Saints | James Hannington and Companions, Martyrs | CM | 29 October

Beside Victoria’s broad expanse

Beside Victoria's broad expanse,
Where morning gilds the plain,
Your servants bore the cross of Christ
Through joy alike and pain.

2.
Papyrus lined the water's edge,
Acacias cast their shade;
Yet through the valleys of the land
They journeyed unafraid.

3.
Brave Bishop Hannington proclaimed
The gospel of the Lord;
Beside him stood his faithful band,
Steadfast upon your word.

4.
When hatred sought to quench their faith,
Their voices were not stilled;
The blood they shed became a seed,
And all the Church was filled.

5.
Now where the cranes rise into light
And gentle waters gleam,
The praise of Christ still echoes forth
From village, road, and stream.

6.
O God, whose saints in that fair land
Bore witness unto death,
Keep us as faithful in our day
With every gift and breath.

7.
To Father, Son, and Spirit blest
Be endless glory given;
As martyrs sing before your throne,
So earth joins songs of heaven.

The Road to the Altar: A Reflection from St George’s, Belfast

There is a quiet rhythm to pilgrimage, whether it spans thousands of miles across an unfamiliar continent or a single train journey north from the plains of Kildare.

Today’s Mass with the Walsingham Group at St George’s, Belfast, remembering Bishop James Hannington and his companions, inspired me to write the hymn above. Its images of water, papyrus, acacias, and cranes carry the imagination towards the shores of Lake Victoria. Yet its beginnings lie in a Belfast sanctuary, in the prayers we offered and the Eucharist we shared.

Stepping into St George’s, the clamour of the city gives way to the stillness of stone, the soft gleam of candlelight, and the quiet dignity of prayer. We gather as pilgrims under the gentle patronage of Our Lady, who teaches us how to say “Yes” to God without knowing where the road will ultimately lead.

Remembering Hannington and his companions within that setting brought distant places into an unexpected closeness. Their journey demanded a faithfulness whose cost few of us can imagine. The hymn seeks to honour that witness while bringing its challenge into our own lives: “Keep us as faithful in our day / With every gift and breath.”

At the altar, that prayer finds its deepest meaning. In the bread broken and the chalice raised, we are drawn into Christ’s offering of himself. The communion of saints becomes something we inhabit through worship: a fellowship embracing those who have served in quiet devotion, those who have borne witness unto death, and those of us still learning how to follow.

The Church’s life in Uganda holds the witness of Hannington and his companions alongside that of generations of African Christians whose faith, courage, and service have sustained it. Remembering them calls us to give thanks for a living Church, and to recognise that the gospel continues to take root through the lives of people who receive it and make it their own.

For most of us, pilgrimage is measured in smaller things: train tickets, prayers whispered in pews, warm conversation over shared food in church halls, and the patience to carry Christ’s love back into our homes. The hospitality after Mass belongs to that journey too. Around a table, as at the altar, we discover something of what it means to receive one another as gifts.

I wrote the hymn out of that meeting of remembrance and ordinary fellowship. The shores of Victoria and the streets of Belfast belong within the same prayer. So do the journey home to Kildare and the responsibilities waiting there.

We cannot know everything that faithfulness will ask of us. We can offer the day before us, with its opportunities to pray, to welcome, to endure, and to love. The road from the altar leads back into the world, where the words we have sung must find their expression in the lives we lead.

Hymn information

First line: Beside Victoria’s broad expanse
Text: Michael McFarland Campbell
Metre: CM
Tune: Bangor, Kilmarnock
Theme: Bishop James Hannington and companions, martyrs
NDH-0370

© Michael McFarland Campbell. 2026. 
Permission granted for local church or parish use with attribution. Not for commercial reproduction.