Jack Slade

Enjoying reading Ron Chernow's Mark Twain, including this excerpt:

"In Roughing It, he [Sam Clemens] would tell how he was intrigued by colorful legends about Jack Slade, a stagecoach agent in the Rocky Mountains, reputed to be a homicidal maniac. He wrote that Slade liked to postpone murderous vengeance against enemies 'just as a school-boy saves up a cake, and made the pleasure go as far as it would by gloating over the anticipation.' Since rumor had it that Slade had killed twenty-six people, Twain allegedly sought him out on the ninth day of his journey west, but found a quiet, affable man, not a monster. When the coffee was running out, Slade offered to refill Sam's cup instead of his own, but Sam 'politely declined. I was afraid he had not killed anybody that morning, and might be needing a diversion.'" (Chernow, p. 74)

Lincoln Madonna & Child

Lincoln Cathedral

Eucharist

 

 

Ripon Cathedral's setup for Sunday morning Eucharist.

Choir & Pulpit

Ripon Cathedral choir and pulpit. According to my sources, the choir stalls are "studded with a series of thirty-four small ledges that protrude from the underside of the hinged seating [VERY uncomfortable!]. These are referred to as misericords, or the modern English translation ‘mercy seats’, and are perches that were designed for clergy to respectfully rest against during the back-to-back services of pre-Reformation Britain."

The pulpit was designed by Henry Wilson and dates from 1913. It stands on marble pillars and has silver and bronze decoration.

Ripon

First look at Ripon Cathedral, where we sang evensong and the next morning's Eucharist.

"The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The church became collegiate in the tenth century, and acted as a mother church within the large Diocese of York for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1836 the church became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon." -- Wikipedia

Rehearsal

Some fellow choristers at rehearsal in Norwich.

 

Chapel Votive

Sometimes it's the smallest details that inspire. Like this votive candle. Such a common thing to see in a chapel. But to cradle it in such a beautifully wrought hanger yields something truly special. I can't help but think that Julian herself would have been most pleased.

Cell

 

 

"In 14th century Norwich a young woman fell under a life-threatening illness, during which she experienced a series of extraordinary visions. These revelations transformed her life, and after a miraculous recovery she took vows to live as an anchoress, locking herself away in a small cell attached to a church in Norwich" -- The Julian Shrine

Ecce

 

 

I'm always interested in the use of candles, especially in sacred spaces, such as here in the St. Julian Chapel in Norwich. If I saw these correctly, they're shorter, say 6", candles mounted atop tapered holders. According to some sources, the six candles placed on the altar in the traditional Latin Mass represent the ancient Jewish symbol, the Menorah, but with the seventh candle, the central candle, being replaced by the sacrifice of Christ.

Chapel

 

 

St. Julian's Chapel in Norwich is open each day of the week for worshippers and visitors as a place of prayer. The Mass is held on Sunday mornings.

 

 

Harrison & Harrison Organ

"Norwich Cathedral has one of the largest pipe organs in the country, with the organ featuring an incredible 5,767 pipes that range from 32 feet to just an inch long.

 

In November 2023, the organ was reinaugurated after a complete rebuild by Harrison and Harrison of Durham and is now considered one of the finest instruments of its kind in the country." -- Norwich Cathedral

Despenser Reredos

 

 

There is an extraordinary story behind this altar in the St. Luke's Chapel at Norwich Cathedral, which makes me appreciate all the more the work done by the people who restore such artifacts.

Peace

Norwich Cathedral

Reminds me of an anthem I'm practicing for this coming Sunday's eucharist, a setting of Psalm 122:6 composed by Herbert Howells.

IX

Norwich Cathedral

"The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle.

The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter 'I' or Iota for Iesous (Ιησους, Jesus in Greek) and 'X' or Chi for Christos (Χριστος, Christ in Greek). The spokes can also be standalone, without the circle. These monograms can often be found as ancient burial inscriptions." -- Wikipedia

Global Concern

Norwich Cathedral

The Shortest Day

 

So the shortest day [yesterday] came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us—Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

Third Sunday of Advent

 

Handbells

 

St. Martin's Altar

St. Martin's altar

Bingen am Rhein

St. Martin's Altar

St. Martin's

Bingen am Rhein, Germany