[Magdalen] Trinity, St. Augustine

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Mom and Dad went to a well-to-do parish -- I think it was St. John's -- in
Naples, and along with a number of others, they were quite unhappy with the
rector. I have to say that Mom and Dad were not at all rigid or intolerant.
It took something to get them ticked off. This small group of families
gradually dropped out. Then, they discovered that all of them had
independently moved to St. Mary's, Bonita Springs.
The difference of those two parishes was dramatic.  St. Mary's had been
built of light-colored wood, with large windows, and an absolutely superb
digital organ.  Both Mom and Dad had their funerals there and are buried
there (scattered their ashes together in a small area behind the church in
a lovely garden).  I shall always be very glad that Mom and Dad found this
wonderful parish in their final years.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 3:15 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, I thought I'd give them another chance (a couple of years having
> passed since I visited there) and how I regret it.
>
> They still do the singing-to-the-flag thing (after the procession, someone
> carries the America  flag to the front of the chancel steps and everybody
> sings verse 4 of Hymn 717). I cannot tell you how much I hate this,
> possibly more today than when I first saw it.
>
> The music was indescribably bad.
>
> I wanted to take the assistant rector by the throat and yell "That had to
> be one of the five worst sermons I've ever heard. Maybe you believe you're
> preaching to Baptists, but for God's sake, they're not *** children *** !"
>
> The poor guy who delivered the chalice was shaking so badly I felt sorry
> for him. And a little like one of those dashboard drinking birds, trying to
> tremble in the same rhythm to catch the rim of the chalice as it swung
> back&forth in front of me.
>
> That wasn't all, but I'll stop there.
> -M
>