After the second Vigil it was definitely, unambiguously Easter, and I went to have breakfast, along with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
emperor, atreic, Brian winodw, and all the other Vigil attendees. The traditional GMS Post-Vigil breakfast is a slighly odd mix of roast lamb, hot-cross buns, hard boiled eggs, and chocolate eggs. I was happy, but in a slightly brittle stage of sleep deprivation, which mean socialing with strangers was a little bit challenging, but I don't think I let it show too much. I had a brief chat with their new vicar, and came away with a very strong feeling that he is a Good Thing. Apparently making excellent vicar appointments was fashionable last year :)
After a fairly short while, Sally and Brian and I headed off to partake in what has now become another Easter tradition of a swim in the Cam between Masses. I'm quite glad that I first engaged in said tradition this year, when Easter was late in the year and the water was a relatively civilised 14 degrees. Even so, at first dive it was extremely bracing, but after a minute or so of moving around I'd acclimatised, and it became pretty pleasant. We'd driven out towards Grantchester, so the water was at least a little cleaner than in the town centre. The light was stunning, and there were some friendly ducks who were remarkably unfussed about people swimming close to them. We had enough time to spend about fifteen minutes in the water before heading over to Brian's to shower, and then back to the church for High Mass.
Unsurprisingly there were a lot more people at 9.30 than there had been at dawn, includingleonato who had sensibly opted for a bit of a lie in. Unlike the Vigil, the High Mass is liturgically pretty much identical to the usual Sunday Mass, but there were lots of high spirits and many Alleluias, as well as some excellent preaching about the physicality of the ressurection and the way that bodies matter (which was, unsurprisingly, tied into the physicality of buildings like Notre Dame). Because I am ridiculous, I had decided that three Masses was insufficient, so we carefully positioned ourselves so that I could receive communion at the start of the distribution, at which point I ducked out and ran to Little St Mary's. Rather to our mutual surprise I saw sashagoblin en route, but had no time to do anything other than shout a greeting as we passed.
I arrived at LSM between the collect and the Kyrie, and managed to squeeze into one of only a few spaces left on the pews. Oh, and I love that church so very very much. For all that my spiritual home really has moved to St John's, there's an yearning from time to time that only going to LSM can scratch. So much of my faith, and my self was built there. Also we sang "Now the Green Blade Riseth", which is objectively the best Easter hymn.
After my fourth and final Mass of the day,themidnightgirl kindly came and picked me up to go back to Girton, where there was a gentle buzz of activity. robert_jones had been out for a little 22 mile run whilst some of us were churching, and was putting the finishing touch to his canapes. leonato was prepping the main course, and the rest of us were doing a mixture of of helping with food or setting up tables, or just sitting and chatting, drinking fizz and nibbling, whilst we waited for Angela & Sue, the final guests, to arrive from King's Lynn, where Angela is assistant curate.
One they arrived and we'd had a bit of catching up we started the serious business of eating. One of the nice things about getting older is that we've gotten quite a lot of practice at the Easter Feast, and the once daunting logistical challenge of producing a nine course meal has been honed to a fine art that just seems to work with remarkably little stress. All the food was fabulous. We had two kinds of onion soup, a clear broth in a bowl, with a richer creamier one served on top, sitting inside a layer of half an onion. Then for a starter we had a spicy mushroom pate and a red onion marmalade with fresh warm bread. Then trout fishcakes, then a peach, cardamom and ginger sorbet to cleanse our palates. As is traditional, the main course was roast lamb, and then I was in charge of the puddings. I did rhubarb three ways - a posset, a tarte tatin, and a jelly with rose. At this point the cheese came out, but apart from the person who ran 22 miles earlier in the day, we were a little bit too full to eat more at this stage, so we decamped to the sitting room, and made occasional forays back for cheese and fruit and chocolate as the evening wore on and we found a bit more appetite.
Sadly Angela and Sue had to leave at about this point to go to Evensong, and some of the rest of us were flagging slightly and starting to wonder if naps would be a good idea, but then we all seemed to find a second wind. I mean, the rest of the day wasn't especially energetic, but it was very enjoyable. We walked to the end of the road to watch the sunset, we played the hat game, we ate a little, drank a little, and talked a lot. I've had a lot of wonderful Easter's over the years, but this was my best yet. I don't have the skill with words to accurately evoke the sense of calm but engaged loving joy that suffused the room all evening, but I'll never forget it, and am truly and deeply blessed.
