Holy Saturday

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Liturgical Seasons

Does it matter who was buried here?

They were someones’ son, someones’ daughter, someones’ friend, or brother or sister, or parent, or grandparent.  No it isn’t Jesus’ tomb, it is a pre-historic burial cairn in Argyll, it isn’t the tomb in which he lay on this dark day, but does that matter?

On this day a son, a friend, a hope was mourned.  On this day it was if the world stood still and held its breath, not knowing what came next.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?  Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.

Lamentations 1:12a

Those words aren’t Mary’s, does it matter?

The soul is pierced.

Good Friday

Tags

Liturgical Seasons

I have posted a picture of this cross before, and I have also previously written about the passion-flower, however I felt that today being Good Friday I would link the two.

The Passion Flower gets its name from the Passion of Christ on the cross. The 72 radial filaments represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals represent the ten faithful apostles. The 3 stigma represent the 3 nails while the 5 stamens represent Christ’s wounds.  There are two types of leaf on the passion-flower one is singular appearing just below a flower (there are none portrayed on this cross) and represents the spear that placed the wound in Jesus’ side, the other split in several parts is said to represent the hands of the soldiers dicing over his clothes.  After a single day the petals close symbolizing Jesus enclosed in the tomb.  The white petals have come to represent the purity of Jesus and the clinging tendrils the whips with which he was lashed.

Christ’s Maundy Thursday Victory

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Religion

100+ people, most for the first time, sat or knelt in silence – you could’ve heard a pin drop between the odd sniffle as they kept the vigil.

Okay they didn’t keep it for long but they kept it Baptist, CofS, Pisky, RC and Coptic, side by side in the near dark.

Most appeared to leave reluctantly not realising they could have stayed, but I felt for the first time it didn’t matter that they left, Christ might have been arrested but he had won.

They left in muted silence, some with reddened eyes, some with hesitate smiles, some with warm hugs and whispered shaloms, some with downcast faces, some fidgeting with the order of service, some with mouthed thank yous, all with a gentle presence surrounding and seeping from them.

For the first time ever I felt that the Church could be one.

I know it wont last but tonight I consider myself blessed indeed, tonight I glimpsed paradise.

Maundy Thursday

Tags

Liturgical Seasons, Photography

Altar Frontal from Salisbury Cathedral

Christmas Is Really For The Children

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Liturgical Seasons, Poem

What with all the Holy Week and Easter Prep and a funeral thrown in for good measure the blog has had to take a back seat again – however at the school Assembly on Friday this poem, which is new to me, was used and I thought I would share it with you.  Gave me tinges when I heard it being read.

Christmas is really
for the children.
Especially for children
who like animals, stables,
stars and babies wrapped
in swaddling clothes.
Then there are wise men,
kings in fine robes,
humble shepherds and a
hint of rich perfume.

Easter is not really
for the children
unless accompanied by
a cream filled egg.
It has whips, blood, nails,
a spear and allegations
of body snatching.
It involves politics, God
and the sins of the world.
It is not good for people
of a nervous disposition.
They would do better to
think on rabbits, chickens
and the first snowdrop
of spring.

Or they’d do better to
wait for a re-run of
Christmas without asking
too many questions about
what Jesus did when he grew up
or whether there’s any connection.

Steve Turner

The Nail by Stephen Cottrell

Tags

Books, Religion, Stephen Cottrell

Following on from yesterday afternoon’s post I want to share with you another birthday present which gets top marks, Bishop Stephen Cottrell’s new book, The Nail.  With Lent fast approaching this would make a good book to use as personal study during Lent and I am sure that there are clergy out there who will be also using it as at least the basis for Holy Week.

The book comes in three parts and there are suggestions for how to use it for a Lent course.  The first part (this is the part suggested for a Lent study Group) looks at six of the characters who are part of the Passion story – namely Peter, the centurion, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, Judas and Mary Magdalene) and how they played a role in hammering in the nails.  The second part is looks at the events from Pilate’s wife dream and fears of further dreaming.  While the final chapter and part asks the question – Will you let Jesus forgive you?  A question which is well worth contemplating even if you don’t read the book, but my recommendation is that you read the book.

