Pilgrimage to Andalucia (3)

Our first morning in Seville started with a visit to the Church of the Macarena. Here we saw the huge statue of Our Lady of Hope above the High Altar and the dramatic statue of Christ before Pilate at a side altar. The full significance of these vivid statues was only appreciated as we moved out of the church itself into the area where the floats on which these statues rest are housed. These are the floats that are carried through the streets, by 50 men at a time, during the night of Maundy Thursday, the procession lasting for twelve hours. We saw the huge and ornate vestments with which the statue of the Virgin Mary is draped and all the jewellery and other impedimenta (including six silver trumpets) that accompany these extraordinary processions. It all made me want to return to Seville for Semana Santa.

Then it was on to the Cathedral for Mass in the Capilla Real, which houses the tombs of Saint Ferdinand and Alfonso the Wise. The mortal remains of the wonderfully named Pedro the Cruel lie in the crypt beneath. This was another moving Mass in such a wonderful setting. It was lovely to see Fr Marty wearing a Spanish style chasuble (slightly different from the classic “Roman” vestment, being rather narrower over the shoulders): he claimed that it was the first time he had worn a fiddle-back in more than 30 years as a priest! I sang “Ecce sacerdos magnus” from the Mass for a Confessor Bishop, in honour of St Isidore, the patron of Seville.

After Mass we went into the cathedral itself. The guide books say that this is the third biggest cathedral in the world, after St Peter’s in Rome and St Paul’s in London. I am not sure this is quite accurate. I think that St Peter’s is not actually a cathedral: the pope’s cathedral is actually at St John Lateran. And St Paul’s in London is not and never was a Catholic cathedral. So, if I am right, then Seville is the largest true cathedral in the world. It is certainly very impressive, with another massive high Altar and Choir. Of particular interest to my American friends is that it is the home of the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

After the cathedral we were allowed a short break for lunch, which allowed me to find a glass of vino blanco and some garlic prawns. Then it was on to the Alcazar, the Moorish palace opposite the cathedral. This was very fine but, having just been through the Alhambra the day before, I found it difficult to get excited by it.

After dinner Elke had arranged a special treat: an evening of Flamenco! This was very much a ‘show’ but it was very professional, colourful and at times thrilling. When the singing started I wondered if I could cope with an hour and a half of this toneless, apparently tuneless noise but as my ear became attuned I found it easier to accept. Some of the dancing was spectacular; especially the solemn-faced lady who danced with a long train to her dress that she would periodically contrive to wrap itself around her.

Our final day started with Mass in a room in our hotel. This took me back to my Catholic liturgical roots, attending Latin Masses in a hotel room because the then Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle would not allow the traditional Mass to be celebrated in a church. Then the rest of the day was free.

I took the opportunity to just wander slowly through the narrow streets of old Seville. I found a wonderful covered market with stalls selling fish, meat and fruit and vegetables. I visited El Corte Ingles and restricted myself to buying one CD set of Victoria’s music. I walked down to the bull ring, and wished we had been there in the bull-fighting season. I stopped for lunch at a bar near the cathedral: squid and a glass of vino blanco. Then it was time for that most civilized of Spanish habits; the siesta…

And so we came to our final night. Another session of prayer and reflection followed by a highly amusing ‘awards’ ceremony.

This was a remarkable week, absorbing the history, culture and architecture of one of the most special places in Europe. It was also a time of prayer and pilgrimage and excellent fellowship. I will always remember it.

Pilgrimage to Andalucia (2)

On Day 5 we set off from Granada on our way to Cordoba. We stopped off on the way at the town of Baena for a quick tour of an olive oil producer Nunez de Prado (http://www.nunezdeprado.com/). The same family have been producing olive oil at this site since 1795 and still use traditional methods of production and organic methods of growing the olives.

As we proceeded on to Cordoba I gave a short talk to the pilgrims about Spanish polyphony. As many of the great sites we had seen and the characters we had heard about dated from the 16th century, that was also a time of a great flowering of Spanish liturgical music. I spoke of Guerrero, Morales, and probably the greatest of all, Tomas Luis de Victoria. When in Seville I was very happy to discover a recording of Victoria’s music for Holy Week, made by the Monks of Silos, that included not only his well-known Responsories for Tenebrae but also his setting of the Passion and the “Popule Meus” for Good Friday and his setting of the “Miserere”.

We arrived in Cordoba late morning for a tour of the Cathedral. Buildings on this site may date back to a Christian Church in the 6th century but the main building that still exists started with the creation of a mosque in the 8th century. This mosque was one of the biggest and the most beautiful of its time. When Cordoba was taken back by the Christians in 1236 the building was preserved but consecrated as a Christian church dedicated to Our Lady.

