December at St Michael’s

From Advent to Epiphany, we hope what’s on offer at St Michael’s, and St David’s, will help you to delight in the Season of Incarnation, of Joy to the World, of Love, actually – O Come, Emmanuel, God with us.

29th November is Advent Sunday. We start our 10.45am service with The Litany sung in procession; this is Cranmer’s first piece of English Liturgy, published in 1544. The Setting is Kenneth Leighton’s austere Mass in D from 1965, and the Motet is Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, composed by Edgar Bairstow in 1906.

On Wednesdays 2nd, 9th & 16th December, St Michael’s will be open from 8.15 – 9.15am to offer Breakfast and hospitality to the parents and children of St David’s School as they arrive, and to our other neighbours, the residents of Mount Dinham. If you can help with this outreach, please contact Chris Heaven or Sabrina Groeschel.

Thursday 3rd December at 6pm, there will be a sung Requiem Mass in memory of Nick Heath.

Sunday 6th December, Advent II, 10.45am Mass. A cappella Setting: Missa “Dixit Maria” by Hassler, and Motet “Canite Tuba” by Guerrero. (…Veni, Domine, et noli tardare. Sound the trumpet …Come, Lord, and do not delay.)

Our beautiful candlelit Advent Procession at St Michael’s is on Sunday 6th December at 6pm. Prayers, Readings, Hymns and Carols illuminate the 7 “Great O” Antiphons of the Advent Hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The service culminates with Palestrina’s double choir setting of the Magnificat, and is followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Tuesday 8th December at 6pm. CBS Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. All are welcome at this Plainsong Mass.

Saturday 12th December at 7.30pm, Exeter Chorale, conducted by Dr Nigel Browne, presents a programme of seasonal music, Renaissance and Modern, on the theme of Images of the Incarnation. Admission £8 (£5 Students, children free) including refreshments.
ExCh_Winter15_Poster
Sunday 13th December, at St David’s Church at 9.30am, Confirmation Service with the Bishop of Crediton, Rt Revd Sarah Mullally.

Sunday 13th December, Advent III, Gaudete Sunday with Rose Red Vestments at 10.45am. Mass in E by Harold Darke and Rejoice in the Lord Alway.

Sunday 13th December, St Michael’s Choir is at Killerton House, Broadclyst, from 2-4pm for an afternoon of Carol Singing in the Music Room. National Trust admission applies. Please come and support us. The House has Narnia themed decorations this year.

Thursday 17th December at 7.30pm – Our traditional Service of Nine Lessons & Carols at St Michael’s.

Sunday 20th December, Advent IV, 10.45am. Lighting the 4th candle and thinking of Mary, with Missa “Ave Maris Stella” by Victoria. The Motet “Prope Est Dominus” is by Michael Haydn, from this Sunday’s Gradual – The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him.

Sunday 20th December, at St David’s Church at 6pm – Another more contemporary Nine Lessons & Carols. Why not try 18 L&C this year?

Thursday 24th December, 11pm Carols from the West Gallery, 11.30pm, Midnight Mass. The beautifully tuneful Mass in F by Charles Wood (at his most Rutteresque, if that’s not too much of an anachronism) and the ever popular 1837 arrangement of “In Dulci Jubilo” by R L Pearsall, translating the German of the original macaronic text into English but letting the Latin stand.

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, “Come; see the oxen kneel,

“In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know,” I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.

This poem, “The Oxen” by Thomas Hardy, published in The Times on Christmas Eve 1915, is exactly 100 years old. On the face of it, a bucolic idyll of worshipping animals (O magnum mysterium) and simple country folk, but just below the surface are Hardy’s own growing doubts and the irony of such a myth ‘in these years’ of war raging in the mud of the trenches. And perhaps still a lingering hope for peace on the earth, upon the midnight clear.

Friday 25th December, Christmas Day, 10.30am (N.B.) Mass in F by Harold Darke, and Motet: Born Today, by Jan Sweelinck. Come and celebrate Christmas morning with us giving thanks for God’s gift in Jesus.

Sunday 27th December, St John the Evangelist, the disciple whom Jesus loved. 10.45am Mass. Missa & Motet “O Magnum Mysterium” by Victoria.

Sunday 3rd January 2016, Christmas II, 10.45am. Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd. Motet: Lullay my Liking, by Gustav Holst. N.B. No Evensong today, but please come to…

Wednesday 6th January, Epiphany, 7.30pm. Mass in C & F by Stanford. Motet: Three Kings from Persian lands afar, by Cornelius. Please make this Event a priority in your diary. We shall be formally thanking Fr David Hastings for the gifts of his ministry among us at St Michael’s over several years, as he retires from his position as Honorary Assistant Priest.

There is a strange symmetry in the life of Jesus, sometimes picked up in poems or paintings – stable cave and rock-hewn tomb, the wood of crib and cross, swaddling-bands and grave-clothes, the spices of the Wise men and the Women, angelic words to the Shepherds and the Women (you can find both in our East window), the cruel pragmatism of the political elite, even the little donkeys of the journey and Palm Sunday.

And there through it all, from start to finish of those special 30-odd years, is Mary, uniquely Mother of God, and also representing us in our humanity.

Wishing you all the love, joy and peace that we so need this Christmas and New Year.

Richard Barnes.