Time … Please

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Castles, Liturgical Seasons, Marie Antoinette, Photography, Religion

We have been on holiday and one of the places we visited was Warwick Castle which was a bit of a disappointment, but more of that on a later blog, for now it is time to show you a little gem tucked away and totally ignored by everyone else who was walking through when we did.

It is believed that Marie Antoinette owned this clock with its ceramic stations of the cross for the numbers, wouldn’t mind owning it myself!

Holy Week And Easter Day Round-Up

What an uplifting time my first Holy Week and joyful first Easter Day at All Saints and St Andrew’s was.

The meditations and Compline during the first part of the week set the scene, as Jesus flitted in and out of Jerusalem.

Maundy Thursday, at All Saints, saw foot washing and as the altar was stripped an atmosphere so heavy with prayer that I was hesitate that I might break it by reading the Gospel to begin the Vigil, I needn’t have been.

The Children’s Service, at All Saints, on Good Friday was a joy and the children of the church made a fantastic job of their first Easter garden.  It is a service I always enjoy and having the opportunity this year did something slightly different, which worked a treat.  While the Stations of the Cross over at St Andrew’s was only marred by me placing my laptop on the carpet not realizing how plush it was, and hence at station 7 the laptop overheated and we had to continue with words alone until station 10.  In the evening it was a trip down to Bearsden Cross Church of Scotland were I was leading the Ecumenical Service I was slightly apprehensive about what I was going to do, not knowing how it might be received, it turned out I didn’t need to worry at all, they got it and more than one tear was shed.

Holy Saturday came along and the churches were decorated wonderfully by both groups of ladies, then in the evening ‘The Protecting Veil’ was finally unveiled.  An Easter Vigil was something new to All Saints and so I decided to take the opportunity to approach it from a slightly different angle.  Using John Tavener’s music ‘The Protecting Veil’ as a backdrop we meditated on the sorrow of Mary before turning to the joy of Easter with fire and light, it turned out to be powerful stuff especially the live music played by Sarah Harrington who is a cellist with the Scottish Opera, and Mary Stott’s reading of ‘Mother of Tears’ by Marie L Weldon.  If you are unfamiliar with this poem you will find it here.

Easter Day dawned to rain!  Nevertheless there were those who turned out to proclaim the risen Christ at the Preaching Brae in Milngavie (no not a place for the Covenanters, but rather for the cotton mill workers before they had a church) for an early morning service followed by rolling eggs down the hill before breakfast – I did manage a quick bacon roll before dashing back to All Saints for the 8am.  Back to St Andrew’s, the sun now shinning, and the biggest Sunday morning congregation I have seen there.  Included in their number was ‘J’ someone who had come along to ‘The Protecting Veil’ the night before at All Saints and had been on the phone to me later that evening asking about the Easter services, he had also turned up at the Preaching Brae, God is good.  Then it was back to All Saints to do it all again but differently!  With the Paschal Candle having been lit the night before it was processed round the church as the choir sung a version of the Excultet, here the children sprinkled the congregation with the water from the font using last weeks palm branches, and as is the custom at All Saints, everyone placed a flower in what had been a bare wooden cross the week before.  In a change to previous years however the cross was then processed out of the church, as Thine Be The Glory was sung with great vigor, to take its place in the garden as a witness to the risen Christ for all those who pass by.  The service was followed by  frantic rush by the children as they tried to find all the hidden eggs and more egg rolling.

All Saints - Easter Cross 2010

I was deeply touched when at the end of the service I was presented with a bouquet,  for me it had all been a joy and a privilege but on this my first Holy Week and Easter it was also good to know that the right note had been hit.  And while the flowers were for me, when I arrived home with them Hubby appreciated them too, for it let him know that although he hadn’t got to see me for a week it had all been worthwhile.

