What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Pictures to think about #2

    There I was last week standing in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, staring up (as you do) at the stunning mosaics high up on the walls. The pictures are astonishing and I may get round to posting some of them online later.

    My attention was distracted though by a small boy rushing backwards and forwards in front of the altar. Whilst everyone’s eyes were up towards the ceiling, he was staring intently down at the floor.

    image

    Backwards and forwards he went – to and fro. It took me a few moments to realise that there was a pattern to his movements. He alone in the place had realised that there was an old labyrinth laid into the floor right in front of the altar. He was following in the pathway right into the middle, at which point he ran off to find some other entertainment.

    It is a fairly small labyrinth – about 12 feet wide and made more for small feet than my own feet. (Labyrinths – Young Church, hmmm…)

    All the same, I started to walk it and soon found myself thinking about those whom I had brought with me on my travels in my mind. As a priest it is a kindness to your congregation to forget about most of them when you go away on holiday. Everyone needs time off and you can serve better when you get home if you have a rest for a while. All the same, some people linger in your mind and I found some of them with me as I travelled the circles in front of the altar. And those whom I think about from my own life too – the people I carry in my heart wherever I go, some of whom do the same for me and some of whom would be astonished to know they were being prayed for in a sixth century basilica in modern day Italy.

11 responses to “The Joy of Evensong”

  1. Kennedy Avatar
    Kennedy

    Does England-shire have Breach of the Peace as an offence?

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      It is not an offence, but it is a concept. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breach_of_the_peace#England.2C_Wales_and_Northern_Ireland

      There may be other ways of dealing with it as anti-social behaviour.

      Reply
      1. Ruth Avatar
        Ruth

        I do hope so. The Abbey’s been there for hundreds of years, it’s not as if it could be said to be encroaching on the buskers’ pitch.

        Reply
  2. Gerry Lynch Avatar
    Gerry Lynch

    I’ve long been a Choral Evensong addict. You might be interested in the article linked to, which I wrote on a similar theme. I’d also say, apropos the BCP, let alone the delightful SPB, that rumours of their death are greatly exaggerated, despite what was in many places a quite conscious attempt to kill them off.

    Rather as the worship of the pre-Reformation English Church lay dormant for centuries waiting to be rediscovered, the same will apply to our historic prayer books with their wonderfully rich language, incomparable Collects and Prayers, and realistic take on the human condition.

    http://sammymorse.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/why-is-cathedral-evensong-growing-and-what-does-it-mean/

    Reply
  3. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    Someone once described to me that evensong was the jewel in the crown of Anglican services. Never having experienced the service at that time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to attend evensong regularly in various places where I have discovered the subliminal quality of evensong worship. There is a feeling of intense and intimate communion with God, where the music encourages one to slip in and out of meditative consciousness. Fabulous stuff- it can leave one drained in the most delightful way.
    Incidentally, I have heard people complain that they don’t like evensong because there isn’t anything “to do”. Tragic.

    Reply
  4. Susan Sheppard Hedges Avatar
    Susan Sheppard Hedges

    As a singer in a choir recently returned to the US from two weeks of ‘subbing’ at Norwich and Wells Cathedrals, I love the evensong. All the hubbing and bubbing in rehearsals previous to the service left one almost panting for breath. Then the choir gathered outside the quire as the organist played the prelude and we entered. Yes, we worried about the singing, but the prayers were most wonderful and gave even us that time to be in communion. I love it.

    Reply
  5. Beth Thomas Avatar
    Beth Thomas

    Summer evenings, evening chorus of birds, peace at the end of the day, time to reflect on the week past and that to come, treading in the steps that people have taken since the 16th Century plus some of the most sublime liturgical music written. What’s not to like?

    Reply
  6. Bob Avatar
    Bob

    Evensong at St. Mary’s is sublime you sum it up wonderfully Kelvin. A peace that passeth all understanding and speaks to the soul.

    Reply
  7. Graham Ward Avatar
    Graham Ward

    I find Choral Evensong is often the easiest service to bring people who are strangers to church to. It doesn’t demand the same degree of commitment sort involvement as the Eucharist. No-one’s going to shake your hand and offer you the Peace whether you want them to or not, you don’t have that awkward moment that says “I don’t go to church” when everyone else goes up for communion and you’re left alone in the pew.
    The pattern of the daily office is easily explained, as are the cycles of psalms and bible readings. The idea that this form of service has been used, virtually unchanged, for hundreds of years reminds people of the permanence of the church – and instantly makes them a part of it. And crucially, much of the best church music is not found in settings of the Mass, but in the canticles and anthems used at Morning Prayer and Evensong.

    Reply
  8. Jaye Richards-Hill Avatar
    Jaye Richards-Hill

    Evensong was certainly what brought me to St Mary’s at first-and it is still one of the things (along with morning prayer) that I miss the most.

    I’ve always loved the service – the words,music,silence all come together for me into something which yes, very much soothes my soul.
    In Cape Town, they do a Jazz Vespers once a month which is basically, Evensong with some really smooth cool jazz music…. that’s a nice twist on an old friend…

    Reply
  9. Melissa Holloway Avatar
    Melissa Holloway

    Evensong changed our life, I think.

    And afterward we would take the almost adults across the street for some of their first ales and pizza.

    Now I see it was such a fleeting moment. Most evensongs seem like that to me still- wonderful and fleeting.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Read all about it … again

    Hey look, the Sun newspaper has picked up the Equal Marriage story from yesterday. They seem to be using a jollier picture of me than Scotland on Sunday used. And with a brilliant sense of irony that will be lost on most readers, they’ve used a pic from my photoshoot at the Scottish Wedding Show…

  • Read all about it

    There is an interview with me in Scotland on Sunday today. Headline is “Senior Cleric Comes out for Same-Sex Weddings in Church”. “I want every gay couple to be able to walk down the street holding hands if they wish to do so. “I also want every gay couple to be able to walk down…

  • A quiet day?

    I had expected a fairly quiet day today at church – it being the first of the weeks of the choir’s summer holiday. As it was, we had two seperate 999 (ie emergency-call) incidents before most of the people had arrived at church. In the first, someone was found early in the day grasping a…

  • Jazz Mass Sermon

    Here is the sermon that I preached at the Jazz Mass on Sunday. It is preceded by a fanfare organ improvisation from Frikki Walker, to get me up into the pulpit, which if I'm not mistaken was based on a song from Michael Jackson's Bad album. Here is the text: Can I say how wonderful…