally killed the kings pet wolf in the forest. In this way, she was a great upholder of social justice towards the most despised in society. In another story, it is said that Brigid was given a gift of apples and sweet sloes. Soon after she went to a house of lepers and they begged her for the fruit, which she willingly gave them. The owner of the fruit trees who had given the gift was angry, saying that she had not given it to feed lepers, and Brigid made sure that the trees would not bear fruit in future. Another woman also gave her a gift of fruit, which was again shared with the lepers. This time the woman asked for a blessing for herself and her garden. This was given and a large tree in the garden provided double the amount of fruit from that time.

Brigid also provided good company for those who bravely set out on long journeys to new lands. It is believed that one of the reasons that she has continued to be held sacred as both goddess and saint, where tribal goddesses have fallen into obscurity, is that she wasn’t tied to a particular landscape. In this way she is universal and without borders, as many who seek better lives or who are migrate to gain refuge are also forced to be. Certainly the saint is said to have travelled widely and places named for her can be found in Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales. The goddess has much symbology in common with her Indian counterpart, Saraswati, and I have mentioned before that one of her many names, ‘breo-saighit’ comes from the Sanskrit for ‘fiery arrow’. She is sometimes thought to represent the survival of an ancient Indo-European dawn goddess. Brigid understands long journeys, and she understands the need to ‘change shape’ in order to fit in in a new land.

Brigid

“...and she led him down to the mudflats

by the red bridge at Blackfriar’s

over from St Bride’s, Brid

who turned water to beer in all Ireland,

and remembered her own, bog-

Irish come to drain the marsh,

to dyke and dam, shore up

Roman ditch and causeway

reclaiming land as yet unfit

for human habitation

Dirty Lane and Bandyleg

Walk, hovels and

churches torched by King Mob

rampant, and the secret Mass

House in Kent Street where the rats

rustled their prayers like parchment

fistful of Thames mud

let slip

and wash away…

(From ‘The Southwark Mysteries’ by John Constable)

Grenfell Tower housed some of the poorest of London in one of the richest areas. There have been numerous reports suggesting that the reason dangerous cladding was erected on the outside of the building was to make it more palatable to the eyes of the well off.

One of the first people to be named as a victim of the fire was a Syrian refugee, Mohammed Alhajali, who had made a dangerous crossing by sea to find safety in Britain. In a Guardian report, journalist Nesrine Malik writes of the community that gathered on the night of the fire;

“It was impossible to look at them and not see the obvious: they were, overwhelmingly, Arab, Muslim or African. They were European migrants, black British, refugees from the developing world – some of them second generation – and asylum seekers, sharing the tower with the poor, white working class of London. It was impossible to listen to the languages spoken on the phone to loved ones and not hear that these people were those often filed as “other”. It was impossible to read the names of the dead and the missing and not see that they, or their parents, were displaced from elsewhere. The first victim named was a Syrian refugee, Mohammed al-Haj Ali. The list is now extending into a roll call of the marginalised, the maligned and the disenfranchised.

Walking through the streets of north Kensington as the media descended,it was impossible not to see the stark segregation of the victims from the infrastructure that surrounds them.”

It is also believed that some of the residents of Grenfell were ‘undocumentedmigrants’ and 'illegal subtenants'. I have seen some terrible comments on social media, referring to both undocumented and documented migrants, suggesting that we need not mourn their passing as they shouldn’t have been there in the first place and worse, ignoring all the reasons that there are for such a situation to exist; a situation which serves those in authority as much as anyone.

Since the fire a one year ‘immigration amnesty’ for undocumented residents has been declared. This followed concerns that many might not come forward to give evidence about that night for fear of deportation. BMELawyers4Grenfell have declared this amnesty a‘travesty’, providing no real protection and leaving residents open to immediate deportation at the end of the 12 month period. They are not aware of any resident who has taken up the Government’s offer. I can only imagine how it might be to have survived the Grenfell fire and to be worrying about deportation at the same time. JolyonMaugham QC, who has offered his services for free to the campaign for justice, believes that the Government was well aware that very few people at risk would accept their offer and that this was a cynical attempt to appear to be seeking evidence whilst actually preventing it from coming to light. He also said that there is evidence that vulnerable people who lost loved ones, possessions, and suffered injuries were not accessing state services for fear that their details would be passed on to Immigration Services.

All of these things are a sign of a society without true humanity.

Novena for the Fallen Through ~

Justice, healing, and wholeness for the people of Grenfell, and for us all.

This prayer begins with Fire.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We thank you, Brigid, for the diversity of our society,

the cultures, languages, spiritualities, and ways of being

that we are gifted the opportunity to experience.

We come to you in sorrow for all the times

that we have not embraced this opportunity

as a gift and a blessing,

times when we have been afraid, unkind,

unseeing, uncaring, or allowed ourselves to become numb

to the brightness or suffering of those who we have felt

are not like us, who we have made ‘other’.