I also want the world to know that I couldn’t have done it without a host of people, those who read, led, decorated, sang, played (instruments), cooked, attended, built boxes, shifted furniture and encouraged – thank you one and all.

Nails v’s Love

Tags

Religious Writing

Nails were not enough to hold God-and-man nailed and fastened to the cross, had not love held him there.

Catherine of Siena

Senses

Last night it was fragrant perfume poured on feet at Bethany. Tonight the sound of a cracking whip as the Temple is cleared. Day by day our senses are heightened as we near Golgotha.

Wondering What To Do This Holy Week and Easter?

If you are and are on the north-side of Glasgow then maybe something from this list will tempt you.

Palm Sunday – 28th March

8am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

9.15am – St Andrew’s – Palm Procession and Sung Eucharist

with Reading of the Passion Narrative

11am – All Saints – Palm Procession and Sung Eucharist

with Reading of the Passion Narrative

6.30pm – All Saints – The Cross Of Christ

(for those of you unfamiliar with this service

it is the Holy Week version of Lessons and Carols)

Monday – 29th March

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Anointing at Bethany – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Tuesday – 30th March

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Cleansing of the Temple – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service (led by St Andrew’s)

Wednesday – 31st March

10am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – The Fig Tree – Meditation and Compline

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Maundy Thursday – 1st April

10am – St Andrew’s Said Eucharist

All at 7.30pm

All Saints – Sung Eucharist with Foot Washing,

Stripping of the Altar and Vigil

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service including Communion

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Good Friday – 2nd April

11am – All Saints – Children’s Service for Good Friday

2pm – St Andrew’s – Stations of the Cross

Both at 7.30pm

Bearsden Cross Parish Church – Ecumenical Service (led by All Saints)

St Paul’s, Milngavie – Ecumenical Service

Holy Saturday – 3rd April

6.30pm – All Saints – The Protecting Veil

(Reflective service of words, images and the music of John Tavener

with the Lighting of the Paschal Candle)

Easter Day – 4th April

7am – The Preaching Brae, Milngavie – Dawn Service (led by St Andrew’s)

8am – All Saints – Said Eucharist

9.15am – Sung Eucharist with

Lighting of the Paschal Candle and Renewal of Baptismal Vows

11am – All Saints – Sung Eucharist

with Welcoming of the Light and Renewal of Baptismal Vows

6.30pm – All Saints – Night Prayer

Donkeys To Daffodils

Today saw a trip to the South-Side of Glasgow for a Diocesan Liturgy Day on Holy Week.  The fellowship was good, as it usually is at these things, Rev Simon Jones led us with humour and great knowledge, and there were examples of good practice and ideas which will doubtless be seen in congregations up and down the diocese this Holy Week and in years to come.

One of the things I love about liturgy and probably one of the reasons I am so passionate about it, is that it is never static.  Not only does it travel through the seasons telling ‘The Story’, but also it travels with God’s people declaring their understanding of God, faith and mystery at any given time.  Liturgies need to be understood, but as Simon so rightly pointed out, that doesn’t mean they need to be explained at every point.  We are a church of word and symbol and symbols can speak powerfully on there own, and indeed words can detract from the power of the symbol if we are not careful.  That doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t be explained, but rather that the time for explanation isn’t always at the point when the symbolism is being used.

However …

sometimes it might be better if why things happen in the liturgy are not explained, or maybe more to the point, it would be better if they ceased to become the practice once the reasoning behind them is known.  As we journeyed through the Easter Vigil liturgy a revelation was before me, a practice that I had not heard of before that at first amused me, then when I realised that this was no joke, embarrassed me (which takes a lot as those who have tried and failed in the past will tell you).  The embarrassment turned to concern, before finally on the way home as I thought a bit more about it, horrifying me.

All I am saying on the subject is that there will be no joining of Paschal Candle and water at either All Saints or St Andrew’s at Eastertide or at any other time!