A Pilgrimage for Brian Haw 

In May, 2012, I did a pilgrimage for the Saints of Barking - in conjunction with the Orthodox Christian Church who venerate the Saints at Barking each year - beginning at St. Margarets Church, Westminster Abbey, meeting members of the Orthodox Church at St. Pauls Cathedral to Pray for St. Erkenwald in the part of the Cathedral that stands upon the place of the former St. Pauls Church and is dedicated to him, completing the pilgrimage at St. Margarets Church, Barking Abbey, and participating in the ceremony conducted by the Orthodox Christian Church within Barking Abbey itself. It was the most Sacred and Spiritual Christian Ceremony that I have ever partaken in and I felt blessed to have been a part of it.

After the ceremony I spoke with Reverend Father Alexander Tefft, of St. Botolph's-Without-Bishopgate, and asked him what it was that made someone a Saint? He answered that our modern day definition of what it is to be a Saint is not correct because Saints were not perfect people, they were people who were recognised by their fellow Human beings as being extra-special, in some way, and who were accepted as doing something extrodinary in their Earthly life in dedication to God. They could make mistakes like everyone else, but what mattered was their contribution to the greater good of God and the recognition of what they did between their fellow Men and Women.

To be honest, I cant remember exactly Father Alexanders words, but this is the understanding he delivered to me, and as soon as I heard his words I knew that those words applied to Brian Haw. To me he was then a Saint and it just remains for others to recognise that too.