November at St Michael’s

Many thanks to Fr Andrew Atkins and his congregation at St Peter’s, Lamerton, on the edge of Dartmoor, for the warm welcome, cakes and appreciation for the 20 choir, servers and supporters from St Michael’s who took Choral Evensong & Benediction to their beautiful church on Sunday 18th October.

Special thanks to organist Gabrielle for stepping in to accompany the Purcell Canticles and Ireland Anthem at short notice on the versatile 14 stop Walker organ installed in 1880, shortly after the church was rebuilt following a fire.

The seasonal poet in me offers an Autumn morning poem penned at the end of September:-
Ploughed fields like brown cord trousers.
Harvest moon turning red, like the blood
Shed for us, with us, as us, on the other side of the Year.
Morning breath wets the beard like Asperges,
Then rises like the sweet-smelling Incense,
Awakening the Matins chime of your faithful, fallen, Autumn people.
This season of Remembrance of Easter vigilance,
Resurrection of All Souls’ faithfulness,
Requiem embrace of your welcoming outstretched arms,
Reliquary of loves sacrificed on the Altars of Duty.
Brick-coloured leaves lay and nourish the foundations,
Of my empirical faith in the Space-time physics of the Father,
The compassion, company, compulsion of the Begotten,
The decaying ripples of the Spirit’s disturbing, distributing breath.

Here are our main events this month back in Exeter:-
Sunday 1st November is All Saints’ Day, 10.45am, Sung Mass with the briefest Missa Brevissima by Casciolini, and white-robed Motet, O Quam Gloriosum, by Victoria.

Sunday 1st November at 6pm Evensong and Benediction for All Saints’ Day with more heavenly music. Responses: Radcliffe. Psalm: 148, 150. Office Hymn: 245. Canticles: Dyson in F. Anthem: And I Saw a New Heaven, by Bainton. O salutaris & Tantum Ergo: Liszt.

Monday 2nd November sees our All Souls’ Day Requiem Mass at 7.30pm. This year we sing a full liturgical setting of the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, written around 1583 by Tomas Luis da Victoria. This beautiful a cappella setting of the Requiem texts alternates Plainsong Cantor with 4-part polyphonic Choir. The Motet is Justorum Animae, by William Byrd, and the service will conclude with the Russian Kontakion for the Departed.

Saturday 7th November at 1.30pm, there will be a Sung Mass at St Michael’s at which Michael Lester will be formally admitted and consecrated as a brother of the Anglican Order of Preachers, becoming a friar of this Dominican order. It would be good if friends from St Michael’s could be there to support Michael in this important step, and to welcome visitors. All are welcome to this service, as always.

8th November is Remembrance Sunday with special music and sermon at our 10.45am Mass, and an Act of Remembrance. The Setting is the Mass in F by Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995), who served at Gloucester Cathedral, Chorister and Organist, for 60 years. From 1917 to 1919 Sumsion was in the Queen’s Westminster Rifles and spent time in the trenches in Flanders. The Anthem “Greater Love hath no man than this” by John Ireland (1879-1962) actually pre-dates the Great War by 2 years.

Sunday 8th November at 7.30pm, St Michael’s is delighted to host the Exeter College Music Academy Concert to launch their Chris Wilson Award. Performing will be internationally renowned Czech musicians Jan Škrdlík on Cello and Petra Besa Pospíšilová on Piano, in a programme including pieces by Boccherini, Beethoven and Saint-Saens. Tickets are £15 (£5 for students); the profits will go towards funding the Award.

Sunday 15th November, Trinity XXIV and 2 before Advent. 10.45am with the beautiful Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd and Cantique de Jean Raçine by Gabriel Fauré.

Tuesday 17th November at 6pm. CBS Mass for the Feast of St Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (1200). All welcome.

Sunday 22nd November is Stir-up Sunday and Christ the King. 10.45am with the majestic Mass in C & F by Stanford and Above All Praise and All Majesty by Mendelssohn.

Wednesday 25th November at 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Are we now a Religiously Illiterate Society? asks RE Advisor Graham Langtree.

29th November is Advent Sunday when we start our 10.45am service with The Litany sung in procession; this is Cranmer’s first piece of English Liturgy published in 1544. The Setting is Kenneth Leighton’s austere Mass in D from 1965, and the Motet is Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, composed by Edgar Bairstow in 1906.

Note that our beautiful candlelit Advent Procession at St Michael’s is on Sunday 6th December at 6pm. Prayers, Readings, Hymns and Carols illuminate the 7 “Great O” Antiphons of the Advent Hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The service culminates in a choral setting of the Magnificat, and is followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Finally a reminder that, during term-time, a small group is meeting informally in Church to pray & sing Matins at 8.30am Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays for half-an-hour or so. All are most welcome to join: to sing or to listen. Vespers is sung at 6pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Thus St Michael’s is flourishing in many ways, but, as Fr Tom has made clear in his St Francis Sermon and Stewardship Leaflet, to keep our church afloat financially we also need to consider where it comes in our priorities.

Richard Barnes.

October at St Michael’s

During term-time, a small group is meeting informally in church at 8.30am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays to pray and sing Matins for about half-an-hour. You would be most welcome to join them to sing or to listen.

Michaelmas was celebrated in style with about 60 at Sung Mass followed by Drinks & Nibbles. Our Guest Preacher, Ven David Gunn-Johnson, told us of the Archangels of God from their Hebrew names in the Bible and Apocrypha, Gabriel (strength), Uriel (light), Raphael (healing) and our Michael (who is like God?) . The Mass Setting was by Josef Rheinberger – Liechtenstein’s famous contemporary of Queen Victoria. The Motet: Faire is the Heaven, by Sir William Harris – A high point of 20th century Anglican music from an Organist of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, setting a 16th century poem by Edmund Spenser.

