A Really Big Shoe

On the eve of Advent IV I climbed up to Lamburnite's manse high above the North River for dinner, with W and S also in attendance. As we dined on the exquisite house cassoulet we discussed our collective fondness for the shrine church we attend, and since Lamburnite is about to enter the fray for a seat on the vestry we also necessarily discussed the current political climate and that vision thing. It seems there are a few visions for the future of our beloved parish currently floating around and some of them don't look anything like the church we have come to love. My crystal ball is a little hazy right now, so I won't presume to say which will win the day, but I would hope to assure you, dear friends, that "safe is our confiding, for nothing changes here!"

W told me about the first time they came to church there, he felt like he was slipping into an old familiar shoe, a really big shoe, and also a really big shew in the Ed Sullivan sense. We wondered why anyone would come to church there if they weren't comfortable with the shoe the way it fits now. I suppose they are within their rights to suggest an alteration, but in my experience most shoes don't take very well to change. They can be stretched a little but their essential shape is not going to go very far from the original without destroying the shoe.

It was still a glorious Ignatian Christmas amid all the turmoil. The sacristy rats and assorted elves had the place looking fabulous and Doug and the choir were absolutely wonderful. On Christmas Eve for the Midnight Mass they sang the Missa 'Noe Noe' by Pierre de Manchicourt, including the Credo which seemed to go on forever, albeit gloriously. I was blessedly just a torch so I could relax for most of the service. I got a bit too relaxed during the Credo, however, and almost fell over when we had to get up and genuflect for the Incarnatus est. That was a good wakeup call. Should not have had that second glass of Merlot at Bob's Christmas dinner! When we processed the bambino to the creche at the beginning, I had us kneel down when we first got there, forgetting that we still had to get through Silent Night, so the old knees were aching by the time we got up. But we had a great crowd for the first time in many years, probably thanks in large part to Doug's putting up a banner outside advertising the services. They seemed to be mostly visitors in fact, with a lot of the regulars out of town or planning to wait until tomorrow. But we don't expect much in the way of offering on Christmas, since most visitors tend to put in a dollar bill and that's about it. We do live in hope, however.

Christmas Day was a pretty good crowd also. I didn't get much sleep but somehow got up and was subdeacon for the Solemn Mass, which featured the wonderful Palestrina Missa 'Hodie Christus natus est'. We were all dead tired, but the only mishap was one of the candles on the high altar ejected its follower during the Gospel and green wax (from the copper) got spilled all over the newly laundered altar linen. Other than that it was a really good shew and the Lord was truly glorified, I do believe. It was a rainy Christmas Day and many buts are up in the air, however it was a blessed day of thanksgiving and praise for Our Saviour Jesus Christ. Oh come, let us adore Him!