Our local church, St Alban's Cathedral, had to add extra Christmas carol services this year. The demand was so large they held carol services hourly on Saturday last from 9.00am until 5.00pm.
That's a lot of angels.
We didn't go because we couldn't book a ticket and I can't stand in a queue for an hour, so we went 'to church' today.
St Alban's is a Protestant cathedral... and possibly the most Catholic Cathedral in England. There is a hint of disobedience in the air, a sidelong glance at rebellion from English worship in the direction of ornate and convoluted Catholicism with it's direct message hidden in Latin oratory that threatens to purge and burn with unremitting vengeance. Nape hairs shiver. Nipples harden, the others become sexual, forbidden, wreaked in leg warming chastity.
Hushed whispers, French and Italian... pilgrims of sorts... or bored, not expecting shops to be closed, and children playing on steps and ramps not caring, not learning, or hearing the choir or parishioners sing to the electric organ while 'Harrison and Harrison' repair the monster above the choir stalls.
On one wall is a naive 'Bayeaux tapestry' - http://hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml - not the 70 metres (215ft) of the original but a fair 40 metres or so depicting the history of Alban the Martyr and the Cathedral built in his name, destroyed and built again, fell down and built again. Alban, a pagan living north of London, gave shelter to a Christian in the very early 300's AD. The piousness of the Christian (preacher?) caused Alban to convert to Christianity, which eventually gave good cause for his slaying by Roman soldiers and propelling the Alban- the pagan into a French and Italian Catholic Martyr.
And that is where the 'rub' lies.
How to revere a Catholic Martyr in Protestant England?
Praise be... the local council missed the obvious by not charging to the visit the spot along the local river where Alban might (or might not) have been baptised. And (praise be) the Word of Our Lord is Sufficient - no admission charge (unlike many other UK cathedrals) just a discrete request to contribute by lighting a candle (we all know someone we need to burn) or drop change in a pot on your way out.
The money collected has been put to good use.
No longer do we need to fear the East Nave collapsing about our ears (as it did in the early 15C resulting in an odd church featuring a Romanesque tower, choir and alter wings and a one third English-Romanesque Nave with two-thirds finished in English Gothic (beautifully melded - apart from the ornate style of the latter)). No longer do we struggle to hear the Christmas Service from chilly confines of the north end of the Nave thanks to piped 'sound' (it's OK if you can ignore the echo).
But, out contributions have been used to slowly (One every 3-4 years) reveal the Martyrdom of Christ depicted on the older Romanesque columns of the Nave. The revealed images are some of the most Catholic in Europe - and believe me, I've seen most.
I find it humbling... not for the Religion... but to be in the presence of drawings almost one-thousand years old depicting an event one thousand years earlier. I didn't feel the same when seeing the Book of Kells (http://www.snake.net/people/paul/kells/image/kell1bmp) for the first time... it was almost too pretty.
I felt the same sense of awe spending Christmas with my pregnant daughter cradling the small bump in her tummy, marvelling at the wonder of creation... and in the same way... it hardly matters the what or the why of St Albans Cathedral... that it exists, despite everything, is a miracle... like life.
Yes, I did pray.
Yes, I did light a candle (for my long since departed in-laws)
Yes, I did pray for myself that I might not inflict suffering on others
and Yes, I did pray that my Grandchild will be perfect.
Happy Christmas & Happy New Year.
Will
That's a lot of angels.
We didn't go because we couldn't book a ticket and I can't stand in a queue for an hour, so we went 'to church' today.
St Alban's is a Protestant cathedral... and possibly the most Catholic Cathedral in England. There is a hint of disobedience in the air, a sidelong glance at rebellion from English worship in the direction of ornate and convoluted Catholicism with it's direct message hidden in Latin oratory that threatens to purge and burn with unremitting vengeance. Nape hairs shiver. Nipples harden, the others become sexual, forbidden, wreaked in leg warming chastity.
Hushed whispers, French and Italian... pilgrims of sorts... or bored, not expecting shops to be closed, and children playing on steps and ramps not caring, not learning, or hearing the choir or parishioners sing to the electric organ while 'Harrison and Harrison' repair the monster above the choir stalls.
On one wall is a naive 'Bayeaux tapestry' - http://hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml - not the 70 metres (215ft) of the original but a fair 40 metres or so depicting the history of Alban the Martyr and the Cathedral built in his name, destroyed and built again, fell down and built again. Alban, a pagan living north of London, gave shelter to a Christian in the very early 300's AD. The piousness of the Christian (preacher?) caused Alban to convert to Christianity, which eventually gave good cause for his slaying by Roman soldiers and propelling the Alban- the pagan into a French and Italian Catholic Martyr.
And that is where the 'rub' lies.
How to revere a Catholic Martyr in Protestant England?
Praise be... the local council missed the obvious by not charging to the visit the spot along the local river where Alban might (or might not) have been baptised. And (praise be) the Word of Our Lord is Sufficient - no admission charge (unlike many other UK cathedrals) just a discrete request to contribute by lighting a candle (we all know someone we need to burn) or drop change in a pot on your way out.
The money collected has been put to good use.
No longer do we need to fear the East Nave collapsing about our ears (as it did in the early 15C resulting in an odd church featuring a Romanesque tower, choir and alter wings and a one third English-Romanesque Nave with two-thirds finished in English Gothic (beautifully melded - apart from the ornate style of the latter)). No longer do we struggle to hear the Christmas Service from chilly confines of the north end of the Nave thanks to piped 'sound' (it's OK if you can ignore the echo).
But, out contributions have been used to slowly (One every 3-4 years) reveal the Martyrdom of Christ depicted on the older Romanesque columns of the Nave. The revealed images are some of the most Catholic in Europe - and believe me, I've seen most.
I find it humbling... not for the Religion... but to be in the presence of drawings almost one-thousand years old depicting an event one thousand years earlier. I didn't feel the same when seeing the Book of Kells (http://www.snake.net/people/paul/kells/image/kell1bmp) for the first time... it was almost too pretty.
I felt the same sense of awe spending Christmas with my pregnant daughter cradling the small bump in her tummy, marvelling at the wonder of creation... and in the same way... it hardly matters the what or the why of St Albans Cathedral... that it exists, despite everything, is a miracle... like life.
Yes, I did pray.
Yes, I did light a candle (for my long since departed in-laws)
Yes, I did pray for myself that I might not inflict suffering on others
and Yes, I did pray that my Grandchild will be perfect.
Happy Christmas & Happy New Year.
Will
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