[Magdalen] End of an Era.

[Charles Wohlers]

Two hours for Morning Prayer??? Certainly never in my experience. "When I 
was a boy" I much preferred Morning Prayer (we are, of course, talking 1928 
BCP here) because it was only 45 minutes, while the first Sunday of the 
month communion service was an hour and a quarter.

Most of what Scott recalls is also familiar to me.

Chad Wohlers
Woodbury, VT USA
chadwohl at satucket.com



-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim Guthrie
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 6:01 PM
To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] End of an Era.

From: Scott Knitter

On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 9:59 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> We had MP rite I a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't worn
> well. It felt scuffed, frayed.

That's what happens when you get out of practice or try to shorten it to fit 
the
modern style. Back in the day people didn’t think twice about worship 
services
that went two hours in TEC. OTOH, some of the A-C parishes where only the 
priest
received at the Principal Service could be far faster than the "Low Church"
MP-Litany-Sermon-Communion approach.

Scott added:

>Always interesting to me to see old bulletins from MP days to see how
>things were done when it was the familiar thing. Big processional
>hymn, all the penitential material, psalm said responsively by verse,
>often one choral canticle and one chanted congregationally in Anglican
>chant; sermon in one of several possible positions in the liturgy; big
>doings at the offertory including doxology and patriotic verse (maybe
f>lags); big anthem after the collects (like Wesley's Ascribe unto the
>Lord).

Yes -- the most common approach. Back in the day.

>I remember going to Christ Church Cranbrook (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)
>for Morning Prayer and the highlight for me being the congregational
>chanting of Te Deum. Lots of kneeling on hassocks...I still remember

Congregations belting out the Psalm and Venite in four-part Anglican Chant 
was
common.

the swishing sound made when all the hassocks were being pulled out
from under the next pew. Also remember falling off the
hassocks...ouch.

Well, try the parishes with the wooden bench kneelers with one or two "high
church" people banging down and banging back up in the middle of the Nicene
Creed, along with the non-genuflectors yelling "ouch" when the support 
mashed
their foot, and then the muffled shriek when it caught a woman's skirt on 
the
way back up <g>.

And everyone in smart business dress. Every man in a
dark suit, for one thing. (Not saying that's something I miss...just
what it was like then in that parish.)

Yup -- and Palm Sunday as "Little Easter" which brought out many women in 
**last
years** Easter Finery with a whole new outfit (including the required hat 
and
gloves) purchased for Easter Day each year.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie