Tárogató, 1941-1942 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1941-1 -01 / 4. szám
14 TÁROGATÓ perhaps of the fire of religion which burns at the heart of the British Commonwealth. “If you could ask me questions, I expect you would specially want answers to two: first, ‘How does the building stand up to the war; has it been badly damaged?’ and, secondly, ‘How do you carry on the religious and spiritual work of the Cathedral?’ ” After stating that the building as a whole still stood, the Dean continued: “Now let us enter the Cathedral up the steps at the west end. As we go in, we exclaim, ‘Why, there is very little damage after all!’ The Dome and the aisles are just as they have always been. But the eye is drawn to the high altar in the Choir. And we notice with a shock that it is not there. Instead there is a heap of stones. These have fallen from the roof and were dislodged when a bomb fell on the Choir and exploded between the outer and inner roof. And then your eyes would assure you of a remarkable fact. Though the altar is completely destroyed, the reredos with its great crucifix and inscription ‘Sic dilexit Deus mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’) remains intact... “Now, what is happening to the spiritual work of the Cathedral? Of course, its manner of existence has critically changed. Where are the great crowds that used to visit it every day? All engaged in war work or evacuated. Where is the famous choir which used to sing twice a day and was heard on the Empire broadcast every month? Well, I fear it has been sadly cut down. The boy choristers have been evacuated to Cornwall and we never hear their voices in the Cathedral to which they belong. Did you know, by the way, that their proper name is ‘the Children of Paul’s’? We shall be very glad when we get our children back. But do not think that we have given up. Far from it. We have never abandoned the daily services, except for three days when we were not allowed to enter the Cathedral. The choir men, or rather those who have not been called up for the Forces, sing evensong every day, and though we miss the beautiful fresh voices of the boys, we still have a very moving and solemn service. The celebration of the Holy Communion has never been abandoned. It has been carried on after and during the heaviest raids. I think we have gained one thing in these days of difficulty —a fresh realization of the beauty of our Crypt... “I wish I could introduce you to our volunteers—our special fire brigade. It seems to me one of the best examples of what British democracy can do. It is thoroughly democratic and thoroughly disciplined. Commanded by our architect and surveyor, it includes the staff of the Cathedral: vergers, guides, masons, electricians, carpenters, canons and also professional men who have freely offered their services. “We, whose business it is to serve the great Cathedral church of St. Paul in London, live strange lives in these days. Our routine of worship is carried on under difficulties; we have all kinds of problems of finance and administration. Our days and nights are often made hideous by the attacks of an enemy who aims at terrorising the inhabitants of London. We live in constant fear that our precious Cathedral may be more seriously damaged or even destroyed; but we are sustained by a great hope. We look forward to the time when St. Paul’s shall live again in all its ancient splendour, when it will be the centre of a nobler city of London, and when its Dome shall echo to the sounds of joy and praise that victory has been won, righteous peace established, and the dark menace of the tyrant and the destroyer banished for ever.” It may interest our readers to know that a German wireless station, broadcasting to Asia, and having before it the • text of this, or of some similar speech of the Dean, used it to prove the great “chivalry” of the German airmen, who, they said, had carefully avoided damaging the Cathedral. They said that even the Dean had paid testimony to this. The Man and The Machine A certain type of flimsy romantic has been too ready with abuse of a mechanical age, just as a certain type of imaginative writer with a smattering of science has been too gross in his adulation. The machine, when mastered and di-
