Top 10 Best Personal Moments of Holy Week 2011

  1. Going to the Stations of the Cross and having it done to me. (Made me cry).
  2. Coming home from the Maundy Thursday vigil after midnight and remembering that I’d had the good sense to change the sheets before going out.
  3. The goodwill and good turnout of the Spring Clean and Polish.
  4. Being greeted with many a “Good Morning, Father” whilst shopping at that great liturgical outfitters, Tesco for Holy Water Basins early on Easter Day. (They must get priests doing it every year – they even had a three for two offer on Holy Water Basins).
  5. Realising that it really was standing room only on Sunday morning.
  6. The Garlanding of Our Lady with white roses during the organ fanfare before the Regina Coeli. (The fact that it took me three goes to get the wonderful garland onto Herself, means that this may be known henceforth as the Lassoing of Our Lady).
  7. The way the choir sang the word “meek” during the Magnificat. They sing lots of other words beautifully too, but there was only one K on the end of meek and I know how much work and concentration that represents.
  8. Saving the Vice-Provost from near certain death by thurible. (New St Mary’s Bylaw – No 360 degree thurible tricks if you find yourself in the middle of the procession in error).
  9. Someone beating time with his crozier during, “Blessed be the God and Father”  by S S Wesley. If we are going to do tub-thumpers we must expect tubs to be thumped.
  10. Adding an sneaky extra line to the Rose responses and looking at the choir’s worried faces.

What were your best moments?

Comments

  1. Number 8 – No new bylaw, just a reminder to anyone in front of, or behind a thurible to keep clear. 360 are a necessity in a procession on major festivals. In fact 720 and 1080 are preferable.

  2. 1. The sound of the congregation on, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord,” during the psalm.

    2. The consternation of the choir when I had a hysterical giggling fit, for very particular reasons, at the sermon. On a related note, finally getting the thurible going at the Vigil.

    3. Being greeted with a Holy Water Basin held aloft and an exclamation of, “Isn’t it lovely? They were three for two!”

    4. Akma singing the Exultet.

    5. The popping of the sacristy champagne cork on Easter Day.

    6. Blowing out that last candle at the Stations of the Cross.

    7. The very very first, “He is risen indeed. Alleluia!”. That made me cry.

    8. Being able to participate in the Tantum Ergo in the Good Friday evening service and feeling that in amongst all the grief we had done right by Him.

    9. A text message in the very (very) early hours of Easter Day morning when an overexcited Deacon simply couldn’t wait the four hours to tell me that He was risen.

    10. Realising that there were so many people at the Vigil that we had run out of service sheets.

  3. Getting to sing alternate verses all by myself in psalms at 3 evensongs in Cumbrae ! (No-one knows when you make bits of plainsong up if you’re on your own)

  4. Rosemary Hannah says

    Ohh , lets see.
    1 Arriving in time for all the services.
    2 The breaking of the Pascal candle (in a not-good kind of a way it was good)
    3 Knowing others cared as much or more than me, being among caring others.
    4 feeling useful – being un-useful should not matter but I retain a pleasure in being useful.
    5 finding things to say on my blog that in some small way reflected my faith
    6 Coffee with Beth
    7 Akma singing the Exultet.
    8 + Gregor enjoying the Holy Water
    9 Seeing Our Lady honoured and later sharing something of what Our Lady means to me.
    10 Seeing all those chairs!

  5. Rosemary Hannah says

    Oooh and I FORGOT Polishing the Eagle. How could I forget??

  6. Seeing the servers getting their comeuppance for all that incense when they were enthusiastically holy-watered.

  7. @PamB – You can never have too much incense. “Holy watering” is a good thing.

  8. My Top Ten
    1. Processing round Dunblane on Palm Sunday.

    2. The subdued lighting whilst following the “Way of Cross”

    3. Supper with a Bishop

    4. Following the “Journey to Jerusalem”

    5. The calm of Compline.

    6. The desolation at the end of the Maundy Thursday celebration of the Last Supper.

    7. 31 Baptisms and 115 confirmations at the Easter Vigil

    8. The forearm waxing the Succentor received when she removed the Pascal Candle from its holder.

    9. The sun streaming in through the cleostory window in the chancel over the Pascal Candle.

    10. The choir disappearing into a cloud of incense on during the Te Deum at the end of Solemn Choral Evensong on Easter Day.

  9. officemanager says

    Could I cheekily ask Rosemary & Stewart if their “Pascal” Candles went out in a Blaise of glory?

  10. Rosemary Hannah says

    Dyslexia rules, K.O!

  11. officemanager, most unlike you to ask first before being cheeky!

  12. Zebadee says

    The best of all was just being there @ the Cathedral

  13. @Zebadee

    which one? 😉

    Yes I know which one you mean 😉

  14. Zebadee says

    Stewart Friday evening/ Sunday 10-30am and Evensong. The wife enjoyed Saturday the Saturday Morning ‘Scrubology’. Sadly not able to attend other services

  15. Elizabeth says

    1. Bringing Owen up for a blessing at the same time as receiving communion on Easter Day.

    2. Honouring Our Lady at the end of the Easter High Mass (in the back, I missed the garlanding entirely – or did that happen at a different service? Anyway, I’m delighted by the idea, sad I missed the visual – must sit front and centre next year).

    3. Saturday evening – twenty minutes with Nora Gallagher’s reflections on Holy Week, Keith Jarrett on the stereo while James and Owen slept on the couch.

    4 (worst moment – difficult personal vigil with the baby on Wednesday night which made me realise there was no way I’d make it to Thursday evening’s service)

  16. Elizabeth says

    Oh, and how could I forget Owen’s first visit to the sacristy – definitely a highlight!

  17. Agatha says

    I misread Elizabeth’s point 3 and thought it said Noel Gallagher’s reflections on Holy Week. They might be interesting!

Trackbacks

  1. […] Monday, things are going back to normal. But before we put it all away for another year, Kelvin has asked for our best bits, and, as a sort of rounding up of everything that I was talking about last week, here are mine once […]

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