Our Master lies asleep and is at rest; His Heart has ceased to bleed, His Eye to weep. The sun ashamed has dropt down in the west; Our Master lies asleep.
Now we are they who weep, and trembling keep Vigil, with wrung heart in a sighing breast, While slow time creeps, and slow the shadows creep.
Renew Thy youth, as eagle from the nest; O Master, who hast sown, arise to reap: No cock-crow yet, no flush on eastern crest; Our Master lies asleep.
Christina Rossetti is an Easter person, as is Mary Magdalene and the Other Mary, Jesus’ mother. Together keeping vigil, the cock-crow they await brings not betrayal but renewal and rising.
Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” John 21:2-3.
We are in that period of forty days between Easter and the Ascension of the Lord. The reality of Easter has not yet struck the disciples – has it fully struck me yet? They have got one thing right by obeying the angel’s command, given through the women: go to Galilee and I will see you there. This group of seven disciples, led by Peter, seem to have come together by the Lake in solidarity. They are still shaken up.
I wonder if Peter wanted to go fishing by himself? I used to fish when I was at college by Lough Macnean in Ireland. Sometimes a group of us would spend a day together fishing. Other times I wandered down to the shore alone, and then the routine of casting a bait and watching for the float to bob was hypnotic; thoughts would slow down, I would be refreshed whether or not I caught anything.
I see Peter rooting in a compost heap and filling the First Century equivalent of a plastic tub with worms, thinking, ‘I need some headroom, I’ll have a night on the boat, just me and my rod.’ He had too many thoughts running through his head, processing all that had happened since Palm Sunday. Crowds cheering, a quiet, solemn meal, silence in the garden. That kiss. Cock crow. Betrayal, rigged trials, Death on a Cross, Judas’s suicide, the appearances in Jerusalem.
Now the apostles were waiting by the lake, as the women’s message had told them to, but nothing was happening. Except that they were getting under each others’ skin: ‘I need some headroom.’
But they said to him, “We are going with you also.”
That would be a totally different experience to going alone, yet Peter could hardly tell the others to get lost, he was supposed to be their leader. As well as respecting that, I wonder if they were not a little anxious about Peter’s safety in the dark on the lake, alone with his thoughts.
So he went to fetch the nets, still thinking, ‘I need some headroom.’ But he stood scant chance of getting it. Andrew, Peter’s brother, seems to have made himself scarce already; he is not mentioned in this story. Perhaps the brothers were wary of each other’s company, knowing they could set each other off. Perhaps Andrew was the last person on earth who could comfort or counsel Simon Peter.
How often do we find the precious ‘five minutes’ peace’ we had contrived for ourselves – over coffee, in the garden, even working in the kitchen – invaded by our dearest, dragging us back to the realities of daily life. How do we cope when we need headroom and are denied it? Peter accepted that other people needed him and went to get the nets.
A queue for covid vaccinations at Lichfield Cathedral, early in the pandemic. Photo JB.
A third post about institutional religion and its mission, by no means irrelevant to Eastertide. We are in Lichfield, where the Dean, Adrian Dormer, is retiring after 17 years. Congratulations to him! Here he shares his thoughts on what a cathedral is about and what it should be aspiring to bring to its local community and the world. He refers back to Saint Chad, the humble missionary who founded the diocese in AngloSaxon times and discerns some of the challenges facing his successor.
Worthwhile reading for Synodal minded Catholics as well.
Permit me a ‘Moses moment’. Moses ended his days pointing the children of Israel towards the promised land. He reminded them to live as God’s people, to face up to the challenges they would face, always to have God’s priorities as their priorities; to be joyful in the blessings they had received and the blessing they were meant to be in the sight of all nations, never to forget God. (see Deuteronomy 30: 11-20) Let me share some thoughts.
Cathedrals are complex places with many people to serve and many roles to fulfil. Lichfield Cathedral has an international, national, regional and local profile. (Look at the people who join us for online worship – we stretch from Gaia Lane to Toronto and Lahore).
We receive (in good years) 200,000 visitors. It could be double. Ah! If only the colleagues in Local and National Government could wake up to that fact, work with us closely and provide a bit more infrastructure for signage, way-marking, marketing and good constructive planning. It just needs intention and will. It would have knock on effects for employment and business. Equally, some guaranteed national support for repair and conservation of Cathedral buildings will safeguard a precious heritage and cultural asset. In my view this is a ‘no brainer’, but I admit my brain doesn’t work as others do!
