For the first time since the year 1208 when Pope Innocent III banned all religious services in England, Easter was not able to be celebrated inside St Albans Cathedral this year.
Whilst the building remains closed, the Cathedral’s Holy Week and Easter services were streamed from clergy houses and gardens on YouTube and Facebook Live. They received nearly 40,000 views from people around the world.
The Cathedral’s choir also gave its first virtual performance, with almost 50 singers from all the choirs recorded individual vocal lines from their homes which were then stitched together by the Cathedral music department.
Regular virtual services, including a weekly Sunday Eucharist at 10am, children’s activities and services, talks and courses, will be available on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel or Facebook.
The Dean of St Albans, the Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey John said: “Thank you for supporting our attempts to live-stream and record services over Holy Week and Easter. It has been very heartening to see that not only are our ‘regulars’ linked in, but we are reaching very many more, both locally in St Albans and further away.
“Please take note of what is coming up and keep connected. The clergy continue to pray daily. If you have any particular prayer requests, please visit the Cathedral website to let us know (https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/forms/your-prayers). This is of course confidential, but include your name if you would like to be prayed for personally. God bless and keep you safe through this difficult time.’
Services, activities and events available online:
A weekly Sunday Eucharist service will be streamed live on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel at 10am: https://www.youtube.com/user/stalbanscathedral
Abbey Tots Coffee Mornings will be hosted every Tuesday morning at 9.30am via Zoom. Details of how to join can be found on the Cathedral’s website: https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/abbey-tots
Virtual Children’s Church takes place every Wednesday through the means of videos and activity sheets. These are released on Wednesdays at 10am at https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/childrens-worship
The Cathedral clergy continue to pray daily. If there is something on your mind that you would particularly like them to include in their prayers, all are welcome to submit Prayer Requests on the Cathedral’s website: https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/praying-during-the-pandemic
May 6 – An online talk, ‘Destructive Creation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,’ will be hosted over Zoom. Tickets available at https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/destructive-creation-in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein
May 20 – An online talk, ‘The Nature of Evil,’ will hosted over Zoom. Tickets available at https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/the-nature-of-evil
A five-week course, ‘Online Latin for Beginners,’ begins on 6 May. Tickets available at https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/online-latin-for-beginners
Adult Learning Discussion Groups, such as Book Club and Old English Reading Group will now be hosted online via Zoom. Details from https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Pages/Category/discussion-groups
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