Bravo! Another splendid slice in the life of a courageous couple. Can you give us a little description of the actual Church and the attendees- a sort of a glimpse of the details of the surroundings? I too was raised Anglo/Catholic but spent some time in a Roman Catholic Boarding School. Aside from the Doctrine of Trans-Substantiation( I think I remembered that correctly) thee seems not to be too much difference, the statement of faith being identical to the word. Henry VIII wasn't actually my idea of a person who should re-shape a Church. Makes one think of what the "changeover" felt like for the average Church member at the St. Magnus Cathedral. Anyways, sounds to me like the Monks appreciated your offer and your talents, failing which you perhaps would not be up for the encore. Well done again! Stephen > I sent the Fletcher Saga for 25 May 2004 to the usual email list but > accidentally added the Orcadia-L email list address > (www.orkneyjar.com/maillist.htm) because I'm still not used to using > Microsoft Outlook Express. To my amazement I received several > complimentary > emails from people who actually liked reading it. > We have been attending the local kirk (Church of Scotland) since we > moved to > the island. I offered to help out with their organ rota but the kirk is > extremely fortunate in having two organists who are quite content to > play > for all the services between them. When I heard that the local Roman > Catholic church had no "official" organist I volunteered my services > although I am of the Anglo-Catholic tradition, have never attended a > Roman > Catholic service and have no intention of "moving over to Rome". But > it was > Pentecost and it seemed right and proper to offer my meagre gift of > musicianship. On Sunday 31 May I found myself playing for a Tridentine > Mass > in the tiny church on the Stronsay jetty. The church, which seats > about 30 > people, is only a few hundred yards from our house and is run by the > monks > from Papa Stronsay (www.papastronsay.com). Like many people I thought > the > Tridentine Mass was "illegal" after Vatican II in the early 1960s but > it > isn't and its use appears to be on the increase. Gregorian chant is > something that I was aware of - I attended a very short evening course > at > Tewkesbury Abbey a few years ago - but am not really familiar with it > so > accompanying it was quite a challenge. The church has a keyboard which > looks > a bit like the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise and can produce > an > amazing number of sounds, not all of which are appropriate to the > Tridentine > Mass or any other church service, so I have been allowed to take the > keyboard back home and find out how to get the best sounds from it > before > next Sunday morning's service. I think that I managed to play the right > thing at the right time thanks to the helpful priest who stood next to > me > and indicated what I should play and when I should play it. It is a > good job > that all the monks are so familiar with Gregorian Chant that my > mistakes did > not put them off too much. Anyway, they have asked me to play for them > again > next Sunday. I was too busy keeping up with the music to pay too much > attention to the precise order of service but it seems terribly > complex (and > is in Latin as well!) so I shall have to start studying it. That's one > of > the joys of retirement - having the time to do something completely > different (in theory anyway). > In this part of the world Bank Holidays do not appear to be noticed by > anybody apart from the churches, the tourists, the Post Office and the > doctor's surgery. Each and every Sunday one of the two shops closes > for the > whole day and the other only opens for a couple of hours over > lunch-time > (but cannot sell alcohol before 1230). However, for the remaining six > days > of the week both of the shops open very early and close very late. > In one of my previous Sagas I mentioned the garden ornaments that we > had > brought with us from Scarborough. One of these is a large and very > heavy > stone carving of a wild boar (emblem of Richard III) that was a gift > from a > friend many years ago. Maureen is a keen Ricardian and insisted on > calling > the boar Antonius but I prefer to call him Horace. Well, Horace has > now been > installed in his new location in the garden and looks quite splendid. > The > reason I mention Horace is that Maureen was delighted on Wednesday > when she > saw a wren sat on the wall, just behind Horace. The wren did not stay > long > but it is good to know that at least one of them is around. > When I was collecting a sack of compost from one of the shops this > week the > proprietor was concerned that he would soon have to open a new pallet > which > would mean disturbing a hen that had decided to sit on a clutch of eggs > right on top of the last pallet. However, I believe that most of the > chicks > have now hatched thus relieving the proprieter of the problem. > Regards, > Bruce Fletcher > Stronsay, Orkney > uk.geocities.com/ricardian@btinternet.com/ > www.caytonwitheastfield.btinternet.co.uk/ > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >