Blessing of the Palms, Procession, and Sung Eucharist

Experiencing Worship in the Abbey

Today I got up and braved the cold to go line up at the Big West door of Westminster Abbey to attend the Palm Sunday service.  Several groups of people were willing to do this, including the tourists who arrived on Sunday to discover that The Abbey was only open for worship on Sundays and it was this or nothing.  The second group were tourists who realized they could get in for free if they were attending worship.  The third group were the music enthusiasts who appreciate the quality of the organist, the pipe organ and the choir.  Then there were the people who regularly attend services at home and felt like they should.  The final group were those of us looking to experience the awe inspiring worship in community with other pilgrims.

As a tourist, the first impression is often of the opulence and political nature of organized religion.  Evensong at The Abbey in Bath and Palm Sunday at Westminster Abbey were far more about the reflection on the presence of God.  The pipe organs and the high ceilings create the same sense of smallness that I get being beside the ocean.  The amazing quality of the choir, the beauty of the stained glass windows and the church are so conducive to quiet reflection of those things that matter most to me.  Sharing the experience with people who have come from all over the world who are on the same journey to understand, is just so cool.

This morning, as we entered we were presented with our palm leaf crosses and we gathered in the nave.  The line of people spiraled outside.   Then the choirs of Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church (Westminster Abbey) led us singing All Glory Laud and Honour around the sanctuary, through the Quire Screen and to my seat in the Lantern facing the northern transept with Christ with welcoming hands in the centre of the rosary window.  People continued to fill up the Transepts and the seating area in the nave. The Passion according to Luke (Victoria Missa Laetatus sum Lassus) was sung as was much of the service. As we lined up for communion down into the Quire, I was surrounded on either sound by the choir singing.  Sometimes life is just that good and it evokes the same feeling as when the light is separated by the clouds and it feels like the hand of God.

I was also pleased to discover that half of the collection was directed to a Jewish/ Palestinian peace project.  Evidence of a working a church :). I'm so glad I went