At last it ringeth to evensong

Be the day weary or be the day long, at last it ringeth to evensong.


This very Anglican sounding proverb appears in many places, including at the stake in Fox's Book of Martyrs.  I can't remember where or when I first heard it, but since then, I have not forgotten it.

Last Sunday (Mid-Lent, Mothering, Refreshment, Laetare -- take your pick), we sang Evensong at the Cathedral.  We don't have the resources or the support to do it more often than a few times a year, but Lent 4 is one of them.  Our choirs do a fine job and have experience singing the service at home and on Choir Trips/Pilgrimages.  It is often well attended and appreciated (as it was this time).  I am always taken with the surprise of delight by those who have never been to Evensong before.  Evensong is certainly alive and well in many Cathedrals and Colleges, in "Quires and places where they sing (1662 Prayer Book)," and even on a weekly BBC broadcast.  I think there is a reason for this.

Stephen Hough wrote a piece for his blog in The Telegraph not long ago entitled, "Do not touch me: the wisdom of Anglican thresholds."  It includes this thoughtful passage:

"Evensong hangs on the wall of English life like an old, familiar cloak passed through the generations.  Rich with prayer and Scripture, it is nevertheless totally nonthreatening.  It is a service into which all can stumble without censure -- a rambling old house where everyone can find some corner to sit and think, to listen with half-attention, trailing a few absentminded fingers of faith and doubt in its passing stream.


Most religious celebrations gather us around a table of some sort.  They hand us a book, or a plate, or speak a word demanding response.  They want to "touch" us.  Choral Evensong is a liturgical expression of Christ's Nolle me tangere -- 'Do not touch me.  I have not yet ascended to my Father (St. John 20:17).' It reminds us that thresholds can be powerful places of contemplation; and that leaving someone alone with their thoughts is not always denying them hospitality or welcome.


I believe there are lots of folks among us who want such a threshold.  Many belong to our churches, and this may be one (of the many) reasons we don't see them so much.  Some of them may be more active members of our congregations, and some days or some seasons we may be fairly near them ourselves.  Evensong is one gathering place among the ruins of Christendom and I thank God for it.