Encanyissada

Today, my last assignments in this tour of locum duty. First, celebrating the Eucharist at L'Ampolla for a dozen people. I was delighted to find that in one of the south aisle side chapels, the altar was taken up with a Belen, composed entirely of paper figures, many made from toilet roll centres. A remarkable work of imaginative art, during catechism sessions by local parish workers, no doubt!

On my way home for lunch, I made a big diversion through Delta de l'Ebre returning to Els Muntells, where the car broke down on my first visit this time around, and then driving south along narrow roads through flooded rice fields to Poblenou del Delta, the remarkably modern designed township built as a social project during the time of the Generalissimo, now serving as a key tourist venue for the southern sector of the region. 

Outside the town is a huge lagoon, remarkable for its tall reed beds and wetland wildlife. There's a Natural Park visitor centre and restuarant at the heart of it, with several observation posts overlooking vast expanses of open water and reed beds, which have been enclosed for centuries and used for fish stocks as will as rice growing. The lagoon's name is 'Encanyissada', of Catalunyan origins, referring to the abundance of tall cane type reeds which flourish here.

What a treat to discover this on my last outing, on a beautiful afternoon, filled with glimpses of some remarkable birds, especially several kinds of heron I didn't know existed until I read the wildlife identification panels at the visitor centre, and mostly elusive to camera, as they startle so easily when you drive along. Still, I now know for the first time what a lapwing looks like. There were lots of them in one flooded field, and I even managed to get a close-up.

At the evening Eucharist in the Vinaros Fishermen's chapel, there were ten of us. With there being no priest available to celebrate the Nativity, and most people being away, it was important to finish on the right accent, so we sang a few Christmas carols after Communion, before making our farewells. 

Although there's only been Sunday service while I've been here this time, it's been quite busy in a way, as there's been a need to work with the lay worship leaders and Readers in training on developing their ministry as a team. Fortunately, this is something which I greatly enjoy, and willingly do. It's good to be able to re-cycle some of what I learned from my time tutoring at St Mike's.

  

   

Tale of Nativities

Friday afternoon, Michael and I drove down to Alcocebre to take part in the annual Nine Lessons and Carols celebration. Fifty people were present. He and I were among three soloist with verses from 'We three Kings'. I said the customary Bidding Prayer and John's Gospel, but all else was carried nicely by members of the congregation. It's a measure of how important an occasion like this is to the expatriate community in the area, that people not only turned up and attended but were keen to play a part. One of the readers was a young Spanish girl, an English language student with plenty of confidence to deliver a public scripture reading. These are moments to treasure in terms of cultural exchange, part of what the church as a 'curator'of language exists to offer, often without realising the significance of what it does.

At the south side of the altar in the church of St Cristobel, where the service took place, an open tent canopy had been erected and decorated. Inside it there was a manger-crib with baby Jesus installed, but none of the other actors in the nativity scene. I imagine it was the stage setting for a nativity play or tableau. But, it was the subject of a certain amount of wry humorous observation from by-standers.

In Castellon la Plana last Tuesday, the Cathedral had a large north aisle arcade dedicated to a Belen, and as customary in church, all the figures were in place but the baby Jesus, who makes an appearance at Midnight Mass, a kind of liturgical version of 'Godly Play', I guess. 

Out in the Cathedral Plaza is a mediaeval public building which still serves the public administration of the city. In one corner of its porch is the municipal Belen. Here, baby Jesus is already installed. (I remember this at St John's Cardiff too.) It's too much additional expense and bother to arrange for baby Jesus to appear in public at midnight. Think of the overtime bills ... But in St Cristobel, by way of contrast, only baby Jesus was there.  Such imaginative games we play with our essential stories!