[Magdalen] Are we down?

[Grace Cangialosi]

The chapel at VTS didn't have candles on the altar until sometime in the '50s, and they never owned a processional cross until the Class of '88 gave them one! I know...I was there for the latter event!

> On Feb 1, 2015, at 10:58 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> That was probably James Pike's problem.  He just got some candles and tried
> to use them on the altar, and Fr. Cummins (or his shade) kept coming and
> blowing them out.
> Paul Moore was a seminarian at the church under Pike at the time, and
> affirmed that this happened.
> 
> All that was dwarfed (no insult to little people intended by this
> terminology) by the event where a bat chased Pike out of the sanctuary.
> Bats kept appearing from time to time.  I actually saw one make its
> appearance when the death of a lady was announced. She had been a
> parishioner back in the day who had been fond of Pike.
> 
> Still, who knows? Maybe a blessing of the candles might have placated
> Cummins (he was low church, and saw absolutely no good coming out of any
> (any) use of candles on the altar. Having been rector for fifty years, I
> guess he felt he owned the place -- the fact that he now no longer had a
> pulse notwithstanding.  I hear it's sometimes hard to let go....
> 
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
> for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
> on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente
> 
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 7:27 AM, Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> We also bring our household supply of candles to be blessed.
>> 
>> Marion, a pilgrim
>>> On 1/31/2015 5:11 PM, Roger Stokes wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On 31/01/2015 21:28, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> OK, Scott, what is the blessing of the candles about?
>>> 
>>> I'm not Scott but  traditionally at Candlemas candles (or a
>>> representative sample of them) are blessed for use in church in the
>>> following year - hence the title.  I am surprised that Ascension bless then
>>> on the Eve rather than at Mass on the day, which is actually Monday this
>>> year.  The name of the Feast with which some will be more familiar is
>>> either the Purification of the BVM or the Presentation of Christ in the
>>> Temple which is why it is 40 days after Christmas.
>>> 
>>> Candles can also feature the next day, 3 February, which is the Feast of
>>> St Blaise.  Those with a throat problem can have their throat blessed at
>>> mass by the priest holding crossed candles in front of the person's
>>> throat.  Neither event has any connection with furry rodents.
>>> 
>>> Roger
>>