Ascension contention

This morning I down walked to St John's to celebrate the Eucharist with a dozen people. A stranger in the congregation told me afterwards that he was visiting from Latvia. He sat quietly on the front row,  standing at the appropriate moments, and refused the offer of a service book to follow. A bit like me when I'm abroad, and not confident about joining in the congregational responses aloud, if I'm unsure about reading them and pronouncing them properly. The structure of the Eucharist is after all familiar enough for people with a traditional Christian background. He spoke reasonable English, and I think I have seen him in church before, so there may be more to his story than is apparent on the surface.

Clare went into town to do some shopping, and called into St John's city Parish church to see if there was a morning service she could attend. She was surprised and disappointed to discover there was no Eucharist on this particular high day. No special service is added into the regular menu of offerings. In some European countries this is a public holiday, but everywhere it seems to be losing its place as a religious observance. 

Did Vatican II reforms accelerate the process by acknowledging the trend, and making full provision for it in the Sunday liturgy following? I noticed in the on-line Roman Breviary that today is marked as no more than the sixth Thursday in Easter-tide, and if custom dictates, it can be observed as the Solemnity of the Ascension, and next Sunday's readings used. There's probably a set of options so you don't have to read the same ones on Sunday as on Thursday. Even if we think many Roman liturgical innovations are worth adopting, the point of the reformation was daring to think and act differently as a church. The church has gone along with the secularisation of most religious holidays. What good has it done, apart from greater convenience I wonder? 

Fortunately, Llandaff Cathedral was offering an evening Solemn Eucharist, at a suitable time for folk to get home from work, eat and turn up on time. So that was where we went to together later in the day, and rejoiced in the singing of an early Mozart Missa Brevis, Psalm and Anthem with loud organ accompanying rousing hymns, suitable for this early summer fiesta, and traditionally Anglican. There were fifty in the congregation and as many again in choir with the Cathedral Consort singers, servers and priests. The recently installed Canon Chancellor Jan van der Lely preached, a different refreshing voice adding diversity to the core team at the heart of the Cathedral's ministry to city and diocese. We are most fortunate to live just twenty minutes walk away from here. It's a splendid complement to living and worshipping regularly in a lively grass-roots urban parish.