The Festival of

Flowers & Angels

held at the Parish Church of St Mary Lastingham from Friday 1st August until Sunday 10 August 2008

“However one views the origin of angels, it seems quite certain that they are an essential link between a human being and God – and, more universally, between the whole created world and its creator. It will be an important day when theologians decide to give the matter more attention, for then they will come closer to the divine source.”

– Martin Israel

1.  A Welcome from the Vicar

I am proud to be welcoming you to this Church and to our Festival of Flowers & Angels.

This is a truly multimedia show. There are flower displays of course, but how many flower festivals contain in addition a mini flora, snippets of liturgy almost 3000 years old, an icon, angelology displays, and organ pipes – not to mention the twice-human-size Angel of Lastingham?  We are also holding a Well Dressing rite, a piano recital, a Songs of Praise, and celebrating a special Eucharist of the Angels. (Please see the Festival Programme for details of all these).  So this festival ought to cater for every temperament, whether you just like looking at flowers, or like something intellectual to think about, or both, as well as the music and singing. 

But why Angels?  Some might say that the Angels are just discarded mythology, at best stories for children.  In fact there’s  been new interest in the Angels lately – ‘angelology’ as it can be called.  In this materialist and flat-earthy time in our history, could this indicate a desire to re-connect with the supernatural and spiritual grandeur and beauty of the universe? The stories of the angels, so often mentioned in liturgy and sacred writing, allow us access to spiritual qualities in the universe apart from human society as we experience it. 

Flower Festivals are happy occasions, bringing people together.  In the thank you list I counted over 80 names!  The planning has taken over a year, and I would like to express my warm thanks to Ann Procopé, whose idea it was to combine Flowers and Angels, and who has been master-minding the planning; also to Nelly Trevelyan for a considerable amount of inspiration and research. Ann and Nelly have been running angel-making workshops in our villages and in the two local primary schools.  I would also like to thank John and Katrina Lane:  Katrina for the research that went into the angelology displays, and John for the lovely photographic studies of cloud formations, all looking lovely on the montage.    

Enjoy the Festival, meet some of the many people that put it together, savour the displays, study the angelology, and maybe take part in some of the events.

Alastair Ferguson

2.  The Five Themes

Our starting point is the centuries-old prayer for St Michael and All Angels day.

 EVERLASTING God, you have ordained and constituted the services of Angels and Mortals in a wonderful order: mercifully grant that as your holy Angels always serve you in heaven, so, at your command, they may support and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Each display – whether it contains angel figures, flowers alone, or is simply a banner – has been allocated to one of the following five themes.  Three of the themes are taken from the prayer above (the phrases in italics), while the other two come from the Christian story of the Fall and Redemption of the world.  

3.  Catalogue of the Displays

 1.    “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the  company of heaven...” (From the Eucharist, introducing a hymn of   praise at least 28 centuries old, found in Isaiah, chapter 6)   Theme: A Wonderful Order.

2.          Angel and Flowers  Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Angel-doll by Ted & Harry.  Arrangement: Janet Richardson (St Mary’s, Lastingham). The angel-doll is to be raffled. 

3.          Two Untitled arrangements   Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Jane Otter, Ann Procopé (St Mary’s, Lastingham).

4.          Angel mobiles    Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Children of Rosedale and Sinnington Schools.

5.          The Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ to Mary by the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1)   Theme: Redemption and Healing  Enid Gillies & Gill Brown (St Mary & St Laurence, Rosedale Abbey).

6.         Untitