Trinité Volume 5 N° 1
the
m agazi ne
of
th e
A meri c an
Fall 2010
C at h edral
Tales of Two Cathedrals Witness and eyewitness to Haiti’s devastation
i n
Pari s
In this issue
Fall 2010
Dean The Very Reverend Zachary Fleetwood Assistant Musician & Acting Choirmaster Zachary Ullery
05 06
Haiti eyewitness
06 Have faith 10 From cathedral to cathedral 11 Goudou-Goudou by Anne Swardson
Trinité Editors Nancy Janin Charles Trueheart
Design/Layout Elizabeth Minn
by The Very Reverend Zachary Fleetwood
by Joanne Blakemore
Visiting Artist-in-Residence Andrew Dewar
Assistant Editor Kelley Bass
Thanksgiving
by The Right Reverend Pierre W. Whalon
15
The Cathedral’s Organ
18
Nine decades of glamor and service
by Craig R. Whitney
by Joseph Coyle
Advertising Katherine Millen Worré Cover Photos background image: Corine Wegener, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project inset image: Rhoderic Bannatyne Please send comments and requests for free subscriptions to: Trinité The magazine of The American Cathedral in Paris 23, avenue George V, 75008 Paris France email publications@americancathedral.org web www.americancathedral.org
Volume 5
N°1
Fernandel, Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd at a1950s Guild gala. Photo: Archives of The American Cathedral in Paris
22
How do you become a priest?
25
A blogger writes from the pews
by Ginger Strickland
by John V. Fleming
03
Trinity Society The Cathedral made a difference in your life. Make a difference in the life of the Cathedral. Plan your legacy and join the Trinity Society. For more information: development@americancathedral.org
or call Nancy Janin at +33 1 45 66 08 87
04
TrinitĂŠ magazine Fall 2010
Thanksgiving: a gift A message from the Dean
T
hanksgiving is one of the most basic of human responses. It is a fundamentally Christian response to the loving kindness of God, to God’s unconditional and undeserved love for each of us. Indeed, thanksgiving and the emotions it evokes,
gets at the very core of our faith. We often find ourselves distracted by or reactive to guilt or to a sense of obligation. Most of us somewhere along the way were taught that guilt and obligation were more important than gratitude in the hierarchy of Christian values. That is just bunk, pure and simple. The spirit of thanksgiving is a way of seeing the world. Indeed, it is a way of life. In his marvelous book, The Lord is My Shepherd: The Healing Wisdom of the 23rd Psalm, Rabbi Harold Kushner writes about those familiar words of the psalmist, “My cup runneth over”: Gratitude is more than remembering to mumble ‘thank you.’ It’s more than a ritual of politeness. Gratitude is a way of looking at the world that does not change the facts of your life but has the power to make your life more enjoyable. We get so sidetracked by the seductive power of guilt or obligation. So often we confuse those emotions with what it means to be a “good Christian.” What is essential and foundational to Christian experience is that basic human response called thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for the gift of faith, hope and confidence in God’s grace in Christ Jesus . . . for the sense of well-being and peace that can come with that gift . . . for those people who have touched our lives deeply, showing us the way of love . . . for all of life’s little gifts; especially those quiet, sustaining gifts so easily forgotten . . . for the huge gifts: like beauty, wonder, imagination, belonging, this planet earth . . . for the gift of life itself. All of life. All of it. A gift.
The Very Reverend Zachary Fleetwood
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From left: Restoration of a part of the Cathedral’s famous murals, one of the few cultural survivors of the earthquake. Photo C.Wegener, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project / In Port-au-Prince, a hair salon bravely re-opens its doors. Photo: J. Blakemore
Have faith A report from Haiti
“
by Joanne Blakemore
How was Haiti?” I pause every time, because frankly there are not enough words to describe the mess. It was painful, hopeful, hot, messy, awe-inspiring, noisy, crowded, frustrating and mostly heartbreaking.
06
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
Port-au-Prince, renowned for its extensive murals in the naïve Haitian style, was totally destroyed as was its school, offices, the convent, the college and the home of Bishop Zaché Duracin. (Turn to page 10 for more on the Holy Trinity Cathedral reconstruction project). Further, the earthquake destroyed over 70 per cent of the diocesan churches, half of its primary schools and 80 per cent of its secondary schools. Three quarters of its universities and vocational training schools are a total loss. We visited only one school in town, St. Martin de Tours, which has managed to get up and running again using the ubiquitous tents as classrooms. The entire city of Port-au-Prince is rubble. The state of the buildings is horrendous - the heavily damaged presidential palace being the most obvious example of the destruction. There are few outward signs of progress. The most apparent government actions are a small stamp on some but not
M
all buildings or concrete. RED indicates a “total y daughter and I traveled there in
loss,” YELLOW means “needs work” and GREEN
July, arriving in Port-au-Prince on
signifies the building can remain standing.
the six-month anniversary of the
Sometimes a group of men can be seen
Looking down from the
shoveling piles of debris, but without a place to put
plane window all we could see were blankets of
it, they walk from one side of the road to the other
tarps and tents covering the city. A city that was
with wheelbarrows full of rubble and nowhere
once sustained in concrete buildings now lives in
else to go. Pigs as big as cows root through six-
canvas tents. Every scrap of land that’s not under
foot piles of garbage next to women washing
debris is covered by a tent. There is barely an inch
clothes in buckets, all throughout town. Part of
of open space anywhere in town.
the explanation for the slow progress is the sheer
horrific earthquake.
We spent the majority of our time in Haiti
scale of the disaster. As Deborah Sontag reported
with Father Ajax, the development director of
in the New York Times, experts say it would
the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti (église épiscopale
take a thousand trucks three to five years to clear
d’Haiti). This is the largest diocese in the Episcopal
away the wreckage: fewer than 300 trucks are
Church with more than 80,000 members, and
hauling now. The quake destroyed almost every
covers the entire country. Their Holy Trinity
government building and killed 17 per cent of the
Cathedral (Cathédrale de la Sainte Trinité) in
federal work force.
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Have faith: A report from Haiti
From left: Faces to remember. / The make-shift classrooms are still well attended by eager children. Photos: J. Blakemore
People from the non-government organizations (NGOs) we spoke with have differing
There is much written about the efforts of the
views of the current and future situation. It appears
NGOs but little is said about the work being done
that until the rubble is cleared little rebuilding
by private groups, and this is where being on the
or rehabbing can be done. This forces the NGOs
ground was eye-opening and hopeful.
to focus on sustaining life as it is now, rather
We flew in with a planeload of volunteers from
than on developing for the future. Tent cities are
all over the U.S., most of them church groups,
supplied with water tanks, hospital, school and
carrying their own supplies and arriving with a
church tents and most of the basic needs.
destination and a prescribed relief mission. Men
On the healthcare side, the major injury crisis is
and women ranging in age from 20 to 85 some
somewhat relieved; the impetus now is continuing
who had been working in Haiti for years, some
care and rehab as well as psychological counseling.
new to the experience, were all eager to work.