September was a month of Welcome with our new Bishop of Crediton installed in the Cathedral and our new Curate ordained deacon. I’m sure every Church says it is “welcoming” in its website and notices, but we need to make sure we are in practice too…

Recently on the Ship of Fools website, a “Mystery Worshipper” made a telling report on Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha Course, finding it so full of its own success and activity that there was no welcome, no help with their pushchair, and the Worship Group was so loud and dominant that it seemed to be the focus of the congregation’s worship (and applause!) rather than God. See http://shipoffools.com/mystery/2015/2906.html

Indeed, it’s a feature of most reviews that the quality of Welcome counts more to a visitor than Sermon, Music, style of Worship, and even Heating. The ministry of welcome, both before and after our services, is really important, so thanks to those who do it so well at our churches.

Both our welcome and our music serve the Liturgy and help us all to worship God. We hope to welcome new and returning choir members and congregation at this time; during October we have:-

Sunday 4 October, we will keep the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. 10.45am Sung Mass with Missa L’Hora Passa by Ludovico da Viadana (1560-1627) and the Motet “Laudans Exsultet Gaudio” by Giovanni Croce (1557-1609). Plus “All creatures of our God and King” and “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”.

Also, being 1st Sunday, 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction – Smith Responses: Psalms 125, 126; Office Hymn: 242. Canticles: Walmisley in D minor, a Victorian take on the Faux-bourdon with unison T/B alternating with SSA trio. Anthem: O Lord the Maker of All Thing, music by Mundy, a prayer attributed to King Henry VIII. We might use the Elgar and Fauré settings of the Benediction Hymns.

Remember also Tues 6 Oct, William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Reformation Martyr, 1536.

Sunday 11 October, Trinity XIX, 10.45am Sung Mass. Missa Aeterna Christi Munera by Palestrina. Motet: Lead Me Lord, by SSWesley.

Tuesday 13 October at 6pm. CBS Mass for the Feast of St Edward the Confessor, King of England (June 1042 – January 1066). All are welcome. Plainsong Mass with Propers and Hymns for the day.

Saturday 17th October at 7pm in St James’ Church Hall – a Food & Quiz Evening for all from St David’s, St Michael’s and St James’ and friends to get together. Tickets, £7, from Tony Pugh.

Sunday 18 October, Harvest takes precedent over St Luke today, 10.45am, Sung Mass. Missa Brevis, by Lotti. Motet: God Looks on Nature, by Graham Keitch from a poem by John Clare. Gifts suitable for the Food Bank collection would be especially welcome.

In the afternoon of Sun 18, the Choir heads out into rural West Devon to sing Choral Evensong & Benediction at 6.30pm at St Peter’s Church, Lamerton, one of the churches now ministered to by Fr Andy Atkins, our former Curate, a few miles north-west of Tavistock. You are welcome to join us.

Wednesday 21 October at 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Idir Ouahes, a PhD student in the History Department of the University of Exeter, researching the French Mandate rule in Lebanon & Syria, will discuss “Christians in Syria”. All welcome.

Saturday 24 October, St Michael’s is hosting “YOUR FAITH, YOUR FINANCE AND THE COMMON GOOD”, a conference taking place from 10.30am to 4pm. It is being run by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility and will look at the role of money in our personal life, our churches, our society and the wider world. Tickets can be booked online at Eventbrite, visit: http://www.bit.ly/1JuEyay for details.

Sunday 25 October, Trinity XXI, 10.45am Sung Mass. Mass in F, by Harold Darke. Motet: O Lord Increase Our Faith, by Loosemore.

Remember also Sat 31 Oct, not just Hallowe’en, but Martin Luther, Translator of the Scriptures, Reformer, 1546.

Sunday 1 November is All Saints’ Day, 10.45am, Sung Mass. Missa Brevissima, Casciolini. Motet: O Quam Gloriosum, Victoria.

And at 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction, featuring Dyson in F Canticles. Anthem: And I Saw a New Heaven, Bainton.

Please note. Monday 2 November there will be our All Souls’ Day Sung Requiem Mass at 7.30pm featuring the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, by Tomas Luis da Victoria. This beautiful a cappella setting of the Requiem texts alternates Plainsong Cantor with 4-part polyphonic Choir.

Congratulations to Paula who visited 25 churches in Exeter, very few of which were actually open, for the Devon Historic Churches Trust sponsored walk. Thanks to Richard Parker for arranging our Exhibition, and to all who spent long hours manning the church during the Heritage Open Days. There was a small but steady stream of visitors with about 40 on Saturday. All admired the beauty and presence of the church, and several tried the organ under Nigel Browne’s supervision. Thanks also to all who made our Parish Mass with Combined Choir to welcome Fr Christopher Durrant so enjoyable.

Richard Barnes.

September at St Michael’s

With the new academic year, activities are resuming at St Michael’s too; do come and visit us if you can. A special mention for Sunday 13th Sept, when Deacons are ordained at the Cathedral in the morning and we will welcome Chris Durrant as our new Curate in the evening. Also Michaelmas at the end of the month; Feast Day or ordinary, in person or on-line, you are always welcome.

Tuesday 1st September at 6pm. CBS Mass for the Feast of St Giles of Provence (710), Hermit, with Hymns and Plainsong Propers. All welcome. N.B. No Choir Practice this Tuesday; please be prompt on Sunday.

Each Wednesday morning there is Prayer Book Matins at 9.30 and Low Mass is said at 10am.
Tuesday & Thursday Vespers & Meditation at 6pm resume on Thursday 3rd September.

Sunday 6th September, Trinity XIV, 10.45am Sung Mass. Setting: Mass for Three Voices, Byrd. Motet: Sicut Cervus, Palestrina. Some beautiful a cappella Byrd and a motet from Psalm 42; Like as the deer desires springs of water.

Sun 6 Sept, 6pm, Evensong and Benediction.
Responses: Reading. Psalm: 119 vv 41-56. Office Hymn: 241. Canticles: Noble in B minor.
Anthem: Verleih Uns Frieden, Mendelssohn. O salutaris: Elgar. Tantum Ergo: Fauré (G flat).
A Romantic Choral Evensong pretty much all the way. The German text is Luther’s translation of a Latin Response which Cranmer renders as “Give peace in our time, O Lord: because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only Thou, O God.”

Wed 9 Sept, remember Father Charles Fuge Lowder (1820-80), Founder of the Society of the Holy Cross and pioneering Anglo-Catholic priest in Wapping & London Docks.

Saturday 12th September, Heritage Open Day 8am-6pm, and Devon Historic Churches Trust Ride & Stride. Also, Installation of Rt Revd Sarah Mullally as our new Bishop of Crediton in Exeter Cathedral at 4pm.

Sunday 13th September, Eve of Exultation of the Holy Cross.
Heritage Open Day 10am-6pm, Guided Tour of Mount Dinham & our Church at 2.30pm with Richard Parker.
10am in Exeter Cathedral, Ordination of Deacons, including Chris Durrant and Stephen Martin.
No choir for 10.45am Low Mass.
6pm Parish Sung Mass and Bring & Share Party at St Michael’s to Welcome Chris Durrant (and his wife Jenny) as our newly Ordained Deacon and Curate. All welcome, from St David’s, St James’ and further afield.
Hymns include Lift High the Cross. Setting: Missa Super Dixit Maria, Hans Leo Hassler.
Motet: Salvator Mundi, Thomas Tallis. O Saviour of the world, save us, who by thy cross and blood hast redeemed us, help us, we pray thee, our God.

Tuesday 15th September at 7pm. Open Choir Practice, for anyone wanting to sing a wide variety of sacred choral music in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with the rather good choir at St Mike’s. We hope to appoint three Junior Choral Scholars following an audition. This could be of particular interest to anyone considering applying for a University or College Choral Scholarship and looking to gain experience. Please contact Erika Borley, Director of Music, if you know of anyone interested in this.

Wed 16 Sept, remember Ninian, Bishop of Galloway (432) and Edward Bouverie Pusey, one of the founders of the Oxford Movement (1882).

Thur 17 Sept, remember Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary and Musician (1179).

Sunday 20th September, Trinity XVI, 10.45am Mass. Setting: Mass in A minor, Casciolini. Motet: Ubi Caritas, Duruflé. Where Care and Love are, there God is. Gregorian chant beautifully re-imagined in 1960 Paris.

Tuesday 22nd September at 7pm. Another Open Choir Practice at St Mike’s. We hope to appoint an Ouseley Trust Scholar and two Senior Choral Scholars from Exeter University students following auditions.

Sunday 27th September, Trinity XVII, 10.45am Mass. Setting: Mass in the Phrygian Mode, Wood. Motet: View Me Lord, Lloyd. Two 20th century composers looking back to medieval sacred music and an Elizabethan poem by Thomas Campion.

Tuesday 29th September, Michaelmas is celebrated with 7.30pm Sung Mass, followed by a Bring & Share Party – please join us. Our Guest Preacher is Ven David Gunn-Johnson.
Setting: Mass in F, Josef Rheinberger – Liechtenstein’s famous contemporary of Queen Victoria. Motet: Faire is the Heaven, Sir William Harris – A high point of 20th century Anglican music from an Organist of Sr George’s Chapel, Windsor, setting a 16th century poem by Edmund Spenser.

While we often shorten our church’s title to St Michael’s, it’s good also to let the “and All” Angels remind us that God values us all as his children, wherever we are on the pilgrimage of faith; and all are welcome here, quiet, confident or questioning.

Wednesday 30th September, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. The Venerable David Gunn-Johnson considers Crusader Spirituality, 11th Century Radicalisation, and whether there be any lessons for or parallels with our times.

South Aisle Window commemorating Rev John Inckson Woollcott who died in Rangoon 1931

Sunday 4th October, we will celebrate St Francis of Assisi, 10.45am Mass. Hymns include Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. Setting: Missa L’Hora Passa, Viadana. Motet: Laudans Exsultet Gaudio, Croce. A double choir celebration of Beati Sancti Francisci.

Sun 4 Oct, 6pm, Choral Evensong and Benediction.
Responses: Smith. Psalm: 125, 126. Office Hymn: 242. Canticles: Walmisley in D minor. Anthem: O Lord the Maker of All Thing, Mundy. O salutaris: 269, Tantum Ergo: 268.

Richard Barnes.

August at St Michael’s

Whether you’re a Summer visitor or a Devon resident, we would love to welcome you to worship with us at St Michael’s – traditional services, fine music, a diverse fellowship. It’s a fairly quiet month – activities will resume in September. A reminder that Tuesday & Thursday Plainsong Vespers have a break during August. Please check the website/twitter for updates.