At the beginning of my time in Lichfield, the Cathedral Chapter and community discerned five roles played by the Cathedral. These were and are:
Cathedra – the name for the Bishop’s seat. (We’re a ‘Cathedral’ because we house the ‘Cathedra’). This comprises our set of responsibilities to the territory our Bishop oversees; it is the place to gather the Church, where the Bishop ordains and sends forth ministry, a place for him to teach and to send us all out in mission.
The Cathedral is an Icon – it speaks of the love and glory of God. It is also a deeply emotional way-mark for many people – it captures a sense of home, place and memory, pointing us all to our home in God.
A Cathedral is a place of tradition – it sums up a part of national history, but it bears the faith from generation to generation, every age making its mark and contribution, the faith being proclaimed afresh in every generation.
A Cathedral is a community. Just as Jesus Christ called and gathered and sent disciples out to teach, preach, pray and heal, we’re called by him to be a community of missionary disciples, not simply a conventicle of the like-minded or the same class, age-group or outlook. Loving and bearing with one another, getting our faults and blind-spots corrected and healed is an essential work of the Church as community.
A Cathedral is a border-land. We’re a place of dialogue, innovation, hospitality and solemnity. Though our events and activities we’re here to help dialogue about things of lasting importance, to widen vision, to help society understand itself and face up to challenges and need. Because a Cathedral is open and accessible, many people feel able to touch the Sacred because they know the place is common ground.
Now this bit of discernment is, of course, up for refinement, revision or reworking. Tradition always demands a serious coming to terms with the needs of the hour and the signs of the times. Without that essential awareness, we become a preservation society not the Church. We’re a mission not a club. Looking around us at the moment, I think that in the short, medium and long term every Cathedral, and Lichfield can be no exception, has to address some big challenges (1) the environment and the climate emergency; (2) how racially and socially inclusive we must become; (3) how we have to nurture children and young people; (4) how we help society to re-discover a sense of justice and opportunity for all people; (5) how we keep and develop our buildings so that they are appropriate for our mission and role.
How to start? First, ensure people of faith are glad of their faith and have confidence and joy in it.
Secondly, remember small steps on a mass scale bring about big changes – looking after the environment, cutting back waste, nurturing bio-diversity can all be revolutionary. Life is not at its best if viewed as a Darwinian struggle, it becomes Christian when we live fruitfully and fraternally, humbly and hopefully with one another and the land.
Thirdly, we have to keep a view of the Church being trans-generational and inter-generational. We have responsibilities to understand what every age group has to go through. How can we serve one another? We need to devote more resource to children and young people, make room for young families in our worship and activities and help the young with their life decisions, in their growing sense of self and personhood. Equally, as we freshly re-claim the legacy of St. Chad, helping one another to health, giving support in sickness, disability and times of pain, bereavement or isolation, becomes vital ‘Kingdom of God’ work. We might need to train and learn a bit more to be of help, or learn to make ourselves available.
Fourthly, we are living at a time when the ground is shifting. What kind of wisdom can we bring to the sense that not much works – a health service rapidly unravelling, social care and ageing left unaddressed, sluggish responses to the climate crisis, and a housing crisis for all to see. Living a good Christian life cannot be abstracted from the concerns of so many. We have masses of Christian social teaching on these questions. Don’t be dismayed by the Press when it lampoons those Christian concerns – they are the ignorant ones, knowing neither the Bible nor the Christian tradition. Be aware of press bias and whose interests they serve.
Fifthly, people need beauty. Our Cathedral and Close refresh the parts other places don’t. Treasure this gem of a place. To make it even more user-friendly we still need an ancillary building to the Cathedral to bring together our welcome and hospitality, cloakrooms, loos, café, shop, storage and exhibition space. Let’s keep exploring the options.
As I take my leave, please accept my huge thanks and appreciation for all the interest, support and prayer you and so many others give and have given to the Cathedral. Please go on giving it! There’s a splendid team of Clergy, Staff and Volunteers doing extraordinary work: please encourage them. Give the Interim Dean, Bishop (and Canon) Jan McFarlane the backing and help she needs (although in one so competent, you’ll have the assurance that it is business as usual and probably better!)
I am aware of all of those who have gone to glory during the past seventeen years and I thank God for so many lives of Christian faithfulness, generosity and service. This memory can encourage us to stay joyful in hope, steadfast in trouble, and persistent in prayer. All God’s saints cheer us on our way, be glad in their company.
I pray that you will always live deeply in the mystery of Jesus Christ’s dying and rising. It is the source of our salvation and the best news the world has ever heard.
Please pray for Caroline, our grown-up children (who have had a great time in Lichfield) and for me. I’m sure retirement will be lovely – but it will take some getting used to. All advice welcome, but I plan to have a good rest and not take on too much too soon, thereby correcting the bad habits of a life-time.
This is a copy of the memorial card for Fr Tom Herbst, a contributor and supporter of this blog. The friars also sent a copy of the order of service for the Mass of the Resurrection celebrated when his ashes arrived back in California from Kent, where he served God and his people for many years.
We invite you to pray for Tom and all our dear ones who have died in this season of Resurrection and Life. May they rest in peace and rise in Glory.
O God, creation’s secret force,
yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,
who from the morn till evening ray
through all its changes guide the day:
Grant us, when this short life is past,
the glorious evening that shall last;
that, by a holy death attained,
eternal glory may be gained.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
may every tongue and nation raise
an endless song of thankful praise!
Saint Ambrose of Milan composed this simple hymn, appropriate for Eastertide with its reflection on a holy death and eternal glory. I wonder what would make a holy death? Or unholy? Accident victims and those who die in their sleep or of a massive heart event we can but commend to God, ‘creation’s secret force’ who can grant eternal glory to whomsoever he will.
The photograph shows the ancient Baptistry beneath the present day Cathedral of Milan, discovered in the 1950s when the metro was being excavated. Notice that it was a proper pool with room for total immersion. It has eight sides because Jesus rose on Easter Sunday, the eighth day of Holy Week. We are baptised into his death and resurrection,as was Ambrose, in this pool, and at his hand, Augustine.
How did the sun rise that morning?
Did it roar into the sky?
Did it dance, throwing its flames across the void?
Did it rain?
Surely it rained?
A penetrating April deluge,
Short, sweet, cleansing.
Penetrating like grief,
Like relief.
Did the wind blow?
With no-one to feel it lift the dirt, the dust,
Sweep clean,
Prepare the way.
The sun at darkness’ end.
The lightning, thunder.
Fit entrance to a forgiven world.
Fit entrance for a Prince, a Lord.
Did the birds and the creatures rejoice together?
The flowers tremble,
Their perfume astonish?
Till all ablaze,
You stepped forth
Accompanied by Angels,
And went your way, about your world.
Until the women came,Looking,Peering,Anxious,Worried.
All was calm again by then,
Nothing untoward,
Except that you had gone to Galilee
And left a message with an Angel.
SPB
I make no apology for republishing this Easter poem from our dearly departed poet, Sheila Billingsley who died last October. It is full of Easter hope, joy and wonder.
The Easter garden was at Canterbury Cathedral before the masons took over this site.
For any reader who wishes to follow the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, please use the link below. It will give you a leaflet in Latin, Italian and English.
These are the prayers of Final Commendation and Farewell after Communion, to be followed by a moment for silent prayer:
Dear brothers and sisters, in celebrating the sacred mysteries we have opened our minds and hearts to joy-filled hope; with confidence we now offer our final farewell to Pope Emeritus Benedict and commend him to God, our merciful and loving Father.
May the God of our fathers, through Jesus Christ, his only Son, in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, deliver Pope Emeritus Benedict from death, that he may sing God’s praises in the heavenly Jerusalem in expectation of the resurrection of his mortal body on the last day.
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Salus Populi Romani, intercede before the Eternal Father, that he may reveal the face of Jesus his Son to Pope Emeritus Benedict and console the Church on her pilgrimage through history as she awaits the Lord’s return.
After Pope Francis incenses the mortal remains of Benedict XVI, the pope will pray in Latin:
Gracious Father, we commend to your mercy Pope Emeritus Benedict whom you made Successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.
