Dear Friends,
My trip to Canterbury last weekend was very fruitful and I was made very welcome by Dean David Monteith and his colleagues. As many of you know, Saint Thomas has had a long and warm relationship with Canterbury Cathedral, and the late Dean Robert Willis was a good friend to us; we were blessed to have him with us after his retirement to lead us through Holy Week last year. I am currently the Chair of the Board of the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in the US and, as was the case with my predecessor, Fr. Mead, Saint Thomas has hosted their annual spring meeting.
I preached at Canterbury for the Feast of Candlemas. The liturgy was celebrated in the Choir and Presbytery at the High Altar. Every time I go to Canterbury, I learn something new and, this time, I discovered that the great 12th century mosaic pavement originally created to adorn the High Altar area pre-dates the famous Cosmati pavement found at Westminster Abbey. When Archbishop Thomas was brutally murdered on December 29, 1170, his body was laid overnight before the High Altar and some of his blood spilled onto the pavement. Just three years after his death, Pope Alexander III declared him to be a Saint and a great shrine was erected. The pavement, now a tertiary relic, because it had been stained with the martyr’s blood, was moved to stand before the new shrine.
The Candlemas liturgy was offered with great devotion, and the choir sang music by William Byrd. At the end of the service, we had a procession to the Font led by the children of the Sunday School of the Cathedral who had been making Christingles. I was quite taken aback when two acolytes appeared with huge artificial (though quite realistic-looking) Christingles on their acolyte torches! Christingles originated in the Moravian Church in Germany in the mid-18th century and their popularity soon spread. I sent an image to our own acolytes who wondered what on earth the Canterbury acolytes were holding, only to discover that Christingles had also been the theme of the interactive sermon with our own children and families at the 9am mass in Saint Thomas!
- The orange represents the world
- The red ribbon symbolizes the love and blood of Christ
- The sweets and dried fruit represent all of God’s creations
- The candle represents the light of Jesus in the world, bringing hope to people living in darkness.
The Cathedral is an exquisite building, and many of the monastic building not only survive, but are also used to the full. Another fascinating fact I discovered was how the monks used to provide water around the huge Cathedral and monastic buildings through a complicated sequence of pipes that kept clean and dirty water separated. There is a small building called the water tower that was at the heart of the ancient monastic plumbing system, and the Cathedral have created a simple yet stunning audio-visual interpretation of the life of the old monastic community in that water tower.
The Dean hosted a dinner on the Saturday evening, and I was able to meet a number of Cathedral volunteers, but also the Director of Music, Dr. David Newsholme, who shared with me how Canterbury is currently re-forming its boys’ choir and building on the success of its girls’ choir. Interestingly, like one or two other English Cathedrals, the girl choristers at Canterbury are a different age-range to the boys, singing in their teens until they reach 18 years old.
On Tuesday, I met with Richard Tanner, the Director of Music of Rugby School, who has recently started a chorister program at nearby Bilton Grange Preparatory School. Richard is, himself, a former chorister from St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and he was able to tell me first-hand of the growth of the chorister program at Rugby, but also the ambitious plans that St. Paul’s Cathedral has with regard to the number of its residential choristers, and also its proposed outreach project to schools in the Diocese of London and local children.
BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong came from Rugby School Chapel last Wednesday, and I was impressed with the sound. The very next day, I met with Andrew Nethsingha, Director of Music of Westminster Abbey. Andrew is a good friend to Saint Thomas, and helped us with our concert series following the untimely death of John Scott. It was good to talk over the importance of the residential life of both their choir school and ours. Although theirs is centuries older than ours, we have much in common. They, too, are expanding their music provision in providing a separate choir of girls, so what we have announced at Saint Thomas is clearly nothing new, and I am sure that we can learn from one another.
Recently, our own Head of School reminded me that we must ensure that our vision is clear so that people can not only understand it, but also support it. Our commitment to the residential life of the boy choristers is resolute, and a great deal of work has already been done by Mr. Seeley, Mo. Turner, and the administrative staff of the school to ensure that the future life of the program will be as robust as it is now. Our vision is to continue to change boys’ lives and to allow them to be immersed in something both ancient and yet hugely relevant, preserving our unique choral tradition for future generations. Our vision is also to expand the impact that we have on other children; we want to find a way that girls can also sing at Saint Thomas, but that will take some time and that will be for Dr. Filsell’s successor to explore and develop. Our vision is also to share our skills and love of music with more children, and with local schools who often do not have the time or the expertise for children to sing, let alone learn an instrument. As someone who grew up in a disadvantaged area, and whose parents did not own their own home, I can attest to the life-changing nature of music and, in particular, singing; for it was singing that led me to God, and to my priestly vocation. The Vestry and I want Saint Thomas to continue to be a beacon of hope and a place of excellence, where many children’s lives are formed, and where many children are encouraged to reach their God-given potential. I have asked Mo. Turner to give us an update on the work of the Transition Committee in the next few weeks.
As I am writing this, the boys are travelling to Washington DC where they will sing Evensong with the boys of the National Cathedral, and then perform a concert the next day. I had lunch with some of the boys before I left for London, and they continue to inspire me with their dedication and their commitment not just to their learning, but to one another; they truly form a family at the heart of our Church community.
While I was in London, I also attended a dinner hosted by the Lord Mayor of London for the St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group. With the Gaza City Hospital still closed, the Order of St. John is trying to raise around £6 million GBP to ensure that eye-care and treatment of eye disease continues. Our friend, Fra. John Dunlap, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, sat at my table, and there were moving speeches by Dr Ahmad Ma’ali, the CEO of the Eye Hospital Group based in Jerusalem, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, HRH Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein of Jordan, and other members of the Eye Hospital leadership. We were delighted to hear that someone had agreed to match all the funds raised that evening, which by the end of the evening had already amounted to half a million British pounds. 40 members of the Priory in the USA were present, and the American Priory was thanked for its long-standing support of the Eye Hospital Group. That support is needed more than ever with the situation in the Holy Land at the moment.
The event took place at the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of London, and he was attended by a goodly number of soldiers in traditional dress carrying muskets and pikes! My few days at Canterbury and London were encouraging, and I was taken by the number of people who regularly join us on-line for worship and music.
I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday morning.
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