Prosthetics are available for the many who have
Because Port-au-Prince was so crowded there was
lost limbs. But I am also told that the availability
little to do in the city. Most were going to small
of quality medical care for the average Haitian
villages in the outlying areas to help where they
is lower than before the earthquake and that the
could, rehabbing orphanages, schools and clinics.
hospitals are down to the bare bones in terms of
It was fantastic to see groups coming in for ten
supplies and medicines.
08
and poor have lost everything.
days to work on a project and then replaced by
People generally look like they are in good
another group from the same church, continuing
condition. The swollen bellies and emaciated
the work the next week. One young woman told
limbs you see in so many Third-World countries
me her husband was taking care of their children
are not present in Haiti. There has been no major
while she took her vacation days to come to Haiti.
looting or terrible civil unrest. I heard that is
But the trip was no vacation. The temperature
because there is little left to loot and because
often reached 110°F with no air conditioning and
now, everyone is in the same state. Both the rich
often no electricity, meaning no fans and no relief TrinitĂŠ magazine Fall 2010
From left: The Last Supper mural depicted Haïtian style. / On site of what was once the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Photos C.Wegener, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project
anywhere. There was no hot water and little water
most other supplies he brought with him, carried
pressure, so bathing was done with big buckets
in by volunteers.
and a sponge. After dinners of mostly rice and
Each night we’d sit at dinner at the guest house
beans with an occasional piece of fish or goat, we’d
with 25 or 30 people, from all over America and
pull the mosquito nets down over our cots and talk
Europe, at all ages and stations in life, who had
until sleep came, usually by 9 p.m., and then wake
come to help. Each would tell their story, where
to the sound of the roosters.
they were from, how they got here, who they had
In Port-au-Prince, we stayed in a clean guesthouse run by the Heartline Ministry. The
helped. The spirit of service we heard and saw was inspiring.
ministry also has a medical clinic where it treats
On the one hand it was hard to leave Haiti with
the injured and helps to find hospitals overseas to
any sense of hope for its future. Corruption is
deal with major cases. While we were there, they
everywhere and the road toward development so
flew two children out for surgery at the Mayo
long. But it is hard not to be inspired by what we
Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. In
saw there. The spirit and resilience of the Haitian
addition they have opened a birthing clinic and a
people, the overwhelming dedication and service
cottage industry for Haitian women. Doctors and
of volunteers and the strong faith of the Diocese
midwives from the United States who rotate in
showed me that despite the rubble and beyond the
and out staff the clinics.
trash, good work can be done; the people of Haiti
We were introduced to a number of groups
can be helped. The country has a long road ahead,
doing similar work. While all of this is on a small
but it is not a hopeless one. Slowly but surely
scale these groups are really making a difference.
they, with our help, can work to rebuild. •
We met a wonderful man from Iowa, the owner of a construction company, who came for four months to initiate a project building tworoom houses. The wood is available in Haiti, but Volume 5
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Joanne Blakemore joined the Cathedral in 2003 and has served as the president of the Saint Anne’s Guild, and member of the Altar Guild and the Newcomers and Mission and Outreach committees.
09
From cathedral to
cathedral by Anne Swardson
From left: Children choose a cardboard brick that they can decorate and write their name on. / Building with hope a new and colorful cathedral. Photos: R. Bannatyne
W
Convocation’s
In Paris, the Mission & Outreach
Chair, I harassed people with emails
Council of Advice sat down
Committee, working with the Junior
all summer to make sure we were
in April 2010 to talk about how
Guild, realized that people needed
ready.
to help our sister dioceses in Haiti
something tangible on which to
recover from the earthquake that
focus their contributions.
had devastated the country four
committee
months before, no one could have
Bradley
hen
the
Today, the pile of bricks by the
When
baptistry in the cathedral is growing,
Mary
Lou
and sales will go on for the rest of
“selling”
toy
2010. Parishioners and Friends and
guessed that one result would be toy
bricks, our meeting room lit up.
anyone else may donate by mail as
cardboard bricks jamming the back
Another M&O committee member,
well, by sending a check to
of the American Cathedral in Paris.
Joanne Blakemore (see page 6),
The Junior Guild
Or that more than $15,000 would
began working with the Lillian
American Cathedral in Paris
have been raised to help rebuild
Vernon Company to secure a
23, avenue George V
the Cathédrale de la Sainte Trinité
donation of bricks, which yielded
75008 Paris France
in Port-au-Prince, with more still
480 of them! Parishioner Betsy
All donations are deductible
coming in.
Gourlay facilitated rapid delivery
under U.S. and French tax laws,
of the bricks and Junior Guild
and donors will receive a receipt in
creation of Bishop Pierre Whalon’s
members
Harriet
the mail. Gifts go to the Episcopal
working group on Haiti, Partners
Rivière and Kate Thweatt were there
Church’s Haiti fund and will be used
With Haiti, which included members
with planning help and support.
exclusively for the Cathedral in Haiti.
That meeting resulted in the
member
suggested
Sigun
Coyle,
from across the convocation. We
Time was short. We wanted
Please make Euro checks out to The
decided early on to focus our
to launch the effort during the
Junior Guild-Haiti and dollar checks
efforts on rebuilding the cathedral
September 12 Paris visit of Haiti’s
to DFMS with the important notation
itself. With its famous murals, the
Episcopal bishop, the Right Rev.
Partners with Haiti--Cathedral.
cathedral is the heart and soul of
Jean Zaché Duracin. From the
Please give generously for our
Haiti’s Episcopal community. Who
Treasurer’s office, Jeb Seder and
Haitian brothers and sisters in
is in a better position to help rebuild
Rhoderic Bannatyne laid the frame-
Christ. •
than this Episcopal cathedral in
work for ensuring that donors
another French-speaking country?
would receive tax receipts. As M&O
Anne Swardson is chair of the Cathedral’s Mission & Outreach Committee and an editorat-large with Bloomberg News.
10
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
Goudou Goudou “G
Amidst the rubble of the quake, life carries on. Photo: J. Blakemore
by The Right Reverend Pierre W. Whalon, D.D.
oudou-goudou” is the newest word in Haitian Creole. “Where were you Goudou-goudou?” they ask each other all the time.
