Easter Vigil at St Faith's 2011

At 2 o’clock on Good Friday, St Faiths hosted the service ‘The Cross of Christ’ to commemorate Christ’s final hour on the cross. The service is described as devotion for congregation and choir and was originally put together by the Royal School of Church Music in 1956 and the words used in it reflect that period in time, older style maybe, but still so relevant for the present day.

In many ways the Cross of Christ is not unlike the service of nine lessons and carols sung at Christmas time, as it has readings interspersed with hymns for the congregation and musical items for the choir. There were seven readings which tell Christ’s story from betrayal, to death on the cross and members of the congregation were able to take part with this after which each said ‘We adore the O Christ and we bless thee’ and the congregation responded ‘Because by thy holy cross thou hast redeemed the world. All the readers spoke with feeling and passion but for me Dennis Webb’s reading of Mark 15: 33-39, which tells of Christ giving up the ghost, was haunting in its delivery and truly memorable.

The choir sang Is it nothing to you; Lord for thy tender mercies sake; Ah Holy Jesu and O saviour of the world, and did so beautifully with passion and heart felt meaning with clarity in every note. It was also good to see a number of the younger choir members taking part. The service ended with the choir departing to Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor – a piece of huge contrasts and its poignant melody certainly stayed in my head all afternoon.

There were about 25 members in the congregation, including three people who have never been to St Faiths before. Although there was not a retiring collection, one nameless lady pressed a £10 note into Charmaines’ hand saying she had been so profoundly moved by the service – I suspect she was not the only one. As a part of all the services during Holy week at St Faiths, the Cross of Christ fitted in perfectly.

Tim Mitchell