[Magdalen] Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

[Lesley de Voil]

A Happy and Blessed Easter to you all!
It's now Easter Monday over here, and I think I'm on the recovery
track after three services yesterday.
It's some years since this my present parish has had a Dawn Service,
but despite a week of rainy weather, Easter Day itself dawned fine, if
cloudy and rather damp underfoot. The sun was valiantly trying to
lighten the clouds as our small brave band held the first communion of
the day under a poinciana tree in the grounds. I played the electric
piano, which for safety's sake was installed under the hall verandah,
which also necessitated turning the volume up to carry across the
grass. As the church is next door to some of the local eateries, we
had some rather interesting comments from the early diners - one lady
was so enthused with the sounds she wanted to know when we were going
to put out a CD!
At the succeeding services, we started with Jesus Christ Is Risen
Today - but we don't use EARTH AND ALL STARS in Australia. I must have
had a hankering for the Paschal Candle Procession  of my youth, for I
decided to  play EASTER HYMN in three successively higher keys, one
per verse. It was fun, if not quite as exciting as singing "The Light
of Christ" in successively higher keys as the Paschal Candle is
brought in procession into the dimly lit church. (Let the reader
understand - the present Rector is not quite as liturgically-minded as
some...)
During our third service a baby (about 4 months old) was christened.
Unusually, the infant seemed to be quite happy in church. During the
lnvocation Over the Waters, the Rector's mike picked up the sounds the
baby made. It was lovely to hear the sounds of the splashing water
mixed with the baby's coos and gurgles. May her happiness at being in
church long continue!
Our small  choir sang our standard piece for when numbers are down,
Morley's O Sing Unto the Lord. Never mind, I look forward to the day
when we can do Haec Dies again, instead.
Now we have the dedication of our new Sanctuary stained glass windows
to prepare for in two weeks' time. This will be a public occasion,
that is, not part of our regular Sunday service, attended by the
Governor-General.

Regards
Lesley de Voil

On 4/6/15, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
> The Lord is risen, indeed!
>
> Easter blessings to each and all.
> Ginga
>
> On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 12:28 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Wishing you all a blessed Easter
>> Susan
>>
>> --
>> Before enlightenment pay bills, do laundry.  After enlightenment pay
>> bills,
>> do laundry.
>>
>