The word is an example of onomatopoeia, recalling the sloshing
sound the earth made during the great earthquake of January 12.
All who heard it on that terrible afternoon will, I am well assured, never forget it. A heretofore-unknown fault line running beneath the city of Léogane —where the Diocese of Haiti began—fractured. Buildings conceived to resist hurricanes but not earthquakes came crashing down, crushing hundreds of thousands (the exact toll is still not known) to death, and amputating arms and legs of thousands more. Despite the dreadful roar of falling concrete and the screaming and wailing of terrified people, everyone heard the low, unearthly sound of the ground slopping back and forth, temporarily liquefied by the quake. Volume 5
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Goudou-goudou
Gou! Dou! Gou! Dou!
12
must be said that the word has an amusing sound as well, which helps Haitians get some handle on the horror that haunts them. What struck me in July was the difference in the country from my earlier trip in March. Progress
Fifty-six seconds later, the earth once again
was being made, media reports to the contrary.
became solid. The screams died down, only to
Where was the Gulf Coast six months after
be replaced by the keening of grief and shock.
Katrina, in the richest and most powerful nation
As night fell, survivors gathered together, trying
in the world? Goudou-goudou was much, much
to organize rescue parties, or just to hold each
worse, and Haiti is probably the poorest and,
other up.
certainly one of the least powerful countries. The
In July, I made my second trip to Haiti since
president is a lame duck, the government is trying
the earthquake. On this trip, I found myself seated
to organize despite hundreds of NGOs doing
next to the country’s Minister of Commerce, Mme
basically what they want, and a million people
Josseline Féthière, a well-spoken cosmopolitan
are still living in tents. And it is now hurricane
woman, elegantly dressed. We struck up a lengthy
season.
conversation. Eventually, she told me her Goudou-
The other part of my experience was to witness
goudou story. As her ministry building had only
the work being done by the Episcopal Diocese,
one story, she and all her personnel were able to
which calls itself “l’Église Épiscopale d’Haïti.” Led
get out unscathed. (The government was otherwise
by Bishop Zaché Duracin, whom his clergy refer
virtually decimated, with some 30 percent of
to as “Le Sage,” the diocese has methodically been
functionaries killed in the quake and most
setting to work rebuilding their nation. Engineers
buildings destroyed.) Finding her home destroyed
proceed to the poorest regions, building small but
as well as those of other family members, Mme
solid homes for the dispossessed. When I went to
Féthière returned to the courtyard of her ruined
the village of Mathieu, a community in a tropical
ministry, where a crowd had gathered.
forest, I visited several homes and spoke with
“We began to pray,” Mme Féthière said. “But
the families and building teams. “How do you
we had no words, other than to cry ‘Jézus, Jézus’
pick the first people to get a house?” I asked. “We
for we had absolutely nothing left but him.” Tears
ask the community who are the worst off, and
ran down her face, some dropping to her tailored
they get one first,” I was told. Through donations,
suit, as her eyes looked off into the distance of
Episcopal Relief and Development supplies
memory.
the $2,300 each house costs, and the Haitian
Just as Americans can tell you where they were
Episcopalians provide the design, materials, and
on September 11, 2001, or November 22, 1963,
construction. Each house also is provided with an
Haitians each have their own January 12, 2010
outdoor latrine and a shower as well. “We want
story. And now they have a new word, their own
to add a little porch for $300 more, so the families
private word, to express their solidarity. And it
can sit outside when it’s hot,” said Bishop Zaché. Trinité magazine Fall 2010
It’s always hot in Haiti. The 254 diocesan schools have re-opened, using improvised shelters of various kinds. In March, on my first visit, I saw only wreckage and corpses at the site of the École Sainte-Trinité, next door to the cathedral, which had been obliterated by Goudou-goudou. Now 600 children in uniforms study in temporary classrooms. Haiti’s first woman priest, la Révérende Fernande PierreLouis, is the head of the school. She talks excitedly of the future. “As Bishop Duracin says, Haiti died on January 12 and now we await the resurrection. For me, resurrection means better than before. I want our school to produce excellent students, ready for the world. We will not settle for less!” The massive pile of rubble that greeted me at
Children playing during recess at one of the temporary schools set up in Port-au-Prince. Photo: J. Blakemore
first is now cleared. The lone remaining mural of what once made this church a UNESCO World
of their musicians, the Orchestre philharmonique
Patrimony site sits under a frame to keep it dry.
Sainte-Trinité was going to give its final (and only)
Seeing the 1924 building now only in outline, I
concert of the year.
realize how small it was. The new cathedral will
“Why the television truck?” I asked. The answer
have to be bigger, as befits the Episcopal Church’s
was that the concert was to be broadcast live on
largest diocese. Resurrection indeed!
national television. Haiti’s only philharmonic
(Please visit www.partnerswithhaiti.info and read
orchestra belongs to … the Episcopal diocese.
the article on page 10 for information about the cathedral rebuilding project.)
They showed off. First, a 50-voice men’s and boys’ choir sang several numbers. Then a young
My last Sunday in Haiti, August 1, I began by
persons’ string orchestra played several pieces. A
celebrating the Eucharist with a good-sized crowd
wind symphony band followed, concluding with
at St. Martin de Tours Church, under a huge tarp
some jazz. Finally the whole came together, an
stretched between the buildings of the parish’s
80-piece orchestra and the 50-voice choir. The
once-large school. Later I went to the Cathedral
repertoire was classical for the most part, with
site, where the Eucharist was just ending in what
some Haitian music.
Bishop Zaché calls “our fresh-air cathedral,” a
In a former life I was a trained classical
shelter with open walls. (It has been reinforced
musician, an organist and composer, and I
since March.) A television van was setting up for a
still have the critical ear I was trained to have.
concert. Despite the loss of their season, and many
Musically, the long concert showed all the
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Goudou-goudou They cannot pay their teachers, as parents cannot pay school fees for now. The clergy go unpaid as well.
The
diocese
needs
an
experienced
administrator to manage the crisis. They need an experienced construction project manager as well. And Bishop Zaché, in the nine years I have known him, has always needed an assisting bishop— never more so than now. There are plans to raise the money to pay for these. Later on we will raise funds to build the new cathedral, new schools and churches. The Orchestre philharmonique performed the Haitian premiere of a piece by Jean Jean-Pierre, a prominent Haitian composer, called “Terremoto.” City of tents in Port-au-Prince. Photo: J. Blakemore
It is a fairly conventional tone poem depicting the Goudou-goudou. After a lot of pyrotechnics
enthusiasm of a good amateur orchestra, no more. But Goudou-goudou was never far away. The program listed the members killed on January 12, to whom the concert was dedicated. Most of the instruments were new,
donated
by
American
Episcopalians.
