First Two Evensongs, and a Visit to Norwich

     Yesterday evening, the choir got together at 3:30 to prepare for and sing our first Evensong service. It went beautifully, with only a few missed cues, and 'Spirits' instead of 'ghosts'. What an incredible privilege it was to sing in Ely Cathedral. Ely lies in the flat farm-country of eastern U.K.. It is called 'Ely' as a shortened version of the word "eely", or "full of eels". The water was drained from the area a few hundred years ago, but the swampy name stuck. Ely Cathedral was formed by St. Etheldreda in the mid 600's. Her image is all over the Cathedral, and she is the head Saint here.
     Today, the choir visited Norwich. We took a tour of Norwich Cathedral, which features the second highest spire in the United Kingdom, at over 300 ft. high.

Also in Norwich, a few of us went to visit the long-time residence of Saint Julian (Julie-Anne). Saint Julian famously had a vision of Christ at a time of close-to-death illness. After writing about her vision, she became a cloister at the church. She lived in a room next to the small church, and would look through one window into the small sanctuary, and out the other onto the adjacent alley. Her writings emphasize the mothering nature of our God, and how love is the ultimate message from Christ. All things revolve around Love. She was famously slow to judge, and garnered a reputation for listening to all of those who wanted to discuss life and its woes and glories, included prostitutes, infidelitous priests, vagabonds, and whosoever needed the love of Christ.

This evening, we sang Evensong again at Ely Cathedral. We say "The Key", arr. by Anthony Piccolo. The text to this poem rang especially sharply in our hearts after visiting the home of St. Julian today.