Saturday, January 28, 2017

The Quiet Voice of One

This past week the Church celebrated its annual call to unity.  And for me, it provided a unique opportunity to visit a place that I’d never set foot inside of, for all my years moving about Dublin: the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, otherwise known as Christ Church Cathedral. 

Maybe it’s appropriate that my visit coincided with this time of the church year, if only for this fact:  officially – that is, through the lens of traditional assertion – both the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and the Roman Catholic Church claim Christ Church as the seat of their faith, their cathedral church. 

There was no spirit of territorialism, though, the evening I visited... only the language of welcome, of hospitality, of common prayer.  And significantly, what all these families of faith chose to unite their voices together was the song of Taizé. 
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

The changing face of the church wasn’t lost upon me, not by a long shot: here was the Anglican Church, reaching out to all denominations (including many Catholics), at least five different language groups represented (I recognised Irish, English, Spanish, German, and one – I think – from eastern Europe).  But the words that brought them all together were the words of ancient Rome, newly woven together in the simple four-part refrains of the ecumenical community of Taizé, an ecumenical community found in the Burgundy region of France.  The celebration was unabashedly global, both by way of its participants, and by its language.

There is a place in the last book of C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy, That Hideous Strength, that finds an assembly of operatives confounded by their own speech – the “curse of Babel”, as it were.  In the midst of their meeting, the participants found their language could no longer be understood by others: the resulting scenario was nothing but chaos, discord, violence and misunderstanding.

When I take in the news lately, it seems that this very same curse has taken over a spirit of meaningful dialog in the world.  Yet here I sat, in an ancient stone cathedral, in a city that, 100 years ago, witnessed revolt, assassination, and overwhelming destruction.  Here I sat, surrounded by people seemingly divided by the very words they spoke, yet united by simple songs.  It was Babel redeemed, the sound of humanity brought together in a new way by an ancient language.  And everyone understood what was being said.


Perhaps it was a bit like what the earliest of apostles experienced two thousand years ago, when those once-timid men stepped forward, finding that their words were understood by all: a miracle of the Spirit moving in their midst.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Nativity: Retrospect

The crazy thing about the gallery (loft) of Newman’s University Church is how it managed to function for so many years given the sheer restrictions by way of space.  The organ console was surrounded by a six-foot wooden wall; it almost completely blocked off musicians from the assembly.  The confined area held about eight singers; but if you brought in an additional instrument (or set of instruments), one would have to choose between singers and instruments.  The wooden box cut the choir off from the liturgy; even for me, closest to the sanctuary, I could never see what was going on in the assembly.  We were, almost literally, in another county.


Through some superb collaboration with the Archdiocese, and very hard work by skilled contractors, by mid-December we had carefully modified this precious area, opening it up so that the choir could grow and participate in the liturgy.  And musicians could be added without having to move choristers to remote areas. 

The first real test of this new gallery was about to take place, on none other than Christmas Eve.  We had hired a string quartet made up of members of the RTE Orchestra and the Irish National Symphony.  A special service booklet had been created, so that everyone could sing the carols, psalms and acclamations.  A new setting of the Roman Martyrology was composed, sung as the very last piece before the opening hymn, O Come All Ye Faithful.  It was a fitting conclusion to the whispered waitings of Advent. 

By the end, we all stepped back, taking in what had been accomplished – not just by way of the Christmas Eve and Morn liturgies – but all the efforts of the past three months.  My dedicated little choir had learned not one, but two new mass settings.  We added a fabulous violinist to our ranks on a weekly basis.  New folders, octavos, and printed SATB choral music were now in their hands: the floodgates had opened, and they reached their fruitful culmination with the blessed feast of the Nativity.



“Set every peak and valley humming.”  So goes the text from Eleanor Farjeon’s beloved hymn, People Look East.  I hope the Wicklow Mountains were listening closely:  the Lord, indeed, is coming.  Love is a Song, and it is on the way.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Silent Testimony

Three months later: weeks of changing light bulbs, crawling through garages to figure out how the heating works, the infamous broken disability lift (which keeps breaking, right before a major event), the gallery whose mould and dust seems to have no end (we’re on a crusade to create a healthy environment for our singers!).

Through it all, the liturgical year has carried us: the messages of the gospels, end-time, and then Advent.  And for the first time in more than fifteen years, I’ll get the chance to actually plan and see into reality the liturgies of Christmas. 

In the midst of all these labours, I’ve had small moments of breakthroughs – not that this is what it’s all about.  But they’ve been there to experience, if one has the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

Since the end of September, I’ve been making sure to be at almost every 1:05PM daily liturgy in Newman’s University Church.  Progress here is measured in centimetres... nothing spectacular.  Every day, I’ve quietly added guitar to the Communion Rite – no expectations of participation.  And the guitar has had to take on many new  Irish tunes as well – beautiful, evocative tunes that this country is known for.

But when we hit the “purple season” of Advent, it was time to make the small move: a printed booklet of hymns, psalms and acclamations from both sides of the Atlantic.  “Sein Allelu” appeared along with a lovely Advent Irish rendition of “Bi Íosa Im Chroise.”  Bit, by bit, we added sung repertoire to the celebration.

And we came, finally, to the last weekday liturgy of Advent, Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent – December 23rd.  Normally Fridays are a scant daily congregation... people are wrapping up for the week.  But this day, the crowd was much larger.  And for the last time in 2016, we sang “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Just one verse (these people are on lunch break!)  And just to close out the season, I played the entire thing through instrumentally, thinking that people would jump out of their pews and head back to work.

No one moved.  Not a soul.  Everyone stood in silent witness, soaking up every note, every chord.  I didn’t even realize it until I looked up, halfway through the “postlude” on the guitar.

It was a silent ratification.  The quiet, appreciative, understated Irish way of saying “thank you for what you’re doing.” 


Now we look to the Nativity.  Step, by step, by holy step.