I wondered what kind of determination it took to practice viola or bassoon in the tent you live in. They were making a statement. “We Haitians know how to survive,” Mme Féthière had told me. “We have our faith. And we have l’espwa.” That is Creole for “hope.” You see it written everywhere in the country. Leading in the way of hope is l’Église Épiscopale d’Haïti. I am really proud to be an Episcopalian, when I see what they are doing. What our people are doing, with the help of their sisters and brothers
depicting the quake and collapsing buildings, there was a moment of silence, interrupted only by an old musician playing a large Haitian drum, the only native instrument being used. He tapped out a quiet beat, punctuated by a little slipping sound he made by sliding his thumb along the drumskin. A pall fell over the faces of the more than 180 musicians. As Mme Féthière had done, they all stared into the distance, or else at the ground, reliving the aftermath. Seeing their faces made my throat seize up. I looked at Bishop Zaché sitting next to me. He too was seeing his Goudou-goudou. Haitians will be sharing such moments for decades to come. And the Episcopal Church will be there to minister healing and restoration, in the power of the Spirit. •
in the Episcopal Church and from elsewhere in the Anglican Communion. There is so much more to do. The Episcopalians of Haiti are doing all they can, and it is amazing. They have needs they cannot meet, however. 14
The Rt. Rev. Pierre W. Whalon has served since 2001 as the first elected Bishop-in-Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, of which the Cathedral is the mother church.
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
The Cathedral’s Organ– and organ donors by Craig R. Whitney
From left: View from below of the impressive organ pipes. / The organ console. Photos: Archives of The American Cathedral in Paris
T
he organ of the American
they are dried out and cracked. The
microprocessing system that the
Cathedral in Paris is a superb
leather bellows in the reservoirs
player uses to prepare in advance
instrument with a rich musical
that keep the “wind” in the chests
the right combinations of sounds
history, eminently deserving of a
beneath the pipes are failing (the
for the music has a faulty memory.
major project of restoration and
organ sighs about these failings
Pipes squawk when they should be
renovation to make it fit to complete
with a loud hissing that can be
quiet, or remain silent when they
a second century of service.
heard at the communion rail). An
should speak.
But the organ, which grew to
entire section of pipes added in
its present size of 5,206 pipes and
1930 is now not playable because
80 stops over nearly 125 years, is
of
Electrical
“It’s absolutely essential,” says
now showing signs of its age. The
contacts between the “flight deck,”
Edward J. (Ned) Tipton, who ended
leather pouches that flex in the
the console with its stopknobs,
more than 20 years of service to the
electropneumatic valves that are
keyboards, and pedalboard, and the
Cathedral last summer as Canon
beneath every one of those pipes,
pipes are becoming undependable
Musician – as essential as the
letting pressurized air into them
– making the instrument hard for
organ itself is for services. As the
when a note is played to make them
the organist to “fly.” The console
instrument’s steward, Ned had been
“speak,” don’t work well because
itself is worn out and outdated. The
working with Dean Fleetwood and
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these
problems.
In short, the organ needs a complete overhaul.
» 15
The Cathedral’s Organ
Cathedral lay leaders for a couple
with the rest of the organ or not,
challenges created by the church’s
of years in anticipation of the work
this “Récit expressif” section can
architectural design (not to mention
that would need to be done. “The
make music swell from a subdued
the difficulty for the organist,
organ has the first word and the
pianissimo to a fortissimo roar,
stuck up there among the pipes,
last word,” he said. “It assists the
with a power that used to thrill me
of accompanying the service while
clergy in the direction of the service
when I played it in the late ‘90s and,
unable to see or hear much of what
as it flows along, and accompanies
I know, thrills listeners as well.
was going on) led to changes and
the choir. Without it, a service of
French organists and composers
an enlargement in 1922 by a
the kind and complexity of the
like Alexandre Guilmant, Maurice
successor company, Cavaillé-Coll-
Cathedral’s would be impossible.”
Duruflé and Marcel Dupré were
Mutin, with Dupré as musical
inspired
consultant.
Those who attend services at the
by
this
19th-century
had
been
much
innovation of Cavaillé-Coll’s to
did from 1995 to 2000) have been
create thrilling organ music that
impressed during a 94-concert tour
truly blessed by Ned, his assistants,
has a symphonic dimension. And
of the United States that year with the results that American organ
and the excellent musicians of the choir over the years.
Musicians
can be their own worst enemies in trying to convince parishioners the organ needs work because they can make it sound as if it’s in better shape than it actually is. But the Cathedral organ really is crying out
“The organ has the first word and the last word... Without it, a service of the kind and complexity of the Cathedral’s would be impossible.”
builders like Ernest M. Skinner had achieved with electricity, expanding the orchestral potential of their pipe organs and making them easier to play by using electric wires instead of balky mechanical connections between the keyboards and the valves that let air into the pipes to
for attention now.
16
Dupré
Cathedral (as my wife, Heidi, and I
And our organ deserves all the
all of these musical giants helped
make them speak. So the organ
care it should be given. Even in a
make the Cathedral organ what
was electrified and a new console,
city of great pipe organs and
it is today, an instrument capable
the “flight deck” with its pedals and
renowned organists, it stands out.
of sounding as good playing Bach
keyboards, was put on the floor.
It was originally built in 1887 by
or a processional hymn as it does
Problems with the Cathedral’s
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the French
playing Franck or Widor or Saint-
less than reverberant acoustics
builder whose masterpiece is the
Saëns.
brought back Dupré as consultant with
another
successor
firm,
1862 instrument in the gallery of
Guilmant played the opening
Saint-Sulpice. As he did at Saint-
recital in 1887 on the original
Convers/Cavaillé-Coll,
Sulpice, Cavaillé-Coll made the
organ, half its present size. Pipes
when the Solo division, and a
Cathedral
orchestra
and keyboards were all up above
fourth keyboard, were added, with
in itself, with a division of pipes
the right side of the chancel,
a French horn, tuba, shimmering
enclosed in a chamber with shutters
above where the organist plays
strings and solid, rumbling bass
that open and close. Coupled
at the console today. Acoustical
produced by pipes 16 and 32
organ
an
in
1930,
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
Poster of the 1949 Lenten organ recital concerts. Courtesy of the Archives of The American Cathedral in Paris
feet long added to the organ’s
Cavaillé-Coll organ
orchestral palette.
was originally built
A small antiphonal organ was
with.
installed in the gallery in 1970 and,
allow
in 1993, as part of a general tonal
strengths
revision under Ned’s oversight, the
organ,
Paris builder Bernard Dargassies
bodied foundation
replaced it with a new “Grand
stops (the Diapason
Chœur” division whose broad
and Montre, which
range of sound was designed to
produce the sounds
focus the full resources of the
most people think
organ, front and back, into the nave.
of first when they
The
Marie-Madeleine
remember hearing
Duruflé, widow of the composer,
an organ) and most
and Marilyn Keiser played the
of
its
powerful
re-inaugural recitals on the organ.