By around midnight there were a lot of yawns circulating, and I think we all retired at around the same time. I got a lot more sleep that night, and woke a little before nine to say goodbye toleonato before he left for his train. The rest of us surfaced gradually and after a leisurely brunch the Londoners set off home.
emperor, atreic, Brian winodw, and all the other Vigil attendees. The traditional GMS Post-Vigil breakfast is a slighly odd mix of roast lamb, hot-cross buns, hard boiled eggs, and chocolate eggs. I was happy, but in a slightly brittle stage of sleep deprivation, which mean socialing with strangers was a little bit challenging, but I don't think I let it show too much. I had a brief chat with their new vicar, and came away with a very strong feeling that he is a Good Thing. Apparently making excellent vicar appointments was fashionable last year :)After a fairly short while, Sally and Brian and I headed off to partake in what has now become another Easter tradition of a swim in the Cam between Masses. I'm quite glad that I first engaged in said tradition this year, when Easter was late in the year and the water was a relatively civilised 14 degrees. Even so, at first dive it was extremely bracing, but after a minute or so of moving around I'd acclimatised, and it became pretty pleasant. We'd driven out towards Grantchester, so the water was at least a little cleaner than in the town centre. The light was stunning, and there were some friendly ducks who were remarkably unfussed about people swimming close to them. We had enough time to spend about fifteen minutes in the water before heading over to Brian's to shower, and then back to the church for High Mass.
Unsurprisingly there were a lot more people at 9.30 than there had been at dawn, including
leonato who had sensibly opted for a bit of a lie in. Unlike the Vigil, the High Mass is liturgically pretty much identical to the usual Sunday Mass, but there were lots of high spirits and many Alleluias, as well as some excellent preaching about the physicality of the ressurection and the way that bodies matter (which was, unsurprisingly, tied into the physicality of buildings like Notre Dame). Because I am ridiculous, I had decided that three Masses was insufficient, so we carefully positioned ourselves so that I could receive communion at the start of the distribution, at which point I ducked out and ran to Little St Mary's. Rather to our mutual surprise I saw sashagoblin en route, but had no time to do anything other than shout a greeting as we passed. I arrived at LSM between the collect and the Kyrie, and managed to squeeze into one of only a few spaces left on the pews. Oh, and I love that church so very very much. For all that my spiritual home really has moved to St John's, there's an yearning from time to time that only going to LSM can scratch. So much of my faith, and my self was built there. Also we sang "Now the Green Blade Riseth", which is objectively the best Easter hymn.
After my fourth and final Mass of the day,
themidnightgirl kindly came and picked me up to go back to Girton, where there was a gentle buzz of activity. robert_jones had been out for a little 22 mile run whilst some of us were churching, and was putting the finishing touch to his canapes. leonato was prepping the main course, and the rest of us were doing a mixture of of helping with food or setting up tables, or just sitting and chatting, drinking fizz and nibbling, whilst we waited for Angela & Sue, the final guests, to arrive from King's Lynn, where Angela is assistant curate.One they arrived and we'd had a bit of catching up we started the serious business of eating. One of the nice things about getting older is that we've gotten quite a lot of practice at the Easter Feast, and the once daunting logistical challenge of producing a nine course meal has been honed to a fine art that just seems to work with remarkably little stress. All the food was fabulous. We had two kinds of onion soup, a clear broth in a bowl, with a richer creamier one served on top, sitting inside a layer of half an onion. Then for a starter we had a spicy mushroom pate and a red onion marmalade with fresh warm bread. Then trout fishcakes, then a peach, cardamom and ginger sorbet to cleanse our palates. As is traditional, the main course was roast lamb, and then I was in charge of the puddings. I did rhubarb three ways - a posset, a tarte tatin, and a jelly with rose. At this point the cheese came out, but apart from the person who ran 22 miles earlier in the day, we were a little bit too full to eat more at this stage, so we decamped to the sitting room, and made occasional forays back for cheese and fruit and chocolate as the evening wore on and we found a bit more appetite.
Sadly Angela and Sue had to leave at about this point to go to Evensong, and some of the rest of us were flagging slightly and starting to wonder if naps would be a good idea, but then we all seemed to find a second wind. I mean, the rest of the day wasn't especially energetic, but it was very enjoyable. We walked to the end of the road to watch the sunset, we played the hat game, we ate a little, drank a little, and talked a lot. I've had a lot of wonderful Easter's over the years, but this was my best yet. I don't have the skill with words to accurately evoke the sense of calm but engaged loving joy that suffused the room all evening, but I'll never forget it, and am truly and deeply blessed.
By around midnight there were a lot of yawns circulating, and I think we all retired at around the same time. I got a lot more sleep that night, and woke a little before nine to say goodbye to
leonato before he left for his train. The rest of us surfaced gradually and after a leisurely brunch the Londoners set off home.
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Date: 2019-05-03 02:30 pm (UTC)From:(Brian is ofunaq, but I think he only has an LJ, and mostly for reading other people's)
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Date: 2019-05-03 09:09 pm (UTC)From:no subject
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