Remembrance Sunday 2011

A Solemn Mass of Requiem was celebrated yesterday at St James's, offered for the repose of the souls of all those who have lost their lives in the wars and conflicts of the last century.  Being used to the way Remembrance Sunday is marked in the Church of England, and never having attended a Remembrance Sunday Requiem Mass in the Catholic Church, we were not entirely sure what to expect, but what we did find was very very pleasing.

The church was beautifully prepared.  As I had arrived slightly early, I had the opportunity to take a couple of pictures without causing too much disturbance, before too many people had arrived and begun their devotions.  These two photos show the black altar frontal on the High Altar, and the poppies both before the High Altar and on the hanging on the pulpit legilium.  You might spot that beeswax candles were used (not just on the altar, but around the church), as is appropriate for a requiem. 

After the Creed, which ended almost exactly at 11am, a trumpeter played the Last Post and we began the observation of two minutes of silence.  Then, the trumpeter played the Rouse, after which we moved on to the intercessions.  Pairing these two bugle calls in this way always seems to be much more theologically appropriate than ending a period of silence with the Last Post : the night time call, the Last Post, is followed by a period of silence and reflection, before the call of the Rouse (being the call to rise, not the call to wake up, which is the Reveille). 

Even the arrival of the procession was moving, first the thurifer and four acolytes bearing requiem candles, then the Cross being borne by an army officer in dress uniform, and finally, after the MC, three concelebrating priests (Frs Colven, Irwin and Kavanagh) in black chasubles. 

As usual, the music was of the highest quality, the six part Victoria Requiem being sung.  The solo chant section of the end of Offertory, the Hostias, was as haunting as ever.  After Mass, instead of the usual recessional hymn, we sang two verses of the National Anthem while the sanctuary party joined us in facing towards the High Altar.  I wish I had had the nerve to take a photo of that moment, but perhaps next year. 

In posts earlier this month, both on Armistice Day, 11 November and on All Souls' Day, we referred to our duty to pray for the dead, along with some explanation of why this is such a strongly Catholic approach.  Fr Colven brought this very clearly into focus once again in his Homily yesterday, noting that the Church instructs us to pray for the departed.  Praying for the Living and the Dead is indeed one of the Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy.  So, once more, let us pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, especially those who gave their lives in war, that others might live in freedom and in peace.

Let us conclude with the words of the Angel's Farewell, the conclusion of the Dream of Gerontius, written of course by Blessed John Henry Newman.  At his point, Gerontius has died and is now referred to as the Soul, and is guided after death by his Guardian Angel, past demons of hell and briefly into the Beatific Vision, before being gently placed in Purgatory by the Angel.  The Angel addresses the Soul in the following words.  

ANGEL: 

Softly and gently, dearly-ransom'd soul

In my most loving arms I now enfold thee

And, o'er the penal waters, as they roll,

I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.

And carefully I dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance. 

Angels, to whom the willing task is given,

Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest;

And Masses on the earth, and prayers in Heaven,

Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.

Farewell, but not forever, brother dear,

Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;

Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,

And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.  

Farewell! Farewell! 

SOULS IN PURGATORY : 

Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation;

Before the hills were born, and the world
was, from age to age Thou art God.
Bring us not, Lord, very low: for Thou hast
said, Come back again, O Lord! how long:
and be entreated for Thy servants

The organ arrangement of this beautiful piece was played as retiring voluntary yesterday at St James's.  Here is a recording of Janet Baker singing the original.




Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum

After yesterday's great celebration of those who are already with God, today we turn our attention to those who have not yet attained the beatific vision.  This is what one might call a very "full faith" day in the Church's calendar, associated with specifically Catholic teaching, a day which is probably rather misunderstood in many places where it is marked outside the Catholic Church. 

Today, we pray for those who have died and who are in Purgatory.  Since we cannot know, other than in limited cases, who is already in Heaven with God, we must take up a mission of praying for all the departed, assuming that that they are in Purgatory, hoping that they are already in Heaven and that they are not damned.  This we do through our prayers, especially throughout November, the month of the Holy Souls, and through the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the repose of the souls of the departed. 

Perhaps the marking of today by those who would say that they do not believe in Purgatory is down to the confusion caused by the word "remember", ie "Lord, we remember those gone before us", a usage that became common in the Church of England after the First World War, where popular sentiment cried out for some way of including the millions of war dead in prayers, but mainstream Anglican teaching was awkward about praying for the dead.  It always seems to me to be such a ridiculous word in the circumstances, implying that we are happy to tell God that we haven't forgotten about Great Aunt Mabel and poor Cousin Bert, but that's it, we're not actually saying any more than that. 

The survival of this day outside the Catholic Church is possibly also indicative of a deep and innate knowledge in the human soul, an inextinguishable feeling that we must continue to pray for our departed brethren.  This inner call to do so is something that neither the Reformation nor cleverly worded compromise formularies could stop.

At St James's, along with the rest of the congregation, members of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group have submitted names of departed family and friends that will be included in a list of the Holy Souls to be prayed for throughout this month at masses for the dead.  No half measures from us.

As we pray for the Holy Souls, so we ask their prayers for us.  They are already closer to God than we are, and are saved.  May they pray for us as we pray for them.

It is fitting that for a day so associated with robust Catholic teaching, BBC Radio 3's weekly live broadcast of a church service should today be coming from Westminster Cathedral.  At 1530 UK time, instead of the usual service of Choral Evensong from an Anglican Cathedral or an Oxbridge College Chapel, Mass will be broadcast live from the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.  The setting of the Ordinary of the Mass is the Victoria Requiem.  Here is the Introit and Kyrie from that powerful piece of polyphony.