“brass”
section
organists
An instrument of the size and
(the
This could the
real
of its
the full
Trompette,
musical quality of the Cathedral’s
Bombarde, Clairon and Chamade
and the Cathedral is continuing to
would take at least several million
stops) to sound the way they
ask for proposals. These are not
euros to replace. But scrapping it
were designed to sound. That
extravagant sums for work that is
would almost be sacrilege. As the
Solo division installed in 1930,
crying out to be done on an organ
Cathedral looks for a new canon
on higher wind pressure than
as big and as important as the
musician to build on the work of
the others, might benefit from
Cathedral’s, but a final visionary
Ned, Assistant Musician Zachary
some voicing adjustments if the
master plan must be completed,
Ullery and the current Artist-
Cathedral musicians decide they
and after that, the money has to be
in-Residence Andrew Dewar,
would make it blend better with
raised. As Dean Fleetwood put it,
is soliciting ideas and proposals
the rest of the ensemble.
The
“We don’t want just a patch job.
from qualified organ builders for
various sections of the organ need
What we do should last at least 100
restoration and renewal of the organ
humidifiers, to keep the wooden
years.”
to bring the organ to full glory.
chests from drying out and leaking
A glorious musical monument
There are many things that
air in the winter. Ned used to go up
awaits an endowment to save it for
can be done – revoicing pipes that
there with pails of water sometimes,
generations to come. •
have been damaged over the years,
not a good idea if they spill.
it
adding stops to the gallery organ,
The bids for work on the organ
replacing electropneumatic chests,
itself that have been solicited so far
with their pesky leather valves, with
have ranged from a few hundred
longer-lasting ones like those the
thousand euros to over a million,
Volume 5
N°1
Craig R. Whitney is a former Cathedral vestry member, a retired New York Times foreign correspondent and editor, and author of “All The Stops,” a book about pipe organs and organists in 20th-century America.
17
Nine decades of
glamor&service by Joseph Coyle
and loved to distraction. It was no coincidence that the musical “An American in Paris” was released in 1951, virtually an opening act for a quarter-century of partying Americans in Paris, with the Junior Guild at center stage. Several years later the film was shown at one of the Guild’s Galas. The Guild was founded by the Cathedral’s Dean, Frederick Beekman, and his wife, Margaret, who remained president for two decades until the couple left for New York in 1940 as the Wehrmacht was sweeping across
W
France. The Beekmans wanted hat do the following have in
to
common?
impoverished refugees who had
Elizabeth Taylor, Edith Piaf, André
flooded into Paris after the
children
and Duchess of Windsor, Fernandel, Maurice
Guild’s
Chevalier, Art Buchwald, Audrey Hepburn,
awarded 45 scholarships at
the Cancan of the Moulin Rouge, plus untold
the start, a number that
numbers of White Russian refugees in the 1920s
more than doubled by the
and French soldiers during the German invasion
end of the decade. This
of 1940, blind bookworms on three continents,
effort was funded in great
dozens of Bulgarian orphans and abused girls in
part by proceeds from
the Philippines, and literally thousands of poor
annual Guild galas, and by
Parisians over nine decades?
giant rummage sales, often
birthday this fall with a gala dinner in the gloriously transformed nave of the Cathedral.
Revolution.
of
Russian
American Cathedral, which celebrated its 90th
18
the
Maurois, Princess Grace of Monaco, the Duke
And the answer is: The Junior Guild of the
At the Annual PreCatalan Fête for the Junior Guild in 1932, Mrs. Eleanor Close Sturges, daughter of Mr. Edward B. Close of Paris, and Mrs. Edward F. Hutton, of New York. Photo: Manuel Frères
help
scholarship
The fund
two per year, beginning in 1923. A tour through the preWorld War II archives of
In its time the Guild has been both a major
the Guild shows a steady
actor on the French charity scene and the sponsor
and energetic expansion
of some of Paris’s most glittering charity balls.
of its activities during
These gala dinner-dance-entertainments, featuring
the ’20s and ’30s. There
the stars listed above as either guests or per-
were Christmas parties in
formers, were for a time the highlight of expatriate
the Parish Hall for poor
Paris. This little golden age ran from the early
children, who received
’50s to the mid-’70s, a time when Americans saw
candies
Paris as the romantic city-hero of World War II
take home. At the U.S.
and
gifts
to
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
Students’ and Artists’ Club, which was managed by the Cathedral vestry at the time, there were receptions for American girls attending Paris finishing schools and teas every Thursday during the Depression. There were weekly member teas, raising money, some from direct donations by Guild
members,
for
clothing
for
poorer
parishioners. Most of all, there was a range of individual help to hundreds of poor families that became Guild protégés, visited regularly by members. Special cases came up often. For instance, the minutes of the meeting of January 12, 1934, report
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer at a Guild Gala in the 1950s. Photo: Archives of The American Cathedral in Paris
the voting of funds for treatment and convalescent
of work…and have given of their funds freely.”
care for a “little Greek boy with tuberculosis.” At
The onset of cold weather and lack of fuel at first
the time Mrs. Beekman regularly asked members
curtailed work and then probably ended it, unless
to report any cases of Americans in need. A “Miss
the Gestapo did. After that the trail of the Junior
X” was given 300 francs “to pay her hotel room
Guild in occupied Paris goes cold.
rent.” A Mrs. MacAfee received cash and a coat for her son. Summer vacations were subsidized. No record is available of a Guild presence
The Guild reformed on November 18, 1946, and got right to work planning its spring ’47 “cinema gala,” featuring “Gilda,” with Rita Hayworth.
between 1939 and war’s end. The last we could
By 1950, according to Allen, the Guild “had
find: the 16th Annual Gala was held on June 26,
taken over completely the works of mercy” at the
1939, at the St. Cloud Country Club. The Beekmans
Cathedral. It had also begun its most scintillating
quit the Cathedral for the duration of the war on
phase. There were talks by the likes of André
June 12, 1940, leaving it in the hands of Lawrence
Malraux at the Cercle Interalliée, galas and
Whipp, the organist, who stayed on even when it
Valentine balls at such hotels as the George V,
became the Evangelische Wehrmacht Kirche for
the Crillon and the Pré Catalan, and even a
two years beginning in 1942, the only church in
cocktail-buffet at the U.S. Pavilion during the
Paris to be taken over for use by German troops.
Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.
In his “The History of the American Cathedral
Charity efforts grew apace. “The works of
of the Holy Trinity,” Cameron Allen reports
mercy to the poor and aged [made] use of a
that some Guild members worked well into
paid professional French social worker, charged
the following winter, making and distributing
with hearing ‘true-or-false’ stories and making a
items for the needy, including retreating French
determination concerning assistance,” wrote Allen.
soldiers. In November a meeting of the vestry in
At one point the Guild was giving to more than
New York recorded that “members of the Junior
a dozen organizations, including neighborhood
Guild …have been from the first in the forefront Volume 5
N°1
clubs in four underprivileged arrondissements.
» 19
Nine decades of glamor and service Guild members.” Unhappily, the report went on, “customers shunned our outmoded miniskirts. As skirt lengths dropped, so did profits.” The galas were much like society balls in other big cities, with black tie prescribed and dancing enjoyed, but not even New York at the time could have served up the combination of old world aristocrats and new world notables, rapt as Piaf sang, neck-snapping as the Windsors took to the floor. The settings did not disappoint either. “I remember the decorations at the Pré Catalan The Junior Guild’s 90th anniversary Gala held on October 1, 2010 in the Cathedral nave. Photo: T. Lefèvre
20
in ’62,” recalls Bommart, who presides over the Cathedral memory as one of its archivists. “The
Around 1958, the Guild struck out in a wholly
tables were covered with rose and gold brocade
new direction – creating a “Department of the
and vegetables stuck with hat pins of rhinestones.”
Blind.” Some 40 volunteers were enlisted to
The Herald Tribune headline the next day:
read aloud books in English and in French for
“Junior Guild Glamorizes Cabbages: Paris Ball
recordings destined for subscribers scattered
Decor Also Includes Artichokes.” Not to mention
throughout western Europe, northern Africa,
mushrooms and Brussels sprouts. The article
Israel and India. It was charmingly amateurish
ended: “The Duchess of Windsor had on a yellow
at the start: “You could hear Helen Raoul-Duval’s
and white gown—and a fortune in diamonds and
dogs barking on her tapes—she raised cockers,”
emeralds.”
says Frances Bommart, a Guild member since
As grand as the galas were, it was the high-
1952. This department became for a while a joint
profit rummages that expressed the range of the
effort with the American Library in Paris and
guild’s movements, collecting items from the rich,
later the independent English Language Library
selling to all classes, and distributing the proceeds
for the Blind.
to the poor. The Duchesse de Brabante, an
The guild hit its peak in the early 1970s. The
American, used to send over “piece after piece of
annual report for 1971 claimed it had become “the
Vuitton luggage filled with cashmere sweaters and
largest private American-sponsored charity in
other delights,” recalls Bommart. “The Duchess
France,” with 32 cases on its monthly aid list and
of Windsor’s donations were always a bit of a
11 charities receiving support, along with two giant
disappointment. They were perhaps presents to
rummage sales with Parisians of all walks lining
her that she didn’t like.”
up on Avenue George V to enter and buy. One of
At one time the Guild had 100 square meters
the events, in November 1970, featured a fashion
of space for storing its rummage merchandise,
show, “a beautiful presentation of ready-to-wear
perhaps one measure of how things have changed.
by Claude Allizan modeled by some of our sveltest
Today the rummages are gone, victim to post-
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
A full circle 9/11 security, societal changes and ever-growing competition from other churches and charitable organizations. And the Guild still fights for space
A
in a Cathedral community whose services have multiplied explosively over the years. With a current membership of more than 120 –
n
eloquent
to
the
witness
efficacy
of
the Guild’s good works is
about three-quarters Cathedral parishioners – the
Pierre Tavitian, who along
Guild still takes in enough via its member lunches,
with
Christmas and spring fairs (about €9,500 in the
received its help for two
latest 12 months) to do an impressive amount of
years, beginning in 1967,
giving. (Proceeds from the auction and donations
when they were 15 years
given at this year’s October 1 gala brought in a surprising €15,000.)
Pierre Tavitian at the Junior Guild 90th anniversary gala. Photo: T. Lefèvre
old.
his
The
Assistance
twin
brother
government’s Sociale
had
The chief current recipients: Bonne Mine, a
referred the family to the
French charitable group that supports Bulgarian
Guild, a common occurrence at the time and a mark of its
orphanages; Caméléon, also French, which takes
high reputation in Paris.
in abused girls in the Philippines; Love in a Box,
The family, Armenians, had arrived in France in 1962
a Cathedral project that prepares thousands of
from Turkey. “We had to leave everything behind and my
gift boxes for needy children at Christmas; Les
father had cancer,” recalls Tavitian. “He was a businessman
Enfants du Monde, a group that takes in homeless
in Turkey but just a worker here.” His father died in 1967,
teenagers from all over the world roaming the
his mother fell ill, and there were Pierre, his brother and a
streets of Paris; and Les Sœurs de la Charité, who
sister to provide for. The Guild gave the family 150 francs
house homeless, unwed soon-to-be mothers. The
a month for two years. “It was not a lot, but it helped with
Guild’s protégés are down to three, a process that
the stomach,” he recalls. The children stayed in school and
began more than a decade ago when government
Pierre and his brother both earned MBAs. Pierre is now an
assistance became more generous. But its Junior
executive with Hilton Hotels in Versailles.
Guild Cook Book, compiled in 1998, remains a long-term success.
The story might have ended there if Tavitian had not joined the Paris Choral Society in the 90s and found
The decade leading up to the centenary in 2020
himself singing with the group at the Cathedral. “I was
will be a test for an organization that flourished in
very proud to sing in the Cathedral, to give back for
a different era—three different eras, in fact. With
the support I received and the difference it made in our
an average member age well into the retirement
lives.” He approached the Guild and tried to find out how
years, “all we need is a stream of younger members
much in total it had given to him and his brother. No one
to join us,” says Guild President Sigun Coyle.
could find the records, so around seven years ago he
“Three dynamos just showed up recently, so we’re
made a donation as close as he could estimate to what
on our way.” •
he and his brother had received.
Joseph Coyle is a retired Time, Inc. editor, has been active at the Cathedral for over 10 years.
