Tintern Abbey Vespers...a magical afternoon and a debut

                                                                                       September 8th is the day theat has been chosen by the Church to celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary. It was Mary who co-operated with God, who had chosen her, a little Jewish girl of about 15 years perhaps to take the almighty task of providing the Saviour of the World. A  huge task for such a young woman. She acknowledges her stainless state by calling God her 'Saviour' and rejoices in  the faith and honour God has shown her faith and honour which have been shown to her, now, as she, living enjoys the Presence of God and her Son Jesus. Since all Christians, after their baptism, are united, as adoptive sons and daughters of God (cf The Kings and Queens of  Narnia are CS Lewis allegory in The Lion, the Witch and the Warderobe) Christ's mother is our Mother too, a mother we should call Blessed.....because the angel Gabriel said 'Blessed art Thou among Women' and Mary herself says 'Behold all generations shall call me blessed'.

So we have an enormous debt to little Mary for bringing us the Redeemer, the Saviour, He who conquered death for us and brought us Salvation. She gave Christ the flesh, which hung , to her enormous pain, on the Cross at Calvary, when the sword pierced her heart.

The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated with Mediaeval festivities as a holiday right through to 1535 when for some reason the Virgin was banned to being a 'receptacle'-a womb that God used to bring Our Lord into the world. Her honours and festivals ceased in Britain, even though both Luther and Calvin to their dying day,loved and honoured her. With the revival of honour being shown, underlined by John Henry Newman and Catholic Emancipation (the repeal of the harsh penal laws against Catholics) the honours were renewed and in recent years, the finding of the statue of Our Lady of Tintern, found in bits in the stone store and brilliant Sculptor Philip Chatfield's recreation from its pattern, found in Amiens Cathedral, there the original Sculptor

had fashioned it, it has been 'returned'.

 The stone was blessed, then the Sculptor and his tools in the traditional way by the Cistercian Abbot of Caldey, Daniel van Sandvoort  and Philip worked out of doors in the Abbey for the next year.It was consecrated by clergy (this is an ecumenical event) and Revd Archbishop Peter Smith on the 500 anniversary of the dissolution of the Abbey.

On Sunday 9th September 2007 the statue was blessed and dedicated in a moving ceremony conducted jointly by the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff, Peter Smith, and by Bishop Dominic Walker of Monmouth, Church of Wales. A very large crowd gathered for the occasion – in the region of 800 people.
The dedication followed the now annual ecumenical service of Sung Vespers, which first took place again at Tintern in 2000, to mark the Millennium. The procession at that dedication included the Mediaeval re-enacters, who brought a banner, and flowers, which had been brought by many of the ecumenical assembly of Christians.Merchandise was produced to help pay for the enterprise. I also arranged for and brought two candle stands for use with the statue at Tintern for the ceremony, which appear to have been mislaid yesterday, which was regrettable.

Nevertheless the event was well attended. The Music , provided by the Choir of the ancient Priory in Monmouth were in stirling voice.Archbishop Stack, our new Archbishop seemed to not have been informed about the procession, but once the Vespers were underway, the whole was wonderful. The programme made the point about RR Terry's compilation of the 'Westminster Hymnal' first brought out 100 years ago..Terry's tune for AVE MARIS STELLA was sung  in  Edward Caswall's  English translation. The first hymn, 'Ye who own the faith of Jesus' was unknown to me, but sung to a well known tune 'Daily Daily sing to Mary'.The psalms had antiphons by Emma Joy and Susan Williams.Psalm 84 was preceded by 'On this day we honour the Virgin Mary; chosen by God, beyond all others blest' .Psalm  85 with Let us celebrate the birth of Mary, who brought forth for us the Saviour of the World!' Psalm 113 had  God has brought help to His people , O praise the Name of the Lord'  and  a canticle from Isaiah 61,10-11:62:1-2 was prefaced by 'You shall be a crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord'     The Scripture was from St Luke 1 v 39-56.

