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Around our church today you can see twelve candles lit in front of twelve crosses. These crosses mark the places where Bishop Thomas Shine anointed the walls with Holy Chrism on 14th July 1945.
Chrism is used to anoint the walls and altar so as to set them apart - just as we are set apart in Baptism and Confirmation to be the living stones that build the Church.
July 1945 may seem like a strange date for St Wilfrid's to have been dedicated, given that the church was built in 1864. St Wilfrid's was not consecrated when it served as the pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Beverley, or later.
On the night of 28th April 1942, bombs fell on the City of York, including on Blake Street. The force from the explosion caused damage to St Wilfrid's and blew out the stained glass windows above the High Altar. Thus the church needed to be repaired, amidst all the other difficulties of the War.
After VE Day, the time came when it was appropriate to consecrate the restored church. Hence the date of 14th July 1945.