Volume 5
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21
How do you become a
priest? by Ginger Strickland
lead an entire service, I remember thinking that some sort of religious professional should probably take over. Budgets, divorces, bulletin margins, funerals – I was in over my head. The Rev. Dr. David J. Wood, now coordinator of the Lilly Foundation’s “Transition to Ministry” program, describes his first two weeks of pastoral ministry: “A young couple with two small children told me they could no longer live together as husband and wife, and unable to cope, the husband checked himself into the hospital. A middle-aged single woman sought Soon-to-be ordained Ginger Strickland with her mentor Canon Pastor Jonathan Huyck. Photo: The American Cathedral in Paris
my counsel as she tried for the first time in her life to come to terms with the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager from her alcoholic father. Two key lay
H
leaders informed me they could not attend church ow does someone become a priest? Of
anymore because of a conflict they were having with a
course, I knew the canonical answer - I
third lay leader. An older member was in the intensive
had looked it up when I began wondering
care unit of the local hospital, struggling to stay alive.
if God might be calling me to ordained ministry. But
A cell phone company delivered a proposal to locate
how does someone become the kind of person who
two small micro-antennas in our bell tower. The
can do priestly work well? How does someone learn
finance committee reported that our giving had fallen
the basic practical tasks of ordained ministry?
about $10,000 behind where it should be, making
The question was pressing. I had been in my job as
the lucrative cell-phone antenna proposal even more
Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the
appealing. The starting time for Sunday worship
American Church in Paris for a few months, and I was
service was changed from 10:45 to 11 a.m...”
realizing that there were quite a few things that I hadn’t learned in seminary. When a parishioner shared a serious problem or when it was my turn to plan and 22
Seminary doesn’t cover this stuff. He was left with one question: “How does anyone learn to do this?” The training of ministers has been a concern of the Trinité magazine Fall 2010
church – and an abrupt initiation – since its earliest
range of tasks and activities of priestly life while
days. The New Testament letters of I and II Timothy
receiving essential mentoring and instruction.
are from an aging apostle to a new church leader,
Here in the Convocation of European Churches,
efforts to educate him in the practice of ministry.
our geographic distance from traditional Episcopal
Timothy receives advice on everything from how
seminaries has meant that the training and formation
to control rowdy parishioners to what to do about
of priests has always been particularly organic and
a nervous stomach. The diaries and letters of early
grounded in congregational life. The European
Anglican Bishops are full of worry and concern about
Institute of Christian Studies, which oversees
how to train clergy, how to keep them out of brothels
Christian formation throughout the Convocation’s
and make sure they show up on time.
parishes and missions, particularly for those seeking
The afore-mentioned Lilly Foundation, a major
ordination like myself, always privileged an ongoing
philanthropic fund fondly called “the Church’s One
dialectic between academic study and practical
Foundation” for its generous support of American
experience – an element the Lilly Foundation
congregations, recently identified a major crisis in
says is missing from most seminaries today.
the formation of priests and pastors. Its report on the
The Convocation also emphasizes the importance of
topic, co-authored with the Alban Institute, declares that the transition from seminary to parish “can be abrupt, untutored, and haphazard.” Their research has shown that many new pastors and priests “fall into the
The essential part of the art and craft of the priestly life could not be learned in the classroom...
finding strong mentors. In the midst of my own initiation to ministry, I found just such a mentor – the Rev. Canon Jonathan Huyck. Both Jonathan and the Cathedral community
gap” – they often become discouraged and exhausted,
have been signs and sources of grace in my life,
leaving pastoral ministry after their first placement.
conversation partners as I struggled to grow into what
The Episcopal Church has responded to this
I began to believe might actually be my vocation.
crisis with special pre-seminary programs for people
Jon understood what I was experiencing. When
discerning a call to ordained ministry. The Micah
he arrived at the American Cathedral, he was a brand-
Program in the Diocese of Massachusetts and the
new Episcopal priest serving in his first ordained
Young Priests’ Initiative in the Diocese of Virginia,
position.
for example, expose new priests and those considering
newcomer and young adult ministries at Holy Trinity
ordination to the full depth and breadth of priestly
Wall Street, in New York City. He had served as the
work with the support mentor and a congregation
first Episcopal chaplain to New York University. He
with a particular gift for receiving and forming
had a strong theological background and was familiar
clergy.
with the ins and outs of ministry in a multicultural
As a deacon, he had already led the
In addition, the Episcopal Church participates in
urban parish. He wasn’t new to church life and work.
the “Transition to Ministry” program, in which 800
And yet he understood how I was feeling, my
newly ordained priests and pastors have been placed
sense that all my academic preparation still left me
in special “transition parishes” where, like medical
unsure of how to comfort a grieving parent or unable
residents, they are intentionally exposed to the full
to bounce back after setting the altar flowers on fire.
Volume 5
N°1
» 23
How do you become a priest?
Trinity
“As with any profession in which you are
Weekend
educated,” he told me once, “there are always moments when you find yourself saying, ‘They never prepared us for this!’ A medical student can examine a patient
SAVE THE DATE!
or perform a procedure under the supervision of a doctor. But a seminary student can’t celebrate the
June 17-19, 2011
eucharist, perform a funeral, or sit in on a counseling session for a couple struggling in their marriage. The priesthood will always have an element of trial by fire.”
4th annual Trinity Weekend Celebration
Jonathan Huyck taught me by word and example
Join Friends and parishioners for three days
that the essential part of the art and craft of the
of special visits, presentations, and fellowship
priestly life could not be learned in the classroom - it
honoring
had to be learned in the crucible of community and
Paris.
in a deep and caring relationship with an experienced
customized
practitioner. He shared with me his view that the
borhood, fascinating talks on Cathedral art,
people of the Cathedral, and particularly the Dean,
history, and music, elegant meals in private clubs,
were his most important teachers.
private gatherings with the Dean and church
Jon was quick to say that not all new priests are as blessed as he was. Not all communities have the
the Visits
mission to
tours
of
the
exclusive of
the
Cathedral
in
historic
homes,
Cathedral
neigh-
leaders, are all part of this spectacular weekend of fun and fellowship.
Cathedral’s gift for welcoming and embracing a new
Contact
priest; and not all deans and rectors are like Dean
development@americancathedral.org
Fleetwood. In his farewell letter to the congregation,
for more information.
Jon said, “I have studied theology at two very reputable institutions (General Seminary and the University of Chicago), but I learned how to be a priest from Zachary Fleetwood.” Just a few days ago, the Bishop made me a candidate for Holy Orders, meaning that I could be ordained a priest within 12 months. I am still not sure how to be a priest, but am deeply thankful that I have role models like the Dean, the Canon, and this loving and forgiving community of formation that is the American Cathedral in Paris. •
Ginger Strickland is Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the American Church in Paris and a candidate for holy orders in the Episcopal priesthood.
