Thurifer

My second attempt at being thurifer this evening. Fr Mark was very patient as I struggled with the chains of the censer. I discovered after Mass that being right handed, I need to hold everything in my left hand and that makes life much easier. Mind you it is not an easy object to handle and takes years of practice and there is a lot to remember! My granddad Frank Woodhouse was thurifer at St Sampson's York where my Dad Herbert first learnt to play the organ. My Mum often said I had expressions like my Granddad although sadly I only saw him when I was 5 and 12 on visits from Johannesburg. My grandmother Phyllis (who's maiden name was Worley from Daventry)was a staunch Methodist like my aunt Nellie. It was from my grandmother that the musical talent came. I treasure a Bible my grandparents gave to me in 1959 soon after I was confirmed (as an Anglican). Bishop Ambrose Reeves confirmed us all in the school chapel and because he was allergic to hair oil, he wore white gloves. Shades of Alice's white rabbit. I grew up loving High Church practices especially incense! My Dad often said that Dean Palmer had got the wrong Ambrose Reeves as Bishop of Johannesburg! I also grew up with a terror of confession having had to undergo this ordeal in the chapel kneeling next to the formidable Father Sulter.I had struggled to compile a list of sins or at least ones I was willing to admit to!
When we visited Cape Town in 2004 we saw Fr Sulter and he told me that he prayed for each group of boys he had prepared for confirmation- a different group each day - over a 1000 at St John's College. He was originally a Presbyterian and had strong views about Anglicans receiving communion in other churches - he did not approve! At that time I sang in a Presbyterian church choir with my Dad as the organist and I was most impressed by their reverent approach to the quarterly communion service. I well recall my first communion at St Aidan's, Yeoville the Sunday after my confirmation - it seemed rather ordinary. What was all the fuss about? Over the years I have to come to see the central role of the Eucharist in my parents' lives and in my own life. When death comes close, it is essential to go to Mass. I can't go on without it! At our wedding we were together at the altar. Liz's Dad said to me "There is no need to become a Catholic" but I knew that we had to be completely united in the sacrament.
The old photo stands on the chest of drawers on the landing. It shows my Granddad in his lacy cotta in the garden at 22 Park Grove, York where the family lived for so many years. My grandmother's advice still holds good. "Don't hang around after church. You won't get compliments, just moans. Get away home". Of course I do go to coffee after services when I can because I need to get to know people and we all like praise! I wonder what my Granddad would have made of my efforts this evening?