The motto of the University of Oxford is taken from Psalm 27. It means ’The Lord is my Light’:

'The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear:
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?'

This motto has been in use since the second half of the sixteenth century, and it is sometimes associated with the revival of interest in the Hebrew Bible and the Hebrew language within the University at that time. King Henry VIII had established the Regius Professorship of Hebrew in 1546, the Reformers were busy with the task of translating the scriptures throughout the sixteenth century, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century, a group of Oxford scholars, together with divines in Cambridge and London, would contribute to the translation of the King James Bible. 

These words are inscribed above the gate which forms the entrance to the University Church. The motto reminds us that St Mary’s, like the University, is a place of illumination, a place where we are invited to search for the truth. The Psalm speaks of our confidence in God, who is the source of all truth. The Psalmist also recognises that our commitment to the truth can sometimes lead to tension and hostility, to argument and dispute. It is no accident that as we enter the precincts of St Mary’s, we find ourselves standing in a place where martyrs have stood. A martyr is ‘a witness’ - that is what the word means in Greek: ‘Though an host of men were laid against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid’. The psalmist is unrelenting in his pursuit of truth. The Psalmist is not afraid. He is not intimidated by his detractors. The Psalmist is single-minded in the pursuit of truth and the source of all truth: ‘’One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will require; even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple’. 

The desire for God, the longing for God, lies at the heart of our life together. It is the spring from which everything else flows. This is the spiritual reality which we celebrate at St Mary's. As a new University year begins, let us pray that all those who visit St Mary’s may discover a community which is illuminated and captivated by the beauty of the Lord. May they learn to sing a song, which is ever ancient and ever new: ’The Lord is my light and my salvation’.