I was about to begin this post by saying, well, Christmas is over now, but of course it isn't. Epiphany is still to come, for which we can be thankful. After all, while Christmas itself may struggle before the waves of consumerism, Epiphany is an unregarded, and thus quieter, feast, which we can enjoy as the secular world recovers from its hangover with a splurge of sale shopping. But as we await the Magi let me tell you a little of Christmas in the Minimus household and parish. Mrs Minimus sings in the parish choir. Before she joined it the average age was probably seventy. On her own she could probably only reduce that number by a decade, but her example has produced three other new singers in their thirties and forties, so hopefully the depredations of age can be fought off by a new generation. With two young children to look after I had to stay home, but the Good Lady Wife tells me that Midnight Mass went very well, with a real quiet intensity to proceedings, and a packed congregation. The choir imported a couple of professional singers for the occasion as well, who obviously had quite an impact since after the Mass the singers were applauded by the congregation - something very rare here in England. And Mrs Minimus, who was once an actress, also did the second reading from St Paul. If I may permit myself a small moment of husbandly pride here, she really does read better than anyone else in our parish and her example has produced a marked improvement in standards in this department - from readers who, if they ever happened to surprise themselves with some unexpected tonal variation would promptly stifle the passage with a stern monotone, to people who apparently now understand that the Bible is a text of somewhat greater interest than somebody else's tax return. Anyway, the Good Wife was also delighted with her own reading at Midnight Mass, particularly since she had struggled through the previous few days to find the sense of it.
As for the rest of the family, we all went together to Mass on Christmas morning, although to a somewhat later service than originally intended. Once various toy trains were confiscated from the Minimus Minors (metal Thomas the Tank Engines produce a curious but penetrating reverberation when run along wooden pews) we managed not to disrupt proceedings for everyone else too much. Is it usual for parents of young children to spend the entire Mass with one eye scanning the doings of small progeny, and making constant judgements as to whether the noise and movement levels are within acceptable boundaries? I suspect it is. In my case, since I normally look after both children while my wife sings in the choir, this involves a fairly major level of distraction. But I assume (or at least hope) that God looks kindly on harassed fathers trying to hold a small child on each arm. Of course, the possibility for embarassment is rather magnified in our case as we usually sit in the first pew, since the choir is positioned just to the left of the front of the church. That way the Minimus Minors can see their mother, and also watch proceedings at the altar, rather than having a view of the backs of people's heads.
And I was particularly chuffed after Mass, when speaking to our parish priest, when he remarked how well some of the ideas I have proposed about improving prayer life in the parish have worked out. (To my astonishment I was asked to take over as chairman of the parish council earlier in the year.)
So all in all Christmas passed well. How was it for you?
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