Our Choir Tour to Germany was a joyful farewell celebration with Alex West of our Anglican Choral tradition from 16th to 21st century, and a time to hand-over to Erika Borley as our Choir Director. We also thank Sabrina for organising the Tour and the host families in her home town of Wolfenbuettel for their hospitality. See http://www.stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk/choir-tour-blog/ for pictures and a write-up from the Tour.

Other farewells were to Rebecca and Vicki as they graduated in Maths and move away to jobs – come back and visit, and keep singing. We’re glad that Saffron will be returning, but that leaves us looking for several new scholars to join us in September. We are grateful to the Ouseley Trust for funding one of our Scholarships, and to Julian and Sabrina for their work securing such funding.

As well as auditioning for new Choral Scholars from the University in September, Erika is also looking to appoint 2 or 3 Junior Scholars, 16-18 year olds who might want experience before applying for University or College Choral Scholarships, or who just love singing church music – if you know of anyone who may be interested, see http://www.stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk/music/scholarships/ and contact Erika.

So, here’s a summary of Music for August, and a few saints to remember. Firstly an all 16th century Sunday, and just a sprinkling of Bruckner, Darke & Sumsion later in the month.

Sun 2 August, Trinity IX, Sung Mass, 10.45am. Missa O Quam Gloriosum by Victoria. Ave Verum Corpus by Byrd.

Sun 2 Aug, 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Byrd Responses, Morley Fauxbourdon Canticles, Te Lucis Ante Terminum by Tallis.

Fri 7 Aug. John Mason Neale, Priest, Hymn Writer, 1866, best known for enriching our worship with many ancient and medieval hymns translated from Greek and Latin.

Sun 9 August, Trinity X, Sung Mass, 10.45am. Mass in F Darke. Verily, verily I say unto you, Tallis.

Fulda Cathedral High Altar – Assumption of Mary
Dom zu Fulda Hochaltar – Mariä Himmelfahrt

Sun 16 August, Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of BVM (transferred), 10.45am. Mass for Four Voices Byrd. Ave Maria Arcadelt.

Sun 23 August, Trinity XII, Mass, 10.45am. Mass in the Dorian Mode and If Ye Love Me, both by Thomas Tallis.

Mon 24 Aug. Bartholomew the Apostle, worth a mention for the street and cemetery named after him across the valley from St Michael’s.

Thurs 27 and Fri 28 Aug. Monica, 387, and her son Augustine of Hippo, 420, a great thinker and teacher of the faith.

Sun 30 August, Trinity XIII, Mass, 10.45am. Mass in F Sumsion. Locus Iste Bruckner.

Tues 1 September, at 6pm, CBS Mass for St Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710, with Hymns and Plainsong Propers.

Richard Barnes.

Fledging 2015

End of June update – A fortnight or so on from fledging and, as far as one can tell, our two juveniles are becoming strong, confident young Peregrines learning their skills in the sky over St David’s and returning to the church, though not needing to use the nest box, as far as I’ve noticed.

It is also worth reporting what we know of the previous years’ broods.
Of 2013′s 3 juveniles, male FV was found dead north of Exeter in autumn 2013, female FX was found dead in spring this year near in Halifax having tried to establish a territory there (one hopes this was natural and not from persecution).
Of 2014′s 3 young, male HC was taken into care by RSPCA early on and rehoused by failed to thrive owing to development problems and died, while female HB was found in distress west of Exeter in August 2014 and had to be put down.
We don’t know about females FT from 2013 or HD from 2014, but a young female Peregrine was seen around Exeter in spring 2015 and tolerated by our adults – was this one of our surviving juveniles? I don’t know that anyone observed its leg ring to say for sure.

A small sample, but this seems to fit with what experts think, that maybe 30% of fledged Peregrines actually reach maturity, so any increase and spread of their numbers, currently estimated at 1500 or so breeding pairs across the UK, will be slow, and also depend on the availability of suitable new territories.

Jun16 update – That did the trick! Juvenile female JK flew from the nest box at 8.10am Tues 16th, enjoying the morning sun and then exploring most parts of the roof during the day. So now our two young Peregrines need to practise their flying and hunting, and keep out of trouble, mainly from the local seagulls, until they can fend for themselves.

Good to meet several photographers and birders at St Michael’s over the past few days – there are some stunning new photos on the Exeter Peregrine Group Flickr page linked under “Gallery” (and scroll down).

Jun15 update – Juvenile male JN was seen back around the church Fri & Sat, a bit bedraggled but ok, and seems to be making good progress now. We need a good strong male offspring, after the males from the past 2 broods died in their first year.

The young female JK, despite spending much time in the trefoil opening, seems rather reluctant to fledge, and is still being fed in the nest box by the adults. She’s only a couple of days over her 6 weeks, so hopefully there’s nothing amiss.

Jun11 – To fledge or not to fledge, that’s been the question this week.

So, male juvenile JN is now a full 6 weeks old and has been spending much time near or on the trefoil opening, but hadn’t yet made that leap into the unknown, until 5.30pm on Thursday 11th June. As observed by Elizabeth, he flew strongly and came down on a Dinham Road roof. Later he flew back up to the spire but couldn’t find the open trefoil or land on the tower, and headed away again. Andrew located him in a fairly safe roost near the church, where he was calling to the adults and they answered but didn’t come to him. So we hoped as night fell and it started to rain he would be alright there or try again to get back to the church.


