communio sanctorum

"I believe in . . . the communion of saints" (BCP p. 54)

Four persons received the sacrament of Confirmation this morning. As one of them, B., knelt before the bishop, his grandmother at his side as sponsor, I thought of the little choirboy who joined about the time that I came to this parish; his two big sisters were choristers and he had no choice. His eldest sister, in fact, was confirmed today along with him. She was a teenager when I arrived; along with all of the other teenagers in what had been a good choir, she quit, leaving me with the little kids to start over. But I accompanied her for a solo or two while she was in high school; she was a fine singer.

B. is now full-grown, taller than I am, and a fine young man. And he has this day, with the others, assumed his place as an adult in the faith community.

P., one of the jazzmen, arrived with a large group of family, who had driven all the way from Chicago. The bishop related how some are "cradle Episcopalians," others are "playpen Episcopalians" who weren't quite there from birth, but arrived at a young age, still others are "singing Episcopalians" who encounter a good children's choir at the right time. P. leaned over and told me he is a "trumpet Episcopalian." His participation in the jazz evensong combo has, over the course of a couple of years, brought him to this day of confirmation.

As I reset the hymnboards after the contemporary service, a young woman and handsome young man whom she identified as her husband-to-be wandered around the church arm in arm, looking at the windows, the new chancel, the altar and its accouterments. She was, as she told me, an acolyte in this parish as a child; she wanted her beloved to see this place which meant much to her.

At the traditional service, we opened with "Holy, Holy, Holy," to the great J. B. Dykes tune Nicaea. Before we started, I estimated the sparse congregation, and reduced my registration by a couple of stops. Would we be up to it?

I should never have doubted. It went sufficiently well that I dropped out for an unaccompanied stanza, tears in my eyes at the sound of their voices in beautiful harmony. Like no other group in my experience, these people embody the dictum that "the congregation is the true choir" of the parish. Afterwards, a distinguished elder of the congregation told me that the hymn "took [him] back seventy years" to his days as a choirboy in Wales.

J., an organist in the congregation, came up to the choir afterwards with her children. Both of them have been immersed in singing and church music from their pre-natal beginnings; I remember J. attending organ recitals while very pregnant, and herself playing in at least one while in that condition. I have little doubt that if the Lord grants these children long lives, they will one day take their place as choristers, and beside B. and his sister as confirmed adult members of the Church (whether this communion or another). They may come back for visits and show their future husband and wife this parish church, and all the places in it that they love and remember. If the Lord wills, they may one day sing hymns that take them back seventy or eighty years to their childhood in this parish. And they may stand as sponsors for their grandchildren at confirmation. May the Lord grant them all of these blessings and many more.

It was a Good Day. The bishop preached a splendid sermon despite forgetting to bring his notes; he is an excellent preacher and it is always good to hear him. The choir sang well: "As truly as God is our Father" by William Mathias, an anthem on texts by the Lady Julian of Norwich which they sang from the heart, finishing with the line "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." The organ music -- Bach, the hymnody, and the service music -- was good, complete with that low "E" in the pedal at a couple of crucial points.

It will not be the last Good Day:

"I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."