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I have good memories of going to church when I was young. Even with questions about why we have to go, I can remember my parents loading us kids up in the backseat of a Chrysler or Oldsmobile sedan every Sunday morning, dressed in slacks with white shirts and ties. Afterward, when walking back to the car, we would ask whether we had been good, and were affirmed by Mom touching our shoulder blades and commenting she could feel the angel wings sprouting.
I am old enough to remember when the Mass was said in Latin - young enough to miss the option to learn Latin in high school - and when the transition to the Second Vatican Council changes happened - oh, so that is what that means in English. Even though I didn't follow what all the meaning to the ceremonies were about, Midnight Mass was a time of wonder....the choir in the loft behind us, the candles burning, the packed pews, staring back up the center aisle to see the colored vestments and procession walking forward, and then waiting in anticipation between the time when the incense were lit and when the scent reached me a short time later.Jumping ahead decades later, a friend mailed us a copy of a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD for a gift. I remember when turning onto Conifer Drive in north Corvallis when I first heard Veni Veni (O Come O Come Emmanuel) play for the first time, I was caught off guard by a rush of memories from past Christmas Eves that flew through my head - echoing voices blending together... Latin verse... a clanking censer swinging at the end of a bronze chain, clouds of incense smoke rising up from in front of the altar... the scent eventually reaching my nose - that was Christmas Midnight Mass. Good memories, memories with emotions.
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Two weeks ago, Jan and I went to a Memorial Mass for the wife of a friend and colleague of mine. It snowed heavily as we drove from Annapolis to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Columbia, but regardless of the weather, many friends from work were there to show Charlie their support. He had graciously walked a long dark path for better than a year - telecommuting so he could help Jane while trying to keep up with his work, rarely showing the strains of the stress...a gentleman at all times.
The parish priest personalized the Mass because he knew Jane and understood what motivated her - his remarks during the homily mentioned how she was well-known for her dedicated service to the children of the church. In the last weeks of her life, I knew from Charlie that nothing was going to keep Jane from doing what she loved....she had just enough energy to prepare her lessons and work with the kids - then spend the rest of the week resting and recovering before repeating the cycle. It didn't seem strange to me that Jane would do that, because Charlie and I had compared notes off and on since we have gotten to know each other the past three years - given that both of our wives were in the same line of business.
There is something about children and their ways that is lost on most adults - it seems that their mission is to try to make kids into little grown-ups as fast as they can. On-the-other-hand, it is the kind of grown-ups who get down on knees and meet little ones eye-to-eye, build towers made out of blocks together, read stories... are the ones who show them what Jesus looks like - with skin on. From what I know of Jane from Charlie, she knew kids in that way.
G.K. Chesterton, an English writer who lived around the beginning of the 20th Century, was a thoughtful social commentator when he wrote in 1908 with a remarkable understanding of the kind of child-like relationship we adults should all have with life
and its routines...like taking care of the needs of children in ways that children would want: "The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we." _______________________________________________
There is something new about the old icon painted by Andrei Rublev showing the Holy Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - seated around a table (2). The old part being knowledge of the Trinity that
goes as far back as countless Masses attended and prayers spoken, and the new part being the open place at the table - a welcoming scene giving an invitation for the viewer to join them. That appeals to me, the Holy welcoming the vulgar - me. Maybe that is what also appeals to a new generation of worshipers and musicians like Chris Tomlin - the reworking of the old Phos Hilaron hymn... making it into something new... making it a scene for what we can have now: "on earth as it is in heaven." And maybe what the new hymn will be when we sing in times future, past our time here, when we go to a room prepared for us (3). I played the new Phos Hilaron (4) over and over on my drive to work the day I learned that Jane had died, with a picture in my head of a new room occupied by the three inviting hosts, welcoming a new guest to the fourth place at the table.
Hail Gladdening Light, sun so bright
Jesus Christ, end of night, alleluia
Hail Gladdening Light, Eternal Bright
In evening time, 'round us shine, alleluia, alleluia
Hail Gladdening Light, such joyous Light
O Brilliant Star, forever shine, alleluia, alleluia
We hymn the Father, we hymn the Son
We hymn the Spirit, wholly Divine
No one more worthy of songs to be sung
To the Giver of Life, all glory is Thine
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(1) Phos Hilaron (Φῶς Ἱλαρόν) is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in New Testament Greek. Often referred to by its Latin title Lumen Hilare it has been translated into English as 'Hail Gladdening Light' or 'O Gladsome/Joyous Light'. It is the earliest known Christian hymn recorded outside of the Bible that is still being used today. The hymn is featured in the vespers of the Byzantine liturgy used by the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic traditions, as well as being included in some modern Anglican and Lutheran liturgies. Information about the history of the hymn comes from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phos_Hilaron
(2) Andrei Rublev probably lived in the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra near Moscow under Nikon of Radonezh, who became hegumen after the death of Sergii Radonezhsky (1392). The first mention of Rublev is in 1405 when he decorated icons and frescos for the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Moscow Kremlin in company with Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor of Gorodets. His name was the last of the list of masters as the junior both by rank and by age. Theophanes was an important Byzantine master who moved to Russia, and is considered to have trained Rublev. The only work authenticated as entirely his is the icon of the Trinity, ca. 1410, currently in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. It is based upon an earlier icon known as the "Hospitality of Abraham" (illustrating Genesis 18). Rublev removed the figures of Abraham and Sarah from the scene, and through a subtle use of composition and symbolism changed the subject to focus on the Mystery of the Trinity. A few more details about Rublev can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Rublev
(3) John 14:3.
(4) You can access a free streaming audio of a recitation of Phos Hilaron (Track 10) and Chris Tomlin's Joyous Light (Track 11) at: http://us.7digital.com/artists/passion/hymns-ancient-and-modern/
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