The female juvenile JK (Rowling?) is 40 days old with just a little fluff still evident that she is preening away, and also doing vigorous wing exercises mainly on the stone lower left in the camera view. Now that her brother has flown the nest box, she is looking a bit bewildered and doing a lot of calling, as they were still sleeping next to each other.

Apologies for the couple of days when feathers were on the camera lens; thankfully it has cleared itself, because it’s not legally or physically accessible now.

Mum was still bringing in large prey for tea-time and other feeds the past few days, so both juveniles should be strong and well fed. I don’t know whether they sense the weather or follow the forecast, but, with thunderstorms and heavy rain potentially in the offing for Friday, JK may be better delaying fledging till the weekend now. We shall see.

June at St Michael’s

June has a host of interesting days. Especially the brilliant VOCES8 visit on Friday 19th June, with Lunch & Workshop and/or Recital options available, so we look forward to seeing you at St Michael’s.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Plainsong Vespers & Meditation take place at 6pm.

Thurs 4th June, Corpus Christi, 7.30pm; Sung Mass with procession of the Blessed Sacrament around Mount Dinham. Setting: Tallis ‘Dorian’ Mass. Anthem: Byrd ‘Ave verum corpus’.

The Feast of Corpus Christi was first celebrated in Liège, Belgium, in 1246 after some 40 years of lobbying by St Juliana who longed for a feast day outside of Lent in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. It was adopted for the whole Roman church in 1264. Scholars now recognize Juliana as author and composer of an initial sung version of the Latin office. St Thomas Aquinas formalised the Office for Pope Urban IV, leading both to developments in doctrine and to growth in his spiritual devotion.

Fri 5th – St Boniface, born c.675 in Crediton (possibly), studied in Exeter, worked as missionary and bishop in what is now northern Germany, martyred in 754 at Dokkum in the Netherlands, and buried in Fulda, which St Michael’s Choir visited in August 2012, where a splendid baroque cathedral now covers his shrine. This is a panel on the Exeter Cathedral Nave Pulpit.

Sun 7th June Trinity I, 10.45am; Sung Mass. Setting: John Merbecke’s Booke of Common Praier Noted (1550). Anthem: Our conversation is in Heaven, by Exeter born Walter Bond Gilbert.

Sun 7th June 6pm Evensong & Benediction – Reading Responses, Psalm 37 vv11-17, Canticles – Stanford in G, with the soaring Treble solo in the Magnificat and sonorous Baritone in the Nunc Dimittis. Anthem – Viadana ‘Exultate Justi’. Plainsong Hymns.

Tuesday 9th June is my best estimate for the fledging of our 2 young Peregrine, but it could be a day or two either side, and one may be more adventurous than the other.

Thursday 11th June 6pm, CBS Mass for St Barnabas Day. Although not one of the original Twelve, Barnabas is named an Apostle by virtue of his work with St Paul and then with John Mark in the missionary journeys recorded in Acts spreading the Gospel across the Mediterranean from Jerusalem to Rome. Tradition has it he founded the (Cypriot Orthodox) Church in Cyprus, and, less likely, that his brother Aristobulus was the first Bishop of Roman Britain, possibly at Glastonbury.

Sun 14th June Trinity II, 10.45; Sung Mass. Setting: Leighton in D. Anthem: Howells ‘Mine eyes for beauty pine’.

Monday 15th June at 7.30pm – Salzburg Connections, a Concert of early-Classical sacred choral music by Exeter Chorale, accompanied by instrumentalists. There was a remarkable conjunction of young musical talent in Salzburg in the 1760s. This concert features lively, elegant music by three composers who probably knew each other – Michael Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the lesser-known Bonifaz Stöckl. Tickets £8 (£6 conc) on the door.

Tues 16th – St Richard of Chichester, 1253, famous for the Prayer – “Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits Thou hast given me, For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly” (day by day) – itself better known in the 1970s as one of the songs from Stephen Schwartz’s musical Godspell.

Friday 19th June, VOCES8 at St Michael’s.

1pm-4pm; Buffet Lunch & Choral Workshop with Voces8, Tickets £10 (£7 conc), please book this in advance (online at http://stmichaelsrecitals.ticketsource.co.uk/events ) to help with catering and planning.

7.30pm; Concert by Voces8; hear these brilliant and versatile young singers performing. Tickets £15 (£12 conc) on the door or online as above. (£3 reduction for both events). They really are exceptional – don’t miss it!

Sat 20th June at 4.45pm in St John’s Church, Newton Road, Bovey Tracey, TQ13 9BD, the Choir is pleased to be singing Choral Evensong with the Exeter Branch of the Prayer Book Society.

Sun 21st June, Music Sunday, 10.45am; Mass Setting – Missa “Ego flos campi” for double choir by Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (ca. 1590-1664), a Spanish composer in what is modern Mexico. Anthem – Lauda Jerusalem by Monteverdi (1567-1643) for double SAB plus Tenor Cantus.


Mon 22nd June 7.30pm. Concert by the Choir of Queen’s College, Oxford.

Wed 24th June 7.30pm St Michael’s Lecture Speaker to be announced.

Sun 28th June, Trinity IV 10.45am; Sung Mass. Setting – Lotti ‘Missa brevis’. Anthem – Harris ‘Holy is the true light’.