The new archbishop George Stack spoke strongly and firmly of the Tragedy of the building and what the stones would have said.He spoke well, and with a degree of emotion about the building, Tintern Abbey, mentioning how such buildings are magnets for tourists seeking something, and yet missing the inner unity possessed by the culture prior to the destruction of the  abbey.In quiet measured tones using the excellent sound system provided, he alluded to how modern technology,and music can bring some of it back, for example, during the Jubilee Celebrations, seeing Buckingham Palace swathed in light and sound as 'Madness' sang 'Our House' and the Crown or Light around Durham Cathedral celebrating the Lindesfarne Gospels. In the Tintern pilgrimages, he explained we have Footprints in the Sands of time, showing a continuation of worship throughout Christian time, and such buildings being an offering with which we worship God.

He went on to say 'If these stones could speak, what would they say?' Archbishop George remarked, the (original decapitated-) statue would speak of the turmoil of the time when political questions and allegiances were wrapped up in religious language. He said you only needed to watch the news to see no lessons had been learned in that direction.

He said Our Lady would speak of a stable, ordered Cistercian Community established around Wales,from Citeaux in 1098, a life centred in Prayer, orf WHOLE-ness, or HOL-iness, by extention going out to the good and well being of the surrounding parishes, contributing to the harmony of the life of the people, the building itself glorifying God in a beautiful God-given Creation in its surroundings. He quoted Eamon Duffy the historian, who in his excellent book 'The Voices of Morebath'  wrote of the social and political life of a small village in Devon called Morebath. He says the parish, the unity of the parish and by extension the Abbey was sophisticated and harmonious.

'There is a church sheep flock cared for in common but it is not a single flock but several,the proceeds of  which are dedicated to the different purposes of charities.'

The parish generally harmonious and sociable was gradually deconstructed throughout the Reformation and this social and religious life dismantled and its loss mourned. If the beautiful statue could speak, she would speak of the Rule of Benedict and the quiet rhythms of the days and years, the abbey its surroundings and parishes, a complete integrity of WHOLE-ness and HOL-iness. She would say you cannot separate the Grace of God from Nature , you can't see things in isolation, which is the tragedy of our present world, the lack of the inner UNITY at the Heart of Creation. Tintern Abbey was built, he said, as a reminder of that Unity of beautiful Creation and its heavenly Creator,the longing deep in the heart of every man and woman.

The Archbishop then turned to Beranrd of Clairvaux, the Cistercians'  greatest saint, who meditated on Mary's role , undoing the evil of Eve. He called her 'Rosa Mystica'; and this title has been given her in the Litany of Loreto. He said : 'Eve was a thorn, wounding , bringing death to all, in Mary we see a rose soothing people's hurts'.

Mary is indeed a rose
White for Maidenhood
Red for Love
White in Body
Red in Soul
White in seeking Virtue
Red in turning down Vice
White in cleansing our affection
Red in mortifying her flesh
White in her Love of God
Red in her comjpassion for her neighbour.  St Bernard

Finally he quoted Gerard Manley Hopkins the Jesuit poet, who saw the beauty of the Lord in' Dappled things.'

Is Mary that Rose then? Mary, the tree?
But the Blossom, the Blossom there, who can it be?
Who can her Rose be? It could be but One:
Christ Jesus, our Lord - her God and her Son.
In the Gardens of God, in the daylight divine
Shew me thy son, Mother, Mother of mine

A hushed moving silence followed the beautifully crafted and delivered homily.

There followed the 'Ave Maris Stella' in English of Edward Caswall, and the Magnificat,and prayers, the 'Our Father' in a modern English form did not seem  known by many, and the Glory be, had a different ending is now and ever shall be, World without end' does not , to me mean the same as is now and shall be forever....'as it leaves out the New World without End of the Bride and the Lamb, but no doubt, it has been modernised here.  The CENSING of the statue and beautiful floral display was evocative, the incense of the Orthodox monastery going up in clouds and swirling round the statue, giving honour to the Mater Dei , The Theotokos and the Panagia (All Holy).

The  Monmouth Priory Choir (whose Music Director is not named in the programme)samg a beautiful rendition of Orlando di Lasso's motet 'Sancta Maria, Ora pro nobis'. It is always difficult to mike so many singers, but the beauty of their singing greatly enhanced the procession to the statue.I especially liked this and the ensuing SALVE REGINA (Hail Holy Queen) sung with great gusto by the whole assembly of Christians  with numbers in the hundreds. There followed a prayer and blessing and final hymn 'Alleluia sing to Jesus' the old abbey ringing to the sounds of hundreds of voices upturned in praise.

Many people went up to venerate the statue and light some candles, sadly the candlestands were no-where to be found. I was just sad there was no rosary announced afterwards for those who wished it, and no informal Marian hymns. I saw few priests I knew at this year’s Vespers, but probably as they are all moving around this weekend to different parishes.Nevertheless on a sunny beautiful Autumn day, in a place of great beauty we once again gave thanks with equal beauty for Mary's gift to human kind in co-operation with God.

                                           Pilgrims at the end stay to honour Mary .

Mary in May, The Night of 1,000 candles

Last night,i n spite of a very damp evening, nearly a thousand people turned up to Belmont Abbey for the famous May procession to honour Mary, the human mother of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. People met at Hedley Lodge, for an
 evening meal or tea and cake and then assembled at nine o'clock at the gates of the Abbey. People turned up in coaches, cars, minibuses and everywhere was packed. At the gates, people bought Lourdes candles and paper cups in which to shield them from the wind.

Abbot Paul Stoneham welcomed all the pilgrims , who had come from as far as Swansea, and also from Bromyard in Herefordshire and all joined in a rousing series of hymns thanking Mary for her 'Yes' to God's plan which overturned Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. We were graced with the presence of the Lord Archbishop of Cardiff, whose birthday it was and who joined in the hymns with equal fervour to the Welsh, who were in good voice. The processional statue of Our Lady was borne aloft, decked with many different sorts of flowers, roses, carnations lilies many other varieties and was illumined. We walked around the huge garden, and recited the Glorious Mystery of the Rosary. In fact this carrying of the statue and the singing and prayer very much called to mind the Ark of the Covenant, the powerhouse of the ancient Israelites at the beginning of our Plan of Salvation, before whom David danced. Mary was of the House of David, and is often called the 'Tower of David' as one of that line's most glorious creations.

During a homily in the Abbey Church, Archbishop George gave an inspirational homily,recalling our 'journey' through the garden .He reminded us, that our Salvation had begun in the Garden of Eden. Eve too had been conceived without sin, because God had done this for Adam and Eve but, after Eve's disobedience, another woman,Mary in her immediate obedient  'yes' to the Angel Gabriel had brought the possibility of restoring us to Eden. The story of  Salvation, moved to a close in another garden, that of Gethsemene,where Jesus was arrested, before his death on the Cross for our Salvation.

The Angel called Mary 'Blessed' and so we call her Blessed Mary or 'Blessed Mother' and in fact Mary herself says 'All generations shall call me blessed' in her Song of Praise, the Magnificat.

In watching the procession move around, I was mindful of the Ark being carried by the Israelites.

It was made of gold  and was Ancient Israel's symbol of the Presence of God, as it contained

 The Ten Commmandments of the Law of Moses,

The Rod of Aaron, the High Priest

An Urn containing the Manna from Heaven ,

 which the ancient Israelites had been dropped from Heaven to physically eat in the desert to stay alive, when God saved them from starvation. Jeremiah had hidden the Ark from the invading Babylonians and said that the Ark would come back when the Tabernacle, which had been OVERSHADOWED by the Glory Cloud (Holy Spirit) it when it was set up would once again come down.

When King David brought the Ark to his new centre, Jerusalem, David greeted it and said "Who am I that the Ark of the Covenant should come unto me?" and then leapt in front of it with joy. (Compare Mary's cousin's greeting (Elizabeth)  'Who am I, that the Mother of my Lord should come unto me?', and the baby 'leapt' in her womb.

In the book of Revelation (means Apocalypsis-Unveiling) Chapter 11 John saw the Temple open and the Ark of the Covenant. The scene then reveals  the Woman clothed with the sun and twelve stars around her head, 12 Apostles, 12 Tribes-His Body on earth crowning Mary. The Woman was in Childbirth and giving birth to God's Son and the Beast was waiting to eat her child, but it was  taken back to heaven. The image of the crowning with stars is also similar to inside the Holies in the Temple where the Ark was kept, there was a curtain that depicted the sun, the moon, stars  to show God's temple was above the earthly Temple , which had been like a dim image in a mirror of the heavenly temple.

