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Canon Barry Naylor, Priest in Charge at St. Margaret's heard the news after early听 Eucharist at the Cathedral on Monday morning. His church had been broken into and vandalised.

But nothing prepared him for the scene that awaited him as he entered his church.

Canon Naylor later that day said: "I was so shocked when I came into St. Margaret's this morning.

"Yesterday we celebrated Eucharist and it was a very happy occasion.

"This morning all the altars had been desecrated - turned upside down. Beautiful paneling in St. Augustine's chapel had been ripped off the wall."

"It's just horrendous. I can't understand the mentality of people who do this."

Amongst other things the heavy brass lectern had been used to smash the heavy-duty glass cover which allowed visitors to see the ancient brick-work under the floor.

The eagle of the lectern had been plunged in this. The hole had been used for defecation.

The refurbished organ was also vandalised and some of the church's stained glass smashed.

St. Margaret's - High Altar

Testing Times

Canon Naylor has been badly affected by what has happened to his church.

"Yesterday my sermon was on God's boundless compassion and love and how we must try to share this. But it's situations that test you about how you can put this into effect.

"But we must try to understand these people and how we can best deal with them."

Rather oddly, nothing was stolen from the church. No money boxes were smashed and Fair Trade goods left alone.

Looking to the future, Canon Naylor is determined that the round of worship at the church should continue uninterrupted.

Latest from St. Margaret's

On Wednesday 18 June the usual lunchtime Eucharist at 12:45 was听preceded by a well attended ceremony of re-hallowing of the church.

Canon Naylor sprinkled holy water around the interior in a symbolic act of cleansing.

Prayers were said for the church and for the person or persons who perpetrated the vandalism.

Listen: Service of Re-Hallowing

成人论坛 Leicester's John Florance speaks to Canon Naylor after the service of re-hallowing...

Canon Naylor also read a message of support from the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt. Rev. Tim Stevens.

Afterwards, the Canon said that there was still much to do even though a huge amount of hard work had restored the church to surface normality in less than 48 hours.

He hopes that insurance will pay for the bulk of the damage though doubtless there will have to be some fund-raising.

Heartening Work

Meanwhile he was enormously heartened by the way the parish had gathered round and worked for the good of a much loved church.

The church served a huge industrial parish in the 19th century, with thousands of poor homes.

Because it lay outside the city walls, the church was the driving force in local government, organising street paving and lighting, schools, work and housing for the destitute, and many other social needs.