13“Is sibhse salann an talaimh. Ach má éiríonn an salann leamh, cad é a dhéanfaidh goirt arís é? Níl tairbhe ann feasta chun rud ar bith, ach é a chaitheamh amach mar a ngabhfar de chosa ann. 14Is sibhse solas an domhain. Cathair ar mhullach cnoic ní féidir í a cheilt. 15Ná ní lastar lampa chun é a chur faoi bhéal na peice, ach in airde ar an chrann solais mar a dtugann sé solas dá mbíonn sa teach. 16Sibhse mar an gcéanna, bíodh bhur solas ag taitneamh os comhair daoine chun go bhfeicfidís bhur ndea-ghníomhartha agus go nglóireoidís bhur nAthair atá ar neamh.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot. You are the Light of the World. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither is a candle hid and put under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light so shine that your good works may be seen and so glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus of Nazareth
A great Light illuminating the World has been kindled, raised on a candlestick, shining over the whole earth, a royal city well fortified and set on a hill, in which there is a great population who belong to God.
Hymn to Saint Patrick… Bangor Antiphonary.
The mural by Kenneth Webb in Bangor Abbey was commissioned under the guidance of Canon James Hamilton. The use of the triangle, denoting the Holy Trinity, pervades the whole design and leads us upwards from the figures of Comgall, Columbanus and Gall in the foreground to the central figure of the Ascending Christ. The features of Christ are those of a Black person, emphasising the mystic nature of the Son of Man. He is conceived as giving His Last Command:
” Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel”
© Pretani Associates 2014