11 May 2008 - Feast of Pentecost Part 2

Georgian House Hotel
33 Unthank Road
Norwich, Norfolk NR2

Continuing from the previous entry, the Procession/Benediction service takes place at 4 PM on Sundays, and is the climactic service of the weekend for parishes who make the Friday-Sunday pilgrimage during the season. With me in the services Saturday and Sunday were pilgrims from:

St. Alban, Birmingham
St. Chad, Stafford
St. Paul, Croxteth, Liverpool
All Saints, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent
Parishes of Cheam, Surrey
St. Alban, Ilford, Essex
Holy Trinity, Amblecote, Stourbridge, Worcs.
St. Barnabas, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
St. Peter, Horbury, Wakefield, W. Yorks.

...so a big shout out to anyone from those parishes who might stumble across this site!

Here's the run down on the service, which was quite similar to the previous day's but with a different thing being processed.

"Get your Real Presence ON at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham"

Mystery Worshipper: Civilized Engineer
The church: Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Little Walsingham, Norfolk
Denomination: Church of England
The building: The Shrine Church (described in the 10 May entry).
The cast: Fr. Philip North (Administrator of the Shrine), about 6 assisting presbyters, looked like 2 deacons, 2 torches, 1 crucifer, 2 thurifers, and someone I dubbed The Parasol Dude. The Parasol Dude's role was to walk behind Fr. North, who was carrying the monstrance, and hold an ornate parasol-like thing over it during the outdoor procession. As you might imagine, this required some serious coordination to avoid collisions.
The date & time: Sunday, 11 May 2008, 4:00 PM
What was the name of the service? Procession of the Host and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
How full was the building? As with yesterday, 150 or so, which filled the church to overflowing. I was able to get a decent seat by arriving 45 minutes ahead of the start time.
What were the exact opening words of the service? "Good afternoon."
What books did the congregation use during the service? The "Walsingham Pilgrim Manual." (See 10 May.) I much preferred "Lauda Sion" to Saturday's hymn...I do like my Aquinas.
What musical instruments were played? Organ.
Did anything distract you? Like yesterday, nothing at all.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what? I thought it was transcendent (again) but others might find it a bit much for their taste.
Which part of the service was like being in heaven? Singing "Crown Him with many crowns" as the monstrance was returned to the tabernacle.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place? (again) Nothing.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)? 9, but only because you can't make it a regular thing, for obvious reasons. I would want to be in a parish with the sorts of people I met, though, that's for sure.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian? Yes. It made me glad to be an Anglo-Catholic Christian as well!
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time? The huge monstrance and the Parasol Dude.

In summation, Walsingham certainly isn't for everyone. If Marian devotion makes you feel weird, you'll definitely be icked out here. But, as Fr. North says quite eloquently on the web site, it's all about getting a grip on what Marian devotion actually _is_ and what it _isn't._ For me it's about the mystery of the Incarnation...the specific, fleshy _reality_ of God-with-us. And, as for Benediction, former Archbishop of York David Hope has a good take on it when he says that Benediction is a way of slowing down and appreciating what actually happens during the Eucharist. Sort of a super-slo-mo look at the Real Presence.

Again, for me, these are things well worth doing. But I never claimed to be Low Church anyway! :-)