Monday 29th June – 7.30pm at St Michael’s, a Concert by the Selwyn College Consort from Cambridge.
This day is also the anniversary (year’s mind) of the tragic death of Revd Dr John Hughes.

Note that on Sunday 5th July at 5pm, the Choir of St Michael’s has been invited to sing Evensong at St Martin’s Church in Exeter Cathedral Close as they celebrate the 950th Anniversary of this ancient city centre place of worship, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. Please join us. This will replace our normal 1st Sunday Evensong & Benediction.

With so much music in June, I thought I’d reprise my little guide to how music by choir and congregation fits together at St Michael’s with the work of clergy and servers in our Sung Mass. I find five musical strands woven into a colourful, joyful cord.

(i) Organ Music – Sets the mood, underpins much of the worship, covers movement, and the Voluntary helps us go forth rejoicing.

(ii) Hymns – Just 3 for the opening Procession, the Offertory and a closing Recessional, because at St Michael’s we continue to use…

(iii) Plainsong Propers – These are verses from the Psalms or other Scripture, sung at 4 points in the service. They are printed so that the congregation can join with the choir in response to the Cantor. The chants are the same each week, so they soon become familiar. These used to fit with the Prayer Book readings for the day, but with the Revised Lectionary that’s not always the case.

(iv) Music for All – The 3 great statements of Faith – the Gloria, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer – are sung by all. We use the Anglican Folk Mass, composed in 1919 by Martin Shaw for St Mary’s, Primrose Hill, London, a great Anglo-catholic liturgical testing ground, and John Merbecke’s music for the Lord’s Prayer, written in 1550 for Cranmer’s First Prayer Book but seldom used until the Victorians rediscovered it.

(v) Music from the Choir – This is the spice in the mix, giving a distinctive flavour to each service without overpowering it. The short movements of the Mass – Kyrie (Lord, have mercy), Sanctus (Holy), Benedictus (Blessed is he) and Agnus Dei (O Lamb of God) – are sung to one of a dozen or so settings we have in our repertoire. Those from earlier times are in Latin, while those from the more recent flourishing of Anglican church music will be in English. After Communion there is an Anthem, again chosen to illustrate the day.

With its beautiful architecture, decoration and wonderful acoustic, St Michael’s is perfect for plainsong, soaring vocal lines and emotive organ music. With fine liturgy, thoughtful preaching, splendid vestments and clouds of incense, you can worship God with all your senses.

The choir is always happy to welcome new singers, whether regular or occasional; choir practice is on Tuesdays at 7pm.

Richard Barnes.

Peregrine News 2

May31 update. It’s been really evident this week how, although the young female is noticeably larger than the young male, her growth of darker feathers to replace the pretty white fluff of the chick phase is still a couple of days behind that of the male whom we assume hatched two days earlier too. They have both been roaming the box, sometimes into the blindspot below the camera, and trying out their developing wings vigorously, but still prefer to rest snuggled together.

May27 update. Notes from the licensed ringing on 21st May – One female, colour ring JK, weight 780 grams; one male, ring JN, 605 grams. The male had far more feather out of pin suggesting this one hatched first, 30th April, with the female hatching 2nd May. Two unhatched eggs sent to Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme) to see if CEH can confirm when the eggs failed (infertile or development).

Young now exploring nest box, aware of outside, developing feathers and preening, flexing wings, starting to self-feed.

May23 update. Three weeks old and the two chicks have been weighed, to check development and discover that we have one female and one male this year, and had identifying leg rings fitted, to help with scientific study of survival rates and dispersion of urban peregrines. They appear to be healthy and growing well. This despite the adults seeming to spend as much time clearing their Exeter airspace of other raptors especially buzzards, as they do hunting for prey to feed their chicks.

It’s the end of the fluffy phase and the start of the less tidy time of growing proper feathers, exploring the box, testing and strengthening those wings and getting ready for fledging, hopefully in the week starting Sunday 7 June.

May15 update. Two weeks old and being left by themselves for longer periods during the day, the 2 chicks are still all fluffy and white, but developing strong legs and talons as well as their wings and characteristic head shape. Apologies for some down-time on Wednesday from a power issue in church and the flurry of feathers during windy weather yesterday.

A week on from the hatching of 2 of the eggs, at around 6.30am on Thursday 30 April and Saturday 2 May, it’s clear that for whatever reasons the other 2 eggs are not going to hatch, and the adults should gradually lose interest in them.

The 2 little chicks are sitting up, appear to be eating and excreting well, starting to flex their little wings, and look pretty lively, so let’s hope that with just the two of them to feed, their growth and development carries on over the next 5 weeks, and the outcome after fledging in June will be more successful than last year.

At other sites, the Nottingham four seem to be doing well, Norwich hatched all 4 but one has since died, and Derby and Bath have each hatched 3 of their 4 eggs.

Calendar Notes around hatching time:-
Thurs 30 April was the 150th anniversary of the sad death of Admiral Robert FitzRoy (1805-65), a great-grandson of King Charles II (it’s in the name), and Captain of HMS Beagle for Charles Darwin’s voyage (1831-36) gathering data which helped form his theory of Evolution. FitzRoy was also founder in 1854 of the pre-cursor of the Met Office, coining the word “forecasts” for his warnings from 1861 onwards of weather hazards around the coasts of the UK.

Sat 2nd May was the Feast day of Athanasius of Alexandria, 4th century Christian teacher and formulator of “orthodox” creeds to help understand the nature of Jesus Christ and of God as Trinity.

