This is a letter Eriko wrote to the friends who help support her trip with the choir.
_____________________________________
Dear Friends
How are you? On Monday the 27th I returned from a most wonderful 8 day stay in Dublin. Thank you very much for your financial contribution, which allowed me to participate in the choir tour. Thank you for your prayer support for me and for the choir and its director.
We sang well at all of the services. The director, Mr. McKinley, conducted marvelously, played some fantastic postludes on the organ and our guest organist from the U.S., Andy, adjusted smoothly to playing in the cathedral and accompanying our singing.
It was a good thing for me to take a summer course in the World History through community college prior to this trip. It gave me an overview of what has taken place in Europe during the medieval era and what roles Christianity played in the western world. Ireland, a country that I had little interest in the past, was a place of learning and worship for many faithful monks and rich monastic culture flourished in the country, which produced beautiful Christian arts and architecture.
I was also thankful that I had taken a two-day class on European medieval art in Tokyo since I could recognize and appreciate some distinct Celtic patterns and designs that were used in the church buildings and religious objects.
I arrived in the morning of Sunday the 19th, just in time to change my clothes at the hotel and walk 10 minutes to The National Cathedral and Collegiate church of St. Patrick. This stone Cathedral, which was built in the early thirteen century, was the oldest and the most beautiful and dignified Cathedral that I have ever stepped in. The morning light through many stained glass windows with intricate designs, filled the interior of the building. There is a fee to enter the building unless you are attending the worship services. It reminded me of the famous Buddhist temples in Japan that collect fees from the visitors for the maintenance of the building. I, along with several choir members, attended the 11:15am Sung Eucharist. The order of the service was simpler than I expected it to be and the sermon was short. Unlike any of the church services that I have attended in my life, it felt cold. The rich sound of organ and the music by the choir, who sang a Psalm, an anthem and several hymns, was the element that breathed life into the cathedral and lifted my heart to God.
After a bus tour of Dublin on Monday morning, we returned to the Cathedral for rehearsal and sang at the 5:45pm evensong. Tour buses spit out large numbers of tourists in front of the Cathedral all day long. Our choir blended into the scene of Cathedral, and the tourists were taking photos of us rehearsing and listening to our singing. I was glad for the many people who heard the beautiful music during the rehearsal. The evensongs were held five times during our stay, in which we sang five different settings of the Song of Mary (Magnificat) and Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) along with five psalms and five anthems. For the Sunday morning Eucharist, we sang Hassler’s Missa Secunda; a psalm; an anthem; and hymns.
It is difficult to gather words to describe an experience in which I have given all of my heart, and the only reflex I get from trying to remember the musical experience is the streaming of tears down my cheeks. The St. Patrick’s Cathedral is “a treasure of Ireland that contributed much to Irish life throughout its long history”(Cathedral pamphlet). The Cathedral choir, combined with a choir from Christ Church of Dublin, sang Handel’s Messiah’s first performance in Dublin, in 1742. Jonathan Swift, the writer and satirist, was once the dean of the Cathedral, and his epitaph, bust, and his death mask, along with other memorabilia, are displayed there. We sang in the beautiful choir cloister, where many candles were lit in front of us. Above our heads hung the bright colored banners and hatchments of the Knights of Saint Patrick, a chivalric order founded by King George III in 1783.
Being able to praise God through singing at St. Patrick’s was a privilege beyond my wildest imagination. A Japanese who migrated temporarily to Massachusetts, accepted at an Anglican choir of the highest caliber, singing at evensongs and at the Sung Eucharist in a historic Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland? Who could have planned such a thing? Giving an musical offering to God did not make me holier, but has given me a sense of awareness that I, along with countless numbers of Christians all over the world, am carrying a small flame of God, which proclaims His plan of salvation for humankind. However glorious the architecture might be, without people praying and praising God from their heart, stone Cathedrals cannot reveal God and His character.
The choir members had ample time for sightseeing during the week since we came well prepared musically. The director and the organists, for whom I am grateful, continued to fine-tune the details of the services at the Cathedral. I enjoyed visiting the National Gallery to see Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ, the Chester Beatty Museum to see beautiful paintings from Mughal Dynasty, scrolls of The Tale of Genji, and one of the earliest Gospel manuscripts, and having lunches at the museum café. It was also enjoyable to take a stroll and observe the Dubliners in the serene St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park with a large pond and a water fountain dotted with tastefully planned flower gardens. We enjoyed taking a bus tour to a village of Trim where we visited an ancient medieval castle, and the town of Kells where The Book of Kells was believed to be written. The Book of Kells is a beautifully illustrated codex of the Gospel Book, which was created by the monks who lived in the town sometime during the 7th century. It is displayed in the library of the Trinity College in Dublin. I am intrigued with the fantastical design and the brilliant color that characterizes this amazing book.
Another member of the choir, Ms. Bolshaw, and I, ventured out to a fishing town called Howth, by riding an efficient train system, Dart. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and spent a day peeking in the fish markets, visiting the ruins of an abbey, hiking through the hilly terrain to enjoy the magnificent ocean views, and ended the day with delicious fish stew and mussels steamed in garlic and white wine.
I hope to continue praising the Lord and proclaiming the Gospel through music. I also look forward to yet another opportunity to travel and see how God has worked and is working in different countries. Thank you again for your generosity and interest in my life.
Blessing to you.
Eriko Houlette
No comments:
Post a Comment