The following text by Tom Phillips first appeared under the title 'A Further Step In Cathedral Decoration' in the November 2003 issue of Oremus, the magazine of Westminster Cathedral.

It was a great thrill to be asked to make a contribution to the splendid fabric of Westminster Cathedral, which I have known since I first attended High Mass there as a schoolboy fifty years ago. My work has often centred around devotional subjects but there is extra excitement in making art for a living church.

The two new panels will take their place in conjunction with a proposed mosaic portrait of Cardinal Newman in the memorial context of the Chapel of Holy Souls. The realisation of the project coincides with the hundredth anniversary of the first London performance of Sir Edward Elgar's magical setting of Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius. This took place with Elgar himself conducting in the cathedral itself. The work tells the story of an old man's dying vision of the journey of his soul. His name, Gerontius, whose root is now more popularly known through terms like gerontology in hospital departments, occupies one of the panels. Its letters are set in and energised by the five lines of the musical stave which support him. I hope that this might become a focus for meditation for those with elderly friends of relatives about to make that same journey.

The essential process of Newman's vision is also the theme of the second panel which is troubled by shadows cast by the emprisoning railings and is actually pierced at the top. The journey is thus not free from shadows of doubt and fear and pain: yet a clear ladder rises through an echoing musical stave and is sustained by the cross to make of the whole a metaphor of salvation through faith and music. In my mind it is dedicated to the selfless work in the church of generations of musicians.

Tom Phillips, Oremus magazine, November 2003

From the on-site notes provided by Westminster Cathedral:

HOLY SOULS CHAPEL

The Holy Souls are the dead who wait in Purgatory for final purification before entering heaven, helped by the prayers of the living.

The decoration of this chapel was designed by the Cathedral architect, John Francis Bentley, and executed by Christian Symons.

Images in this chapel show the 'old' Adam by the forbidden tree, and the 'new' Adam -- the risen Christ. On the west wall is a powerful image of Purgatory: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the burning Fiery Furnace, protected by the Son of Man (Daniel 3:8 ff).

Two panels on either side of the entrance recall the first performance here of the Dream of Gerontius -- Elgar's setting of Cardinal Newman's poem -- in 1903. They were designed by Tom Phillips RA in 2003.

In this chapel you are invited to pray for your loved ones, and all the dead, to assist them on their journey to Heaven.

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them; May they rest in peace."

On-site transcription, 2003