We ask to be shown how to truly love our neighbours as ourselves,

to not create false boundaries between ourselves and those around us

for reasons of race, gender, religion, sexuality, class, or status.

We ask to see through all divisions to the heart in each person,

and so to find the heart in ourselves and in our society.

Woman of long journeys and the sea that meets the shore,

we ask protection for those who have not yet reached our lands,

those who have cast themselves and their children upon the uncertain sea,

seeking safety and peace of mind on our ancient earth.

May they reach sanctuary unharmed and may we

be generous in sharing what we have,

knowing that charity and giving are not kindness, they are justice.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We ask that these times of being broken open

help us to seek and to embrace the outcast in ourselves,

that we may truly empathise with the outcast other.

We pray that this growing acceptance touches

those in power and authority in our land,

helping, and forcing, them to make better and more just decisions

that effect the lives of migrants and refugees,

knowing that we are the ones who give them that authority

and taking responsibility for our own part

in perpetuating prejudice and injustice,

whether by speaking or not speaking,

doing or not doing,

seeing or turning away.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We ask that any who have survived the Grenfell fire

but who are afraid to seek help, support, and comfort

be held in your powerful embrace,

and we hope, and pray, and pray again

that they find help somewhere and are given the space to heal,

that safety will become not something to hope for but to expect.

And we ask that people are no longer spoken of

as documented or undocumented,

reducing us all to marks on a page or on a computer screen,

whilst ignoring the beating heart and warmth of

the person who is hidden from our view by bureaucracy.

And we ask that the dead of Grenfell are remembered

for more than their immigration status, or their finances,

or for the way that they died

but for their smiles, the things and places and people they loved,

and the shape that they made on this sweet earth.

May they be offered radical welcome in the memory of this land.

We ask this in memory of Mohammed Neda, Ali Yawar Jafari,

Karen Bernard, Lucas James, Rania Ibrahim and her daughters,

Fathia and Hania, Stefan Anthony Mills, Ligaya Moore.

We ask this in memory of Zainab Dean and her son, Jeremiah,

Khadija Saye and her mother, Mary Mendy, Gary Maunders,

Mohammad Alhajali, Hesham Rahman, Tony Disson, Sheila Smith.

We ask this in memory of Mariem Elgwahry and her mother, Suhar,

Jessica Urbano Ramirez, Deborah Lamprell, Steve Power,

Dennis Murphy, Amal Ahmedin and Amaya Tuccu, Isaac Paulos.

We ask this in memory of Marco Gottardi, and Gloria Trevisan,

Mohammed Nurdu, Fouzia el-Wahabi, her husband, Abdul Aziz,

Nur Huda and Mehdi, Yasin.

We ask this in memory of Nadia Loureda, Maria Del Pilar Burton,

Berkti Haftom and her son, Biruk, Nura Jamal, her husband, Hashim,

their children, Yahya, Firdaws, Yaqub, Kamru Miah.

We ask this in memory of Fatima Afrasehabi, her sister, Sakina,

Nadia Choucair, her husband, Baseem Choukair, 

their children, Mierna, Fatima, Zainab, 

their grandmother, Sirria, Raymond Bernard.

We ask this in memory of Majorie Vital and her son, Ernie,

Joseph Daniels, Logan Gomes, Khadija Khalloufi, Abdeslam Sebbar,

Fathia Ahmed and her son, Abufars Ibrahim. Of Omar Belkadi,

Farah Hamdan, Malak, Leena, and Tamzin who lived.

Of Mohamednur Tuccu, Husna and Rebaya Begum,

Mohammed Hanif, Mohammed Hamid, Vincent Chiejina, Hamid Kani,

a ‘woman’ unnamed, all the unnamed, the disappeared.

Blessed Brigid,

Holy Woman,

Saint and Goddess,

Mother of Fire.

Brigid of the mantles,

Brigid of the peat heap,

Brigid of the twining hair,

Mary of the Gaels.

We thank you that we live in a land that contains so many cultures

making us as bright and colourful as a grandmother’s patchwork blanket.

We ask that all words of prejudice and hate

be carried away on the autumn breeze,

that none are allowed to take root in hearts and minds.

We ask that words of love and acceptance, of welcome and care,

are shared amongst us all, regardless of who we are or who we have been.

We ask to be taught to walk humbly, do justly, and love mercy,

and to have the strength and courage to speak out and to challenge

those who would live otherwise,

to each become a safe island in an uncertain sea

for any who feel unwelcome or afraid.

This prayer ends with Fire. Let it be the Fire of Welcome.

For this we pray.

Aho mitake oyasin, amen, blessed be. Inshallah.

Source: thejournal.ie Photo: Sam Boal