RSCM Report, Part Four: Holy Ground

Friday, July 27

Our rehearsal at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis came late, as they were closing the building for the day. After we completed the SATB music, the ATBs were dismissed while Dr. Adelmann rehearsed the Mass setting (Christchurch Mass, by Malcolm Archer) with the trebles. By this time they had turned off the lights in the Nave, but sunlight streamed through the western windows.

David wrote of entrance into the Holy Place, the Sanctuary:

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh fainteth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary (Hebrew “Qodesh,” or “Holy”). Because thy lovingkindness (“Chesed”) is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. (Psalm 63:1-3)

The Qodesh, the holy place, is not limited to the Temple. It is, as the Sages wrote, a state of mind and spirit. Were a person sufficiently advanced, he would dwell in that place day and night, as did Joshua the son of Nun (Exodus 33:11). Most of us need help to perceive the Qodesh. Even Moses needed admonition from the LORD at the burning bush (Exodus 3:5). Sacred Music is one point of entry; the holy Icons are another, as is the acoustic of a place such as the Basilica, where the Song lingers in the air. The Book of Nature, with the hours of prayer at the rising and the setting of the sun, has been especially important as an entry into the Qodesh from the earliest times (cf. Exodus 29:38-43).

So it was this day. I wandered about the space, the mosaics high in the dome glittering in the late afternoon sun, the trebles and organ giving voice to the moment:

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.

I prayed for a while before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel to the left of the High Altar, and was joined in this by one of the young tenors. I soon found that the side aisle gave a direct line of sight from the Tabernacle to an icon of the Theotokos, the Mother of God. In near-darkness, Our Lady and her Son were two black figures in silhouette, the sacred Ground behind them golden in the dimness:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.

Friday evening at the Course traditionally brings a dinner party for the adults, a dress-up night out at a local restaurant for the proctors, pizza and a movie for the choristers. It fell to Eric and me to assist Miz Deb with supervision of the latter. At first, the young people settled in on the floor with pillows for the movie. Most of the younger ones stayed; they were tired. But many of the teenagers and a few energetic children soon began to wander outside to the parking lot. I went with them. By now, the hot day had given way to a fine cloudless summer night. One group of four teens tossed a frisbee – my heart was with them, for I have seen their friendship develop over their years at the Course and they have become close to one another. Another larger group of teens and younger folk played a game of keep-away with a dodge ball. A third group, all girls, had a bit of a pillow fight and eventually settled down, sitting on their pillows in the parking lot, giggling and talking. Three of the girls learned that one of the young tenors was ticklish, and they entertained themselves by chasing him. By 9:30, all had settled down in their groups (excepting the tenor and his pursuers), engaging in the primordial teenage activity of “hanging out.”

It is of this that RSCM Courses are made, every bit as much as the singing. In the three faiths descended from Abraham, prayer rises from the community more than the individual. From working together – rehearsing together, singing together – a bond develops which is like no other. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, ultimately mediated through the Holy Eucharist and the essential core of our vocation:

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:1-6, the Epistle at Sunday's Eucharist)