Memorial Plaque Blessed
A memorial plaque to well-loved parishioner Anthony Nicholls has been unveiled and blessed at Sts Mary & John Roman Catholic Church, Wolverhampton, by his son Father Guy Nicholls.
The occasion was the “First Anniversary Mass following a Death.” I put it to Father Nicholls that this must have been quite an emotional event for him.
“Yes, it certainly was, because obviously that church has meant so much to him, and he’s passed that on to me, so there’s a lot of depth of emotion in it as well, and of course the First Anniversary {I’ve} been thinking of Dad’s final illness and his death in the last few days.”
“So to come from all of that to this has been a wonderful transformation because all of the sadness of death has been somehow kind of transfigured by having the Mass and then of course the blessing of the plaque.”
“We even wanted to put on the plaque, that little quotation at the bottom which is “Requiescat in pace, et in gaudio profundissimo” because that’s a phrase that he particularly liked. There was one of the priests that was here many years ago who had that put on his mother’s memorial card, and he often used to quote it as something that he was particularly moved by – “May he rest in peace and in the deepest of joy” – so I thought it most appropriate that that should go as it did of course on his memorial card, and then again on the plaque to commemorate him.”
Parish Priest Father Paweł Bielak added, “I’m really glad that we’ve got something that will remind us of his long-term ministry in our Parish. Anthony Nicholls did a lot for our church and we could see it especially during Feasts like Christmas or Easter. He really did a lot. He helped us with preparing bulletins. As Father Guy told us, {in the Mass} he knew every single corner of this church, so I’m really glad that he shared this knowledge with us. So I’m glad that we’ve a plaque that will commemorate him and will remind us of his long-term ministry and it will encourage us to pray for te repose of his soul.”