24
“
Visiting the Hôtel de Matignon
The weekend’s activities were spectacular to say the least and we enjoyed every minute of it. The best part was making new friends in a city that we love and a church that we felt at home in already.
”
Trinité magazine Fall 2010
A view from the Cathedral pews by John V. Fleming
The following is adapted from a blog post last year by parishioner John V. Fleming, the Louis W. Fairchild Professor of English and Comparative Literature emeritus at Princeton University. His blog is Gladly Lerne, Gladly Teche.
T
he historical origins of our iconography of
Christmas—snowmen,
jingle
bells,
Yule logs, etc.—are capricious. How did
Christmas come to fall in December? Easy: traditional chronology plus observed obstetrics. Otherwise the ripening grain would be an apter Christmas symbol than the pinecone. You may be unaware what time of year, exactly, God created the heavens and the earth; but medieval people had no doubts at all. Chaucer writes of “...the monthe in which the world bigan, /that highte March, whan God first maked man...” This business about the year beginning on January 1st is simply reinstituted paganism, secular humanism run amok. The next bit of historical whimsy was that by the high Middle Ages, when people began to pay a little attention to Christmas, Christendom was much more west and north than it was south and east. Hence Christmas cold, Christmas snow. So it seems appropriate that the days leading up to Christmas have been very cold in Paris. Actually that means only a few degrees below freezing, but Volume 5
N°1
A view of the breathtaking nave of the American Cathedral. Photo: L. Rouvrais
25
A view from the Cathedral pews
“La Sortie du Bourgeois” by Jean Béraud. Collection privée
Princeton Chapel. It was built in the late nineteenth century by the kind of expat Episcopalians you read about in Henry James or, even better, in Edith
26
“Après l’office” by Jean Béraud, a painting of parishioners leaving the American Cathedral after the service. Now displayed at the Musée Carnavalet
Wharton, who herself represented the strain in its
it was enough to halt the Eurostar. Overwhelming
Such characteristics were perhaps prerequisites for
the mainly symbolic heating arrangements in our
people like Christopher Newman in The American,
apartment was child’s play compared with that feat.
who could hang out endlessly being thwarted by
There was a little snow, and since the Parisians have
the odious relatives of Claire de Cintré. A few days
no idea what to do with it, it was soon trampled
ago in the Carnavalet Museum I saw a painting by
into slush which, when frozen overnight, makes the
Jean Béraud dating from 1890 and therefore prior
sidewalks treacherous, especially in the dark, which
to the dictatorship of internal combustion, showing
descends about five in the afternoon and is with us
the street in front of the Cathedral filled with the
until eight in the morning.
carriages arriving to fetch the parishioners after
purest form—upper-crust, cultivated, and moneyed.
Just as the frenzy of the pre-Christmas rush
Christmas morning service. Unfortunately I can find
threatens to overwhelm, this week I have found myself
no photograph of it. There is in it, I think, a hint of
unwontedly reflective. What I have been reflecting
the satire more blatantly present in the better-known
about would not be easy to explain. In one of the fine
“The Bourgeois’s Outing?”
old Prayer Book phrases it is “all the blessings of this
This church of expatriates really became a French
life.” One of the most conspicuous of present blessings
national treasure at the time of the Great War and the
is our Paris church home, the Cathedral of the Holy
temporary euphoria of the post-Armistice period, no
Trinity, a.k.a. the American Cathedral in Paris.
doubt the apogee of Franco-American amity in the
The Cathedral is a George Edmund Street buil-
twentieth century. You may be surprised to learn that
ding, and therefore necessarily gorgeous. Street was
Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were not the only
one of the great neo-Gothic architects, the peer of
Americans in Paris in the ’20s and ’30s, and quite a
the American Ralph Adams Cram, architect of the
few of the others went to church. The Cathedral was Trinité magazine Fall 2010
the center of culturally and socially elite networks not unlike those of the great New York parishes (especially Trinity and St. Thomas) with which it has historic connections. Today it has perhaps lost the social cachet it enjoyed in the belle époque, but it has gained something far more precious: social purpose. Its ambitious music program makes it an important contributor to the Parisian cultural scene. Its “Service of Lessons and Carols” is packed with music enthusiasts. Its work among the poor
Communion at the Cathedral. Photo: © The American Cathedral in Paris
and the needy—Jesus himself said that “you will always have the poor,” and I can assure you that
Though the role of the clergy is too often
the European social model has abolished neither
exaggerated in assessing the nature of Christian
poverty nor need—is impressive. There is a strong
community, it surely does not hurt that the Cathedral
youth program. And the really little kids just put
has two superb full-time priests and an apparently
on the most tolerable of all the Christmas pageants
never-failing succession of interesting visiting
I have ever sat through—a number that is large
ones. The quality of the preaching—the consistent
and positive. Not that the belle époque has entirely
quality—is really extraordinary. I have spent much
vanished, mind you. At Christmas Eve Eucharist
of my life studying medieval friars, but the first time
the lay reader has been and continues to be Olivia
I ever heard Meister Eckhart quoted from the pulpit
de Havilland. Yes, that would be the Olivia de
was last Sunday. The Dean had found a passage in
Havilland of Gone With the Wind (1939).
Eckhart—actually a medieval commonplace, but
But my experience of it has been chiefly that of a vibrant spiritual community. It has an excellent
beautifully expressed by the Dominican mystic—that sums up the whole truth about Christmas.
educational program, and we became swept up in it
It is not a truth likely to be popular with the Israeli
immediately. But most impressive is the nature of the
Tourist Board or the hawkers of souvenirs in the plaza
congregation. Every shade of Anglican is to be found
in front of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
there—and by “shade” I refer both to skin pigment
but it is finally very comforting. That truth is that it
and theological opinion. There must be some nation
doesn’t really matter very much when and where Jesus
of the earth that goes unrepresented, but I’d be hard
was actually born, whether in stable or cave, whether
pressed to tell you which that is. Many members
in “the bleak midwinter” of December or the dog
are long-term American expatriates; but there are
days of August. The obviously mythic accounts of the
also many French members. There is a fairly serious
gospels present a cosmic event, not the necessary data
attempt at bilingualism. Many others are like us,
for a form required of the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
migratory birds, short-termers who are nonetheless
No, what really matters is where Christ will next be
encouraged and enabled to make quick and bonding
born. Meister Eckhart knew that place must be within
friendships.
the hearts of those who would follow him. •
Volume 5
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27