On the feast...

...of St John Southworth, hero priest of the London Plague and a martyr, his body is brought out from its usual chapel at Westminster Cathedral and placed in the Nave, surrounded by candles. This evening, at the usual sung High Mass, the glowing candles, the glorious singing, the evening light, were all a sort of balm after a particularly hectic day. Last week, there was a special Mass for a reunion of former choristers - they joined the procession and sang with the choir from the apse, men of all ages, some middle-aged, some still almost schoolboys, lots of them - and apparently effortlessly they sang out together the most glorious music, soaring up to the great basilica roof and lifting all our hearts. I LOVE WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL.