An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very
Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral of St.
Philip
First of all, of course, I give thanks for the tremendous services of the Cathedral during Holy Week of 2011. As all of you know, we plan and practice all sorts of things leading up to Holy Week; but the services would not happen if people did not show up. And you certainly showed up! Palm Sunday's procession and passion reading (by our youth) were moving. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services were simply beautiful; those days are deep and confounding, but somehow they are also beautiful.
I give thanks for so many who contributed to our grand Easter services. The vigil fire at 6 a.m., assembled and tended by the Boy Scouts, was at its highest! Choristers and musicians were up early for the marathon, having rehearsed, it seems, throughout Lent. Altar Guild members, as usual, were among the first arrivals on Easter morning. The Flower Guild had already worked all day on Holy Saturday, and the fruit of their efforts draped the entire Cathedral. Acolytes and lectors and ushers and childcare workers, teachers and priests and vergers, visitors and the faithful all turned up, over and over again on Easter morning.
My thanks to all of you who made this Easter so glorious!
Some of you know that the last three weeks in my own family brought special mourning. My wife's mother, who had became quite ill in the last two months, died just before the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Boog (my wife) had spent most of the last two months in Maryland with her. Our children and I, of course, traveled there to be part of the funeral service outside Baltimore.
We are especially grateful for so many of you who sent cards or notes with your condolences. We felt supported here by a great community of saints, maybe even of angels and archangels. Thank you for your concern, and thanks so much for your love.
In the midst of this typically busy Lent, and in the midst of this family sadness, I also want to thank this community for your support of my candidacy for Bishop of Washington. It is an honor to have been nominated for that possibility, but I will not know until June 18 if I am the one God will call there. In the midst of this uncertainty, you, my community here at the Cathedral and in Atlanta, have been beautifully supportive.
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your love. And thank you for making this Easter season so glorious. We have just begun! Remember, Easter is a season, not just a day. I will look forward to seeing you in the next Great Fifty Days!
The Very Rev. Sam Candler