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A Certain Sense of Decorum
When people ask me what I used to teach, I usually answer, “not a lot”. My pupils, most of whom came from a sprawling out of town council housing estate, were somewhat boisterous, to put it mildly, and needed a firm hand. So it was that, before every lesson, they stood in a line outside my classroom, in absolute silence, while I administered a quick clip to any who showed even a flicker of insolence on their faces. When they entered the classroom at my behest they did not sit down until I told them to and, if they uttered so much as a squeak, they were all out into the corridor again in double quick time.
Those were the olden, golden, days, when teachers rarely suffered from stress related illnesses. Alas, in this litigious age, this no longer happens. The swiftly administered slap is deemed to be an assault and the scholars, having human rights, cannot be kept standing about in draughty corridors, they must be allowed to lounge in their seats, never even thinking of rising from them when the poor, downtrodden member of staff arrives.
Something has gone seriously wrong but it isn’t just in the education system where this has happened. We see people, especially visitors, wandering into churches with nary a bow to the altar, no genuflexion before the Blessed Sacrament, and, when it comes to the elevations in the Prayer of Thanksgiving (call it what you like), or the absolution and the blessing, they seem to be totally incapable of making the sign of the Cross. It is as if some kind of creeping paralysis has struck them.
The worst part is the observation of the Holy Week and Easter Week. This is the big time in the church’s year, Christmass is a minor celebration compared with these, but who but we faithful would guess it? I had a terrible time with one of my fellow clergy, trying to explain that Easter Week is not a holiday for us but a period of religious obligation. At least I know that, in this parish, we still have sense of decorum in these matters and, from Palm Sunday to the Saturday in Easter week, there will be a steady procession of those who hold to the old ways, and celebrate with a mixture of solemnity and joy.
May God bless you all, Fr. Allan
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