All Saints' Anglican Church in the city of Rome - Lent V - Mass in a Tin
Good morning and welcome to our third "Tinned Sunday Mass" from All Saints' Church in Rome. Again we are heartened by the number of contributions which have fed into this service: to our readers and those who contributed to the quiltwork version of the Ten Commandments (we have always tried to include the full ten at least once during Lent), to Freddie and Eric at St Paul's Within the Walls who confected a "Merbecke for two voices" along with the spoken peoples' parts for the Mass itself and then doubled their two voices electronically for the Thomas Tallis responses to the 10 Commandements. My friend Frederic Eymard in Issoire in the Auvergne put together a version of the Old One Hundred for the Offertory in his own inimitable style.. Thanks as well to our titular organist Gabriele Catalucci for the version of the Bach Sarabande which he recorded for us this week. Immediately below, then, you'll find Youtube videos containing the Gathering, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Sacrament. A Prelude
The Gathering
The Liturgy of the Word
With respect to our offering this morning: As you might imagine, churches such as ours in Italy are highly dependent on revenue from concerts and other rentals of space which are impossible at the present moment. These are uncertain times for us and we would be grateful for your generosity at this moment in our history. If you have the ability and willingness to help sustain us during this time, please use the link below to donate.
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The Liturgy of the Sacrament
Coffee Time
It's only been a few weeks but the normally busy church here on Via del Babuino is shut up like Lazarus' tomb and, for a Vicar, this hurts - palpably.
From Psalm 42:
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession
to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
The question needs to be asked: Why spend this much time working on a Sunday Mass which is clearly not a Sunday Mass because there's no one here with me? Well - they are all arguably here this week: Jonathan, Bruce, Philippa, Eudora, Enoch, Hureem, Freddie, Eric, Ksenia, Helen, Aiden and Gabriele. With particular reference to last Sunday's offering and this week's attempt - we are trying to fill in what many in our core congregation seem to miss the most which is each other. Over the last two weeks, we've seen the children at their laptops, embassy folks of various nationalities who are still plugged in to their duties, teachers at work with their students at a distance, University students who have had their studies abroad truncated and thrown for a loop plus those folks who are nailed in place at home because they're not allowed out without a government form signed by mom saying that the dog needs to poop.
I look forward to a reasonable post-facto discussion with friends and colleagues about how it went during those weeks or months we were unable to meet. Folks who took a particular trajectory (live webcasts, services purporting to be Eucharistic worship, things confected and edited, things done quite spontaneously and "off the cuff" online adorations of the Blessed Sacrament) would, I hope carry on with that trajectory, refine it, change it as their people say "yes" and "no" to its various bits and pieces. I look forward to seeing how the chosen trajectory evolved as it was done a second and third time. Many blessings to you all.
Feel free to share this with any who may find this sort of thing useful or nourishing.
For resources to use at home: go to our church website and click on the words "Faith at Home" for resources for both adults and children. Parents: On the page for children please note the essay "Coronavirus, Anxiety, Children and the Church" which provides some useful reflections on interpreting present circumstances for little people.
Our sister church in Rome, St Paul's Within the Walls, has made provision for some Sunday and midweek prayers to be webcast. Instructions are available via their website. Similar projects are being undertaken by the Ponte Sant'Angelo Methodist Church and other Christian bodies in Rome. We're all in the same boat.
I look forward to a reasonable post-facto discussion with friends and colleagues about how it went during those weeks or months we were unable to meet. Folks who took a particular trajectory (live webcasts, services purporting to be Eucharistic worship, things confected and edited, things done quite spontaneously and "off the cuff" online adorations of the Blessed Sacrament) would, I hope carry on with that trajectory, refine it, change it as their people say "yes" and "no" to its various bits and pieces. I look forward to seeing how the chosen trajectory evolved as it was done a second and third time. Many blessings to you all.
Feel free to share this with any who may find this sort of thing useful or nourishing.
Stuck at home? Please take note of these links.
For resources to use at home: go to our church website and click on the words "Faith at Home" for resources for both adults and children. Parents: On the page for children please note the essay "Coronavirus, Anxiety, Children and the Church" which provides some useful reflections on interpreting present circumstances for little people.
Our sister church in Rome, St Paul's Within the Walls, has made provision for some Sunday and midweek prayers to be webcast. Instructions are available via their website. Similar projects are being undertaken by the Ponte Sant'Angelo Methodist Church and other Christian bodies in Rome. We're all in the same boat.
