Dear Friends,
Alison and I had a lovely visit with our children and grandchildren in England. The picture above was taken two Sunday’s ago when we took the grandchildren to Exeter Cathedral for mass. They are all growing fast and we are delighted that they will be visiting us here in New York in August. Because of the internet, we are able to see and talk to them regularly with FaceTime, but we do miss them being ‘round the corner’ and not being able to do many of the things that grandparents often do; so these times are very precious to us as a family.
It was the last Sunday of the Cathedral Choir’s singing term (they always hold valedictory on the last Thursday evensong) and there was an orchestral mass – the Haydn Nelson Mass. They even sang the creed. This mass is considered to be the pinnacle of Haydn’s liturgical compositions. The official title is Missa in angustiis which translates to ‘Mass for troubled times’ because of the grave situation faced by Austria in 1798 following the military successes of Napoleon. It was the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the River Nile by Lord Nelson that led to it receiving the nickname the Nelson Mass. As the Dean of Exeter said at the start of the service, we live in similar troubled times today, so the use of that mass setting was appropriate. We must not give up on praying for peace.
A wise old priest once said to me that it was not enough to simply pray for peace generally, but that we should name those specific places in our prayers where there is violence, war, or aggression of any kind. Let us continue to pray for those parts of our world where innocent civilians are caught up in war and conflict of any kind.
This week we see the start of the Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course and Mo. Turner writes about it here.
On Tuesday, July 22, we keep the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene and Bishop Andrew St. John will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination. Please come to the 5:30pm Solemn Eucharist to give thanks for his ministry. There is a second Feast Day next week – the Feast of St. James, and there will be cheese, wine, and soft drinks after evensong on Friday, July 25.
I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday and hearing your news.
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
