Tonight, Peter & I went to Salisbury Cathedral for the Advent Procession service entitled 'From Darkness to Light'. Being the Protestants that we are, we really had no idea what to expect, we just wanted to hear the choir sing, though I realized part way through that it is probably an annual tradition for many Catholics to attend advent services. We got there about 20 minutes before it started, thinking there wouldn't be very many people there ... we were SO wrong! The place was packed and they were getting ready to turn people away ... we were the second last group of people to get in, and we ended up having to sit at the very back on some cement half walls. That being said, there really wasn't much to see ... and we could hear perfectly from where we were sitting because the sound travels so well. It started out pitch black in the entire church .. and then the singing started, which was a little eerie - but very cool too. Then slowly the choir procession came in and lit candles throughout the whole place, singing as they went ... it was such an ambient atmosphere. There were readings and choir songs and two songs that the congregation participated in - 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' & another hymn that was not named in the program.
Afterwards we thought it would be nice to stop in a cafe for hot chocolate or something ... but of course, leave it to jolly 'ole England to not have a single cafe or coffee shop opened at 8:00 on a Saturday night! Just one of the things we miss about Canada ... but the town centre was quite pretty with all its Christmas decorations and lights, and a big lit Christmas tree in the market square. We could also hear the church bells ringing from St. Thomas' church, Peter said 'wow, this reminds me that I'm in England for sure!' It was a nice night ... we came home and made hot chocolate here instead :)
Team PM & tadpole
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2 comments:
Sounds like an awesome concert! We share the problem of things never being open - there are heaps of places that are closed on Saturday and Sunday, and the ones that are open usually close around 2PM.
I know! Most places here are open till 5 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday, which isn't too bad ... but its a shame that there's this beautiful city all decorated at night with ligths - and there's really no way to enjoy it other than walking around !! Somewhere to stop for hot chocolate etc. would be perfect ... we kept commenting on how much money they are losing out on!
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