Welcome him, we pray, into your heavenly dwelling place, to enjoy eternal glory with all your chosen ones. We give you thanks, Lord, for all the blessings that in your goodness you bestowed upon him for the good of your people.
Grant us the comfort of faith and the strength of hope.
To you Father, source of life, through Christ, the conqueror of death, in the life-giving Spirit, be all honor and glory forever and ever.
The choir and the congregation will sing the following Antiphons:
May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.
May choirs of angels welcome you and with Lazarus, who is poor no longer may you have eternal rest.
As Benedict XVI’s coffin is carried to his place of burial in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, the choir will sing the Magnificat in Latin.
Today we hold the funeral service for our poet, 92 year old Sheila Billingsley, who died last month. May she rest in peace with her husband Reg, and rise in glory! Here is her Easter poem from four years ago. She was fascinated by the physicality of Easter, the renewal of all life through Christ’s resurrection. Pray for her and those she has left behind.
Did it Rain that Morning ?
How did the sun rise that morning?Did it roar into the sky?Did it dance, throwing its flames across the void?Did it rain?Surely it rained?A penetrating April deluge,Short, sweet, cleansing. Penetrating like grief,Like relief.Did the wind blow?With no-one to feel it lift the dirt, the dust,Sweep clean,Prepare the way.The sun at darkness’ end.The lightning, thunder.Fit entrance to a forgiven world.Fit entrance for a Prince, a Lord.Did the birds and the creatures rejoice together? The flowers tremble,Their perfume astonish?Till all ablaze,You stepped forthAccompanied by Angels,And went your way, about your world.Until the women came,Looking,Peering,Anxious,Worried.All was calm again by then,Nothing untoward, Except that you had gone to GalileeAnd left a message with an Angel.
Canon Anthony Charlton’s reflections on All Souls’ Day.
This feast of the Commemoration of All Souls is not a day of grief and mourning but of hope and prayer that God will deliver all those who may still be suffering in some form and bring them to eternal happiness.
In our parish we have the so called Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place. It is the only remaining building of the large house and estate belonging to the Hales family and was converted from an 18th century’s garden building to a chapel around 1879. The whole site is now in a very sorry state. In 1880 the large house was sold to exiled Jesuits from Lyon and turned into a college. The college was popular with the French nobility who sent their sons there to learn away from political persecution in France. In 1928 the estate was sold and the house was demolished in the following years. Its chapel (originally a dovecote) and the burial ground are all that remain, located by the Tenterden Drive layby. There are twenty people buried in and around the building. Sir Edward Hales, Mary Felicity Hales and Lady Frances Hales all reburied here, along with ten Jesuit priests, two children, one lay teacher, four lay brothers and one Jesuit scholastic.
As we pray for the souls of all the departed today let us remember especially those buried around the Mortuary Chapel.
O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son,
having conquered death,
should pass over into the realm of heaven,
grant, we pray, to your departed servants that,
the mortality of this life overcome,
they may gaze eternally on you,
their Creator and Redeemer.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
AMEN
Image: David Greenhalgh / Belvedere Chapel / CC BY-SA 2.0
From Canon Anthony Charlton of Saint Thomas, Canterbury, a further reflection on respect for the bodies of the dead.
Last month, Fr John and I were at St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, for Solemn Evening Prayer in honour of St John the Apostle and Evangelist and the Rites of Re-internment for the body of Bishop John Butt who had been buried in the aisle of the seminary chapel where we both trained. He founded the seminary in 1891. As you know St John’s Seminary closed last year.
Along with Bishop Butt’s body was the heart of Cardinal Francis Bourne which had been placed in the wall of the side altar of St Francis de Sales in the Seminary Chapel. Francis Bourne had been appointed first rector of the seminary by Bishop Butt. It had been his request that his heart be placed in the seminary when he died.
Showing due respect for these mortal remains emphasises that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Cardinal Nicols said these words of committal:
In the sure and certain hope
of the resurrection to eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
we commend to almighty God our brothers John and Francis
and commit their mortal remains to their resting place.
The Lord bless them and keep them,
the Lord make his face shine upon them,
and be gracious unto them,
the Lord lift up his countenance upon them
and give them peace.
agnellusmirror 