1st May was the Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles, i.e. two of the first 12 disciples of Jesus. They are often known colloquially as Pip & Jim, which might well be rather more suitable names for our 2 Peregrine chicks.

Egg Sighting News

Apr22 update – our female and male Peregrines have been incubating their eggs, 4 in total, for a month now, and we estimate the “due date” for hatching to be around 29-30 April; just a week to go, so keep watching. It seems there is another younger female in the vicinity, flying in from the south-west to try and attract the male’s attention while our female is sitting on her eggs. Although showing some interest, the male is maintaining his part in incubation duties, and hopefully he will be active with hunting and feeding after hatching.

Apr5 update – Easter Egg News; it’s definitely 4 eggs being sat, as the female (I presume) left the eggs visible at about 12.30 on Easter Sunday for 10 minutes or so for a comfort/food break. Surprised that she didn’t call the male to take over, as often happens, but the first week of incubation seems to have gone smoothly. Mar30 update – Nick Dixon was pretty sure he saw a 4th egg at about 1pm on Monday 30th March. If the female was keeping to a 64 hour interval, it would have been expected around 7am Monday morning, but the adults have been sitting tight since incubation proper started with their 3rd egg, so it’s only possible to check when the female goes off for a break and the male takes over. We would be pleased to hear if anyone could confirm and give a more precise time for the 4th egg. Mar27 update – a 3rd egg has been laid, at 15.05 on the afternoon of Fri 27th March, again some 64 hours after the previous one. As high-status falconry birds in the Middle Ages, it is perhaps appropriate that our Peregrines have laid 3 eggs in this Richard III week. We now wait to see if that is all; last year our pair laid a 4th egg, which seemed to be unusual for them, although only 3 hatched. Meanwhile, the Peregrines on the Catholic church near Bath railway station have laid their 2nd egg today (Friday) and those on Norwich Cathedral now have 4. The pair at Nottingham Trent Uni are busy incubating their clutch, but Derby Cathedral are still awaiting their 1st egg. Mar25 update – a 2nd egg was laid sometime between 22.15 and 23.08 on the evening of Tue 24th March, some 64 hours after the 1st egg, longer than the typical 48-57 hour gap expected. If anyone can tell us the exact time, we would be pleased to hear. The female is now sitting the eggs more regularly, but still not all the time. It seems there were more than one intruder bird last week; the juvenile offspring was observed soaring with the adults, but other(s) were seen aggressively expelled from the territory. In other news, congratulation to St Michael’s choir member Graham Keitch whose anthem “In Memoriam Ricardus Rex” was sung during the Requiem Mass for King Richard III at the Catholic Holy Cross Priory Church in Leicester on Monday. It has been good to see most religious commentators emphasizing the many strands of continuity with the medieval English church, as we also try to in our website’s History Timeline. Mar22 – Spring is in the air and egg-laying has commenced in the Peregrines’ nest box inside the south face of St Michael’s spire. This will be an updating Blog, hopefully documenting the laying of more eggs during this week. I’m pleased to say that both Nick Dixon, our local Peregrine expert, and Jason Fathers, who has installed the camera and hosts the live streaming, were online at 6.30am on Sunday 22nd March to witness the laying of the first egg of the 2015 season at 06:36. This is just a day or two later than the first eggs seen on camera the previous 2 years. Thanks to Jason for this picture… Typically our Peregrine female lays her eggs at 2 day intervals, and will start serious incubation of the eggs only when 2 or possibly 3 have been laid. So it’s alright that the first egg is being left mainly unattended at present. Also really good to see the egg laid in a scrape well visible in the camera field of view.

Peregrine News I

I was hoping to call this first Peregrine blog of the 2015 season “egg sighting news”, but it’s been relatively quiet in the box up till now, just sleeping there overnight and preparing an impressive scrape, with the action so far happening outside the box, as a third Peregrine has been seen in the area over the past few days. (Sorry if this is reading like a football report.)

However, tonight (Thu 19 Mar) the female is standing over the “scrape” rather than settling down to sleep, so maybe an egg is immanent.

By day the resident pair of adults have been trying to see off the intruder, but without too much aggression, so Nick Dixon suspects that the third bird may be last year’s surviving female juvenile. If she has failed to find her own territory and mate, this returning behaviour is not uncommon; the resident birds will recognise their offspring and not attack, but the female may see her as competition, hence the lack of welcome.

So an interesting development just as we are expecting the first egg around the time of the equinox and eclipse. It would be great to get sight of a leg ring to back up our suspicions, but asking a lot of any observer or photographer. We think the resident female is in her seventh breeding season here, so probably not ready to be displaced.

After a couple of different technical issues from last year, the live streaming of the nest box camera to the church website peregrine page, http://www.stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk/peregrine-falcons/
was brought back online on Tuesday 17th March. It has needed a couple of early morning restarts but is otherwise functioning well. (Live streaming costs us about £5 per day, totalling some £600 over the breeding season, so any donations via the MyDonate facility on the website, or otherwise, would be most appreciated.)

Last year’s Peregrine diary can be found in the website blogs for March to June 2014, or with http://www.stmichaelsmountdinham.org.uk/tag/peregrine-falcons/

Meanwhile at St Michael’s we are also getting ready for the solemn and joyful activities with which we Christians recount the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Information on Services from Passion Sunday through to Easter (5th April) and beyond is also on the website.