Dear Friends,

Today we begin a year of thanksgiving and celebration for the life of Saint Richard of Chichester, who died almost 750 years ago, on 3 April 1253.

Richard is one of the greatest treasures of the Church in Sussex. He was an outstanding bishop — pastor, teacher, and reformer — but, more than this, he was an outstanding disciple of Jesus Christ. His whole life as a bishop, with its many hardships and labours, was built on the foundation of his love for Jesus, his “most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother.”

His evident holiness, simplicity of life and care for all, led the people of Sussex to take him to their hearts. Only nine years after his death he was canonised, and on 16 June 1276 his body was enshrined behind the high altar of our Cathedral. The shrine became a place of pilgrimage until its destruction in 1538.

In the last hundred years the memory of Saint Richard has emerged from the shadows. Churches have been dedicated, and a hospital and schools named after him, and the expanded version of his prayer has — not least because of its use in Godspell — become one of the best known of all prayers in English.

This coming year provides us with an opportunity to give thanks to God for our patron saint and to celebrate his life and example. I invite each of the parishes and communities and every Christian of the diocese to mark this year by finding simple ways to

• know Jesus more clearly
• love Jesus more dearly and
• follow Jesus more nearly.

There could be no better way of honouring God’s grace in Richard and celebrating our fellowship with him in the communion of saints. May this coming year deepen our gratitude for all that Jesus has borne for us and given us, may it enrich our Life Together, draw more closely into unity with our fellow Christians, and strengthen us in our loving service of our neighbours.

I now invite you to stand and, in fellowship with Saint Richard, with me and with Christian brothers and sisters throughout Sussex, say the prayer which bears his name.