Entry through a Moorish style orangery takes you into an area that has very much the atmosphere of a mosque. Marble columns are topped by double arches of alternating red and white brick or stone. The ceiling is low, the lighting subdued. As you move around the vast floor area you begin to pick out Christian images and chapels. Then in the centre of the building, you find the Renaissance High Altar and Choir, soaring above you into a great dome.

Of all the fantastic buildings that we visited, for me this was the most stunning. It showed the genius of the original Moorish builders but also the Christians who recovered the building and preserved rather than destroyed it. And I loved the High Altar and Choir. Some commentators describe them as incongruous and even inappropriate. For me they were not just striking and beautiful but a wonderful symbol of Renaissance civilization rising out of the dark ages. We had Mass in one of the chapels and it was an enormous privilege to sing the solemn “Salve Regina” in this unique building dedicated to the Mother of God.

After Mass I was able to find an excellent tapas bar (Pepes) for some battered aubergine with a dressing of honey and balsamic vinegar, washed down with a glass (alright two) of Fino, poured from a barrel behind the bar. Then it was back to our coach for the journey to our final city: Seville.

Pilgrimage to Andalucia (1)

This was my second “Spiritual Sojourn” with Sr Jeannine Gramick SL. The first, nearly two years ago, had been to Austria and Bavaria, which I had very much enjoyed, but this pilgrimage to southern Spain was even more uplifting and enjoyable.

The group of 23 pilgrims was under the care and control of Elke Lehmann as tour guide, who did an exceptional job looking after us all, and under the spiritual leadership of Sr Jeannine herself and Fr Marty Demek of Baltimore. I was the only non-American on the trip.

We all met at Malaga airport and were taken straight away on a coach tour of Malaga and a visit to the Picasso Museum. The museum is beautifully laid out but I must admit I struggle with Picasso: a lot of his work just seems crude and slapdash to my eye.

We stayed our first two nights in a luxurious hotel just outside of Marbella. Our first proper expedition was to Gibraltar. We started our visit there with Mass in the Cathedral, a not very exciting building. It was nice that the Bishop of Gibraltar appeared at the end of Mass to give us words of welcome. I couldn’t help wondering if his welcome would have been quite so friendly if he had known who we were or if he had seen Sr Jeannine reading the Gospel and preaching during Mass.

I had very mixed feelings about Gibraltar. I loved St Michael’s Cave, with its spectacular stalactites. I would have liked to experience it when it is used as a concert hall. The Great Siege Tunnels were interesting and atmospheric. The town itself I found dreary. It reminded me of an undistinguished British provincial town of forty years ago. To try to enter into the sprit of things I ate fish and chips in the main square.

Day 3 was a Sunday and we made an early start for a walking tour of the old town of Marbella: charming and picturesque. Then it was into the coach for the drive to Granada, the first of the three great cities of Andalucia on our itinerary. We had an afternoon tour of the cathedral, with its wonderful gold and white interior and spectacular High Altar. We had hoped to have Mass in the cathedral but it is now used only for very large events. This seemed to b a theme of the larger churches we visited. I assume that, a bit like the Church of England, church attendance has fallen so much in Spain that the cathedrals are kept more as historical monuments (complete with admission charges) than as working churches. In Seville even an event presided over by the Cardinal Archbishop was taking place in a small chapel rather than the main Cathedral. Our Mass then was in the church attached to the cathedral, which was nonetheless very attractive. I sang for the first time at this Mass (“Adoro te devote”) and was very grateful for the warm appreciation of my fellow pilgrims.

In the afternoon of Day 3 we had been taken to the Albaicin, the old Moorish quarter of Granada and from there we had our first glimpse of the Alhambra, gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. Day 4 was our tour of the Alhambra. This was as remarkable as I had been led to expect: the exquisite Moorish rooms and courtyards, the beautiful gardens and the massive palace conceived, although never used, by Carlos V. Our guided tour ended up at lunchtime so I took the opportunity (with two of my fellow pilgrims) to have lunch in the Parador within the Alhambra. After a glass of fino I had Gazpacho (what else?), then fish, followed by small local cakes, the last washed down with a glass of “Malaga” wine, a sweet, strongly flavoured, almost sherry-like wine.

Our evening Mass in Granada was in a Church dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. This proved to be ornately decorated and to have the status of something of a shrine – it was visited by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Spain. A significant number of elderly Spanish ladies filled the back few rows of the Church during our Mass. Just before Mass started most of the lights in the Church were turned off and took some time to come back on. Then just as I started to sing during communion the light above me went off. This not only made it very difficult to see the music but was generally rather intimidating so I fear my ”Ave verum” was not a vocal highlight of the trip. At the end of Mass Sr Jeannine had the inspired idea that we should sing the “Salve Regina”, which had the elderly Spanish ladies singing along.