Mary made her long visit, (as probably a 15 year old girl,) from Nazareth (a town named after 'Nezzar'-'Shoot, 'A shoot shall spring forth out of the stem of Jesse' (Isaiah)to the town in Judea where Elizabeth lived. The Ark of the Covenant had also made its journey from the North of Judea to Jerusalem, which is in Judea.

The Shikenar Glory Cloud,(Holy Spirit) has now again descended and OVERSHADOWED the NEW ARK, as Archbishop George reminded us, which is one of Mary's titles-The Ark of the New Covenant.

 It OVERSHADOWED the Blessed Virgin Mary when she consented to do God's will and enthusiastically obeyed God's call, and made possible for us to have with us the Lord Jesus Christ. The word overshadowed only ocurrs in Greek on these two occasions in the Bible. God needs our co-operation to be present on earth and she is our most wonderful example of a saint, living out god's Life in her.. We venerate her as a unique human saint, alive in heaven with her Son.

The Queens of the House of David, were never the consorts or wives, always the Mothers of the present King (Solomon with Bathsheba), who are recorded in the House of David, along with the Kings. This Queen-Mother was called the 'Gabirah' and this is how early Jewish Christians would have understood the role of Mary, mother of the King. At the Wedding at Cana she said to Jesus, that the people needed wine and then 'Do whatever He tells you' to the servants .Little mortal human Mary, chosen by God for this important plan of Salvation loved God totally.

. Mediaeval writers called her the 'Spotless Rose' (from Isaiah) set to Music by Herbert Howells, this is a beautiful hymn.

Little human Mary was the NEW ARK.

Because Mary held in her womb and heart - JESUS, the Lord's anointed, as

1) The Word of God, the Wisdom of Christ

2)The True High Priest and Victim (he inaugurated the Lord's Supper and died for our sins on the Cross-once and for all.The Fourth Cup of Consummation of the Passover, was taken in the form of a bitter wine held on a sponge, after which he said 'It is accomplished'-(fulfilled'- You will be my People and I will be your God )

3) The Eucharist,the Thanksgiving Meal. Jesus was born in BETH-LEHEM (Town of BREAD) which was David's City. He is our physical food and is with us to the End of Time.He was laid in a feeding trough- a 'manger' (Fr 'to eat').

Inside the Abbey the statue was set up behind the altar, and lit up, just like the golden Ark, and everyone sang Hymns of Thanks and Praise to God for his gift of Mary providing a man's body for God in her Son. This Mystery of the Incarnation was observed in ancient poetry and texts of the ancient Welsh people, who called Jesus 'Mary's Son'.

Thank you Mary! for doing what you did!

After Archbishop George had preached, all turned to face the statue and give thanks in a hymn.At the end of the hymn 'Bring Flowers of the Fairest!' thousands of rose petals descended on the Statue representing Mary (New Ark).This was a wonderful moment.  The Old Pagan practice of the Queen of the May had been turned to a ceremony of Thanks, decking Blessed Mary with beautiful flowers and thanking her for her obedience, which has had a wonderful blessing for us all for the last 2,000 years.

Throughout the Veneration, the candles had been kept burning and the whole Abbey church shimmered.From everyone, a thank you for your words 'Ecce ancilla Domini'-behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Let it be done to me, according to your Word'. The little handmaid's words to us 'Do whatever he tells you....from the Book of John ask us to be obedient too....can we be as obedient as she is? We can only try.

At the end of the devotion, we all left and Archbishop George greeted us all singly  and went to the refectory for refreshments, after which I understand, the faithful sang 'Happy Birthday to You' to Archbishop George.

In spite of the dampish weather , we left with sounds of the hymns in our ears. We had a  SUPERB Organist who played Widor's Toccata at the Recessional and accompanied all the inside hymns fervently and with great 'hwyl' and verve-which added a great deal to the fantastic singing, the scent of the many flowers, the images of the hundreds and hundreds of glowing candles and the smiles on all the faces, the Sisters of Charity, the many priests nuns and other brothers and sisters who took part, all these were in our hearts and ears. I really felt little Mary was there amongst us joining in the fun and pointing us, as she always does to her son, our God and her God'.

Do whatever he tells you.......

Thanks from all the Pilgrims for the Faith and Catechesis through popular piety and in other ways,and an excellent retreat programme, to Abbot Paul and all the monks of Belmont for their service and care.