To the Durham Priest, this scene seemed a blasphemous parody of the Ascension, and his thoughts ran immediately to the remains of St. Cuthbert and St. Bede the Venerable, kept in the cathedral. The remains that had always protected the devout inhabitants and the pilgrims.

I really like the way you draw comparison between the strength of belief and the conflict of what flies in the face of that belief. Sometimes religion is very obviously a balm, an expression of hope in the face of death.

As is the flight of the gods, mirrored in a ship of alien origin!