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Good morning. I wonder if – like me – you felt a shiver of excitement when you heard yesterday about the Roman shrine discovered by archaeologists next to Leicester cathedral. I love these moments of discovery, these sudden physical links to a past age, to people living and dying and occupying the spaces we now live in with their different beliefs and customs and assumptions. The find means that there were people worshipping at this spot more than 2000 years ago which suggests that those who have worshipped in the present day cathedral - and will again when its current building works are completed - are close to where their ancestors prayed. As to what or who was worshipped, one of the candidates is the Roman Mithras, whose cult had travelled West from Persia and India. Mithras was born from a rock and had links with the cult of the Unconquered Sun. There’s a perfect example of an underground temple to Mithras beneath the Church of San Clemente in Rome just a few minutes’ walk from the Colosseum. This temple was apparently built by a Roman nobleman at the start of the third century. You can see a replica of the altar, with a carving of Mithras slaying a bull and snakes symbolising rebirth. You joined the cult by a kind of baptism: bull’s blood was poured over you through a grating. This was a strong god, a violent god, but also one who offered rebirth. You might wonder why Mithraism disappeared and was replaced by Christianity. I remember some used to claim that Christianity stole its best bits from the cult of Mithras. In fact the two faiths did have things in common. Mithras’s birthday was on what became Christmas Day, December 25th in the Roman calendar. And there was the rite of baptism and a belief in spiritual regeneration. But perhaps one reason Mithraism died out was that it was exclusive to men, and military men at that. The emperor Constantine made Christianity legal at least in part to make his empire more inclusive. Whether the Leicester find really is linked to Mithras is speculation at this stage. But whatever ancient faith it represents it speaks to me of a persistent quest in the human soul. The sun rises and sets, marking our days with a rhythm, endlessly renewed. We have an instinct for wonder which is close to the instinct for worship. Mithras was born from rock, the risen Christ from a rocky tomb. There is spiritual treasure still buried in the ground, and meaning beyond the surface of things.