All Hallows Eve

I guess it's time to let my inner witch out to play for a moment on this All Hallows Eve. And I know some of you are saying when was she ever not out, but I actually think she is pretty well under control most of the time. But this is my damned blog and I say things here I would not say to you face to face. I say them here so I don't have to make a scene. I'm sorry if you are offended by my observations but did I ask you to read this? If not, did someone else send it to you? Then they are just stirring the shit, pardon my French. My remarks do not in any way represent anyone other then me and I take full responsibility for whatever reaction they may invoke. Some times things just need to be said, and we Texans have a bad habit of not really caring what people think about us. Just please don't go crying to the wardens about me because they have better things to occupy their time right now. And so do I for that matter. I am going to take a very long break from sacristy work and I am so going to enjoy it. I need to get out of that show and see a little bit of the world beyond High Church. I want to go some place where I'm totally anonymous and just worship God without all this drama. I will be there most Saturdays, cleaning and trying to improve things here and there, but after the Profile gets finished I am planning to do alot of visiting, as I did during the last interim 10 years ago. It is a good time to get a fresh perspective and meet some new friends. Last time I spent 3 years at St. Mary's and that was a real growing experience in many good and also terrible ways, but this time I plan to stay uninvolved in any and all parishes I may attend. I do love all of you in my way, but right now you are driving me crazy. So let's not say Au Revoir, let's just say Vaya con Dios!

The Feast of St. Ignatius

"Here and now, as I write in the fullness of life, I am yearning for death with all the passion of a lover. Earthly longings have been crucified; in me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, 'Come to the Father'."
- St. Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Romans

The church in Blessed Ignatius' day was riven, much like today, into three parties, right, left and center. He presided over the See of Antioch in the latter part of the first century. By legend he was reported to be the child whom Jesus exampled in the "Suffer the little children to come to me" episode. He was also rumored to have led quite a wild life prior to his conversion. Ignatius had a good long episcopate of 40 years, and his leadership had to have been strong in a church so fractured at that time. Talk about inventing the wheel! New York has nothing on Antioch in that day for highest splendor and darkest decadence.

We celebrated the Solemnity of the Feast of St. Ignatius on Sunday in grand High Church style with a procession to the shrine of St. Ignatius and Solemn Mass. I was subdeacon, Fr. Gentile was deacon, and Fr. Harding was celebrant and preacher. The crucifer sounded the Sanctus bells too early and then couldn't get the tower bell to ring because he was clicking too fast, but otherwise the service went off "without a Hitch" as someone said. We missed Fr. Hitchcock briefly but then remembered that we would have been singing "Blessed Feasts of Blessed Martyrs" if he were still around, and thought better of it.

The choir is sounding especially good this year and did a wonderful job on our annual hearing of Victoria's Cum beatus Ignatius as well as the Guerrero Missa "de la Batalla escoutez". All in all it was a joyful celebration with a high coffee hour afterward (although sans the bubbly) and a new era seems to be dawning at the shrine church. We have selected a search committee and names are flying in from all over the world. I ask your prayers as we begin this discernment process and as God prepares the priest who will be the ninth rector of St. Ignatius of Antioch in the City of New York.

A Long Goodbye

September 29 we celebrated the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels with a solemn mass preceded by a procession. Bp. Roskam was in attendance so we entered from the narthex after two entrance motets, during which I ran out of smoke for the actual entrance down the aisle. We put on more at the throne before the actual procession and it was the first of five trips up the steps, kneeling down and praying I could get back up without tripping. Luckily I had a boat girl who was actually helpful even while constantly asking how much longer it was going to be. Apparently she had other plans for the evening so I kept telling her "another 45 minutes or so" until we finally got through with the consecration, then I remembered we had to have smoke for the recessional. After 2 and a half hours we were back in the sacristy for the final blessing by Fr. Hitchcock as eighth rector. He seemed a little annoyed that the MC asked for a final blessing, since he had already given one at the altar.

We had a good crowd of about 150 with about 20 attending clergy. It was great to have Fr. Hoke as Deacon, substituting for Fr. Pyles, who suddenly had other commitments. Fr. Alan Chisholm gave the sermon, which began with a discussion of angels and ended with a tribute to Fr. Hitchcock's 35 years of ministry.

The reception afterward was fairly grand and we presented Fr. Hitchcock with a Romanian icon of St. Ignatius along with a velvet purse containing a certain amount of cash. He leaves to pursue a retirement phase that will contain interim ministry training and service and we wish him all the best and many thanks for 10 years of faithful ministry.