[Magdalen] Five Hundred Years

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

November 1, 1517 - November 1,  2017 - All Saints Day.
 
It will soon be this great anniversary commemorating Martin Luther's
posting of the theses at the Wittenberg Castle Chapel in Germany.
 
I have mixed emotions regarding this event, but am convinced that
some kind of upheaval was inevitable to set the medieval church
in a different direction.
 
How well the Protestant Reformation did that is debatable, and,  indeed,
has been endlessly argued ever since 1517.
 
For me it marks the Solemn High Mass on November 1, 1962 at 
Saint Paul's on-the-Hill (now sadly closed) that began my four year
association with that Anglocatholic parish where I  first sang
plainchant and classical polyphony.
 
I had previously attended the Easter Vigil at Nashotah Theological
Seminary (about 60 miles from the UW-Madison Campus) where the
fully solemn liturgy simply stupefied me, and caused me to be 
convinced that this was the way Christian worship ought to be.
 
Time, too, for my annual rant about keeping All Saints Day and
All Souls Day separate.
 
 
David Strang.