Dr. Symes: you may have heard that on entering the House of COmmons,
people always bow to the speaker['s chair; I'm told that that's because
centuries ago, there was an ALTAR there.... Pardon Tillinghast
On Wed, 28 Jul 1999, Carol Symes wrote:
> Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 11:36:20 -0400
> From: Carol Symes <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
> To: "INTERNET:[log in to unmask]"
<[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: A summer diversion for you all
>
> A friend of mine, organist and choirmaster at various Anglo-Catholic
> parishes, jobbed-in at a church in which the choir maintained curious
> ritual. Processing into the nave, each pair in turn would stoop down at a
> particular point and then straighten up, before continuing to the choir
> stalls. There was no altar or icon there, so Mark was puzzled enough to
> ask one of the older choristers about this practice. Apparently, it was a
> ritualized holdover from the days when there had been a banner hanging down
> into the aisle, and folks would stoop to avoid it. The banner had long
> since disappeared, but the practice was deeply ingrained and was now
> construed as an act of special piety.
>
> Since hearing this story, I have often found myself wondering how many
> liturgical gestures have a similar, practical origin.
>
>
> Carol
>
>
> Dr. Carol Symes
> Professor of History
> Bennington College
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> > All of this reminds me of a friend's story from her childhood,
> >attending Episcopal (eg Anglican) church. One day her mother
> >absentmindedly entered the pew looking back and genuflecting to the rear
> >of the church instead of toward the altar. In a bizarre twist, all
> >three of her daughters imitated her without thinking!
>
> I was once curate in a church where priests and servers had a peculiar
> walk,
> using only the left foot (left, left, left left left). I am convinced that
> some previous priest had only one leg, and convinced his servers that this
> was the authentic and catholic way to walk.
>
> Oriens.
>
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