"For the form sets you free from the shallow puddle of your own ad hoc resources of the moment and draws you into the dignity, nobility, and splendor attending the angelic worship of the Most High, and for which you and I yearn with fathomless yearning."~from Thomas Howard's book The Night is Far Spent
I just ordered the above-mentioned book after reading the quote used by someone who reviewed it. That's all it took.
The author is an Evangelical turned Anglican turned Catholic---least that's what I understand. The bits and pieces I've been able to glean about him have centered on the Church (and by that I mean the universal church, not Catholic), and the beauty of the liturgy. He reminds us that it's holy, and it is. The Anglican service I attend is worshipful. To walk into the nave and see folks kneeling and not being ashamed is so sweet. There's a humility and honesty about it. Now, everyone doesn't do that when they enter the pews, but no matter, it's so reverent.
Yesterday we had to sit on the left side of the church, mostly because I had more kids with me and we needed more room. Usually we're on the right-side. Anyway, we were able to see the choir, which sits on the right side of the chancel. They face the center, or toward the sanctuary (the raised altar area....most evangelical churches call the main seating area the sanctuary, but anglicans call the place at the front by that name), so that we see their profiles. Anyway, at one part of the service when we were all standing, the members of the choir and acolytes suddenly all faced to the right toward the altar/cross. En masse. I love that. I can't remember what words were said, but at that specific point, they turned. I'm still learning, so don't have it all figured out with who does what and when. But it all focuses on the altar/the sacraments and God. All of it. And it's the same every week. Might get repetitive to those who are unfamiliar with it, but the words, to me, are always a comfort.
