yrieithydd

I love Corpus Christi and over the last few years in Cardiff and Bristol I've struggled to find places which keep it as well as LSM did in Cambridge on the historic date of the Thursday after Easter. For example last year at All Saints', Clifton only the Sanctuary party processed and only around church. So this year as I had two days off (my weekend) and I hadn't been to Cambridge for over 6 months I decided the best plan was a trip to Cambridge. This was only my second trip back since LSM got a new vicar and my first since he started changing things last Advent.

( They've changed it; it's wrong? )

( Sunday night at Robinson, Tuesday at LSM )

Tonight we have All Souls' with the wonderful black High Mass set. In the light of last night's discussion,

emperor suggested that he should advertise it to the Goth community.

( footnotes! )

Well, last night's Mass was one of the more interesting of my serving career.

We had a congregation of 11; choir of 6; organist; 3 servers and a priest.

2 of the rota'd servers could not make it and nor could the replacement who'd been arranged to cover one slot. So we had MC, thurifer and crucifer (me). No non-rota'd servers arrived so it got to the point where we had to improvise. The suggestion I should carry both cross and lights was never serious but, ... . It was decided that it would have to be cross and no lights for the gospel but that I should enter with the others and be by the table for the Mass but that we wouldn't have torches at the entrance. In fact, I ended up as boat girl at this point as the most sensible thing for me to do so I had an obvious place to be. It was also decided that we could have torches for the Canon because the MC retires from the altar at the Sanctus so we left one candle on the gospel side and one by the credence table which the thurifer lit at the offertory. Unfortunately we did not quite agree what would happen after the Canon. I guessed we'd stay as normal to the Agnus but the MC move after the Canon and there was an awkward moment where I couldn't work out where to go. A quick exchange of glances with the thurifer led to me going out. He then suggested that as the MC had returned his candle to where it had been on the gospel side I ought to take my candle back in and he'd go to that side after the the Communion and we'd take the torches out together. The MC forgot the rail but the thurifer did that.

I think it worked, but not quite our usual!

The Easter Vigil ended over 39 hours ago and I still haven't come down from the high. It don't think it's just sleep deprivation although my sleep pattern has been bizarre over recent days. Even the fact that England's loss of their current excellent performance is failing to mar it. (Come on Jones)

( More coherent description of the Triduum )
This evening, I continue to listen to the test and chat on ICQ (to a variety of people), sort out the SCC folder and start to cook dinner for tomorrow night and start this post (which has taken over 3 hours to write). I boil the lentils dry and burn them thus setting off the fire alarm. I meant to check the water level but become engrossed in writing this post. I leap up, turn the gas off, put water in the pan, open the window wider and go down to silence the alarm. Luckily (or worryingly) the alarm is not connected to college, so I can sort it out. David appears from the downstairs flat and I explain what has happened. I return up stairs leaving the alarm silenced. It continues to bleep periodically. I continue writing this and ICQuing. I wonder if I should call the porters the smoke dectector still has a red light so I guess the alarm will not reset. BUt I can't find the number on the web. David comes up, we talk about what to do to the dectector. Standing on a chair, he finds he can unscrew it, so he blows on it which gets rid of dust and when he replaces it, the light goes out. So I go down to reset the alarm and there is silence. David and I chat and I show him how to work the alarm panel and then notice the instructions for this situation which we have actually followed and this gives the phone numbers I want. It's blindingly obvious by the panel! My next door neighbour returns (the people on the first floor appear to be away) and I explain what's just happen and I learn that the fire exit from my room isn't as mad as it appears. There are only bolts on my side, but there is a point to me getting to his room as he has another hatch in the side wall which must go next door or something. I know far more about the fire precautions here than I did.

[And what does my Greek teacher mean that one cannot use the historic/narrative present in English?]

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: The Test Match then a fire alarm and eventually silence

I might post a coherent response to the past week at some point but after 21 hours up on 2 hours sleep (and 5 hours lying awake - going to bed earlier is a fine theory but doesn't work if you then fail to sleep), plus some quantity of alcohol, coherence is probably too much to expect. But I'm still bouncing.

The Easter Vigil was wonderful. The previous days were good too (although in a different way) and the whole think just works. When I think back to last Sunday morning and processing from Laundress Green with our palms: What we've done; where we've gone in that time. It just brings it home. One service can't do that. The joy of Easter is made more real by having gone through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The stripped altar, empty aumbry, empty stoup, veneration of the cross, the waiting, mean that when the Gloria comes at the First Mass it's amazing.

In fact the whole day's been great. Even the hurried rehearsals for High Mass didn't detract too much and we got through. Two new servers (one acolyte, one torchbearer) and complicating processions is a poor combination. But is was good.

There's something bizarre and yet right about drinking buck's fizz at quarter to seven in the morning and then drinking champagne. Lunch (interrupted for Evensong) was great too. Lovely people, mad and deep conversations and just much fun.

But I must calm down and sleeeeeeeeeeeeep

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Entries tagged with lsm

Corpus Christi and change

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Ss Simon and Jude

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