Since the Catholic Revival in the English Church, no fact has been more
obvious and easily determined than this. It is one which the bitterest
opponent of churchmanship has never been able to deny and has never
attempted to deny. The most prejudiced observer paying an alternate
visit to a church where the Faith is taught and to another which is
confessedly "Protestant" cannot fail to observe the difference. At the
celebration of the Eucharist in a church of the former type, there is an
absolute stillness and reverence. The congregation kneels, it worships.
In the latter, there is an unrest. People do not show marked
consciousness of being in the presence of mysteries. Whatever they may
think, they do not give the observer the impression that they think God
is there. They sit rather than kneel, they notice the clothes of other
people, there is a certain sense that they are doing the right thing in
"patronising" the church, and the Sunday dinner looms large over all.
The man lit the candles. A moment afterwards Father Blantyre entered
with the servers and the service began.
The singing was simple but harmonious. There was nothing especially
noticeable in the hymn or the chanting of the Kyries after the
commandments.
The priest went into the pulpit, kissed the white stole, and placed it,
as a yoke, upon his shoulders. Over his head was a crucifix. He was a
small man, dark of hair, and swarthy of complexion. The nose was
prominent and aquiline, the eyes bright, with a net-work of fine
wrinkles round them, the mouth large and mobile. There was almost a
suggestion of the comedian in his face, that is, in its extreme mobility
and good-humour. One could imagine him as a merry man in his private
life. But mingled with this, one saw at once the lines of an unalterable
purpose, and of conviction. Any strong belief stamps itself upon a man's
face in an unmistakable way. When that belief is purely holy and good,
then we say that the man has the face of a saint.
For a moment or two, Mr. Blantyre looked round the church. The eyes, so
puckered at the corners, very much resembled the eyes of a sailor, who
is ever gazing out towards a vast horizon and through furious winds. Men
who are much occupied with the Unseen and Invisible sometimes have this
look, which is the look of a man who is striving to see God.
The subject-matter of the sermon itself was not very remarkable. It was
a sermon dealing with the aids to worship that symbol gives, showing how
a proper use of material objects may focus the brain upon the reality
behind them. During the last week or two, the local paper had been
printing some violent attacks upon the services at St. Elwyn's, for
there was a by-election in progress and one of the candidates was
seizing the opportunity afforded by a "No Popery" cry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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