The worship of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter – The Great Three Days – is so powerful and rich that it is good to reflect upon it afterwards, and to share our experiences. We’ve asked a few church members for personal reflections. We begin with Kenson to whom we are very grateful not only for being part of St Chrysostom’s but also for playing the organ for the Easter Vigil:
This is my very first ‘Great Three Days’ experience as I have spent all my previous Easter in Hong Kong and we do not have this tradition.
The emptiness of the sanctuary, after the removal of the Cross, I found very significant. The plain wall without the cross evoked an immense sense of insecurity and sorrow in me.
The almost inaudible soft accompaniment throughout Lent till Good Friday reminds me, as a musician, that sometimes notes obscure emotions and focuses, and I am prone to the distraction of harmony.
The victorious and brilliant Easter Vigil at St Chrysostom’s reminded me of a line from Mahler’s second symphony’s Finale, “O Death, You conqueror of all things, Now, are you conquered!”. For the first time in months the Gloria was sung and God’s ultimate triumph was announced with an organ fanfare, all the misery is gone and an unexplainable joyous and at the same time, nervous feeling arouse in me as I played the mass setting. I truly saw the glory of God in the unity of voices of the congregation, proclaiming his resurrection.
I have never experienced such period of intense self-reflection and self-denial. This Lent and Easter, especially over the ‘Great Three Days’ surely revolutionised my view on the liturgical year and the depth of the meaning of so many practices in worship.
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