Walking, Witnessing, Worshipping : Multi-tasking with a Smile

I recently watched the livestream of this year's Assumption-Tide Procession at All Saints Margaret Street, London's best known  Anglo-Catholic 'shrine' just off Oxford Street.  As always - and in common with its sister, the annual Corpus Christi Procession - it was a colourful, moving and brilliantly choreographed event, and I was left wishing that I could have been there. 

As the vast procession made its way along the streets of London's West End, incense billowing, candles flickering, Our Lady of Walsingham wobbling slightly on her litter from time to time as those responsible for carrying her expertly navigated kerbs and potholes and avoided banana-skins (and worse), as clergy modelled varying degrees of lace (from the tasteful to the absurd) everyone lustily sang a variety of hymns from much loved esoteric Marian devotions to what was once regarded as a 'ranter' for evangelical use only, 'To God be the Glory'.  This was surely Anglo-Catholicism at its best. 

Such a procession is, of course, an incredible act of witness, testifying to our faith but also giving the lie to the suggestion that the Church is all but dead. It's always fascinating to watch the faces of those sitting in restaurants or shopping as they watch the procession pass by - often a mixture of intrigue, amusement and thoughtfulness.  One wonders what mental processes follow.  

This sort of thing is also, of course, great fun. Anglo-Catholics enjoy good liturgy, and there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that. If truth be told, sometimes things can seem a bit over the top, perhaps bordering on the downright 'dotty' - what we used to call 'high camp' with much less embarrassment than we do these days, but what's wrong with that? Surely both God and his Mother want us to enjoy ourselves, and surely there is a place for humour in Christian worship. Indeed whilst not belittling the variety and seriousness of the problems by which the CofE is currently beset,  I fear that one of its biggest underlying problems is that it has largely lost the ability to have fun - and, even more so - to laugh at itself. 

Our evangelical brethren, of course, quite obviously enjoy their worship. They smile, they raise their hands in praise of God, they dance and sway. I've always been fascinated by the way that Evangelicals and Catholics alike use their bodies in worship, and I've also often been  amused at the fact that some worshippers of a more 'middle of the road' tradition are just as appalled at the thought of crossing themselves or genuflecting as they are at raising their hands in the air. (I guess it's inevitable that the CofE is at times terribly 'British'.)

For the Catholic, of course, worship must also be solemn and reverential. There is a balance to be struck, and at Margaret Street this was clearly achieved in the quiet dignity of Solemn Evensong, which preceded the outdoor procession, and the transcendent ambience of 'Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament' which followed it. 

As an outside observer, I think that the current Vicar of All Saints, Fr Peter Anthony, has done a brilliant job of achieving this balance in the day-to-day and week-to-week life of All Saints. I take my biretta off to him!

There is, however, just one observation that I would make. Having re-watched highlights of the livestream, and looked at the many photos on social media, I have to say that there seemed to be a bit of a lack of smiles in the procession. Of course, I may be quite mistaken and it may simply be the case that cameras clicked at the wrong moment or videos were focussed on those who were having to concentrate on the testing business of  walking, reading and singing all at the same time. (As a man, I am, of course, only too aware of the enormous challenges of such multi-tasking.) 

I think one of the less desirable (and thankfully rapidly disappearing) characteristics of traditional Anglo-Catholicism is the strange notion that clergy in particular should appear to be thoroughly bored with what they're doing, whilst the laity imagine that in order to be devout they should simply look miserable. I'm sure this wasn't at play in the All Saints procession - not consciously anyway - and whilst I wouldn't want us to adopt the forced rictus smile that characterises some brands of Christianity, I think we Anglo-Catholics still need to learn to relax and smile more, especially in a public act of witness. The smile, after all, is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual joy.  

All in all though, the Assumption-Tide  procession was clearly a wonderful and uplifting celebration, and  - even for those of us who could only look on from afar courtesy of 'You Tube' - a huge encouragement that the Catholic faith in the Church of England is alive and well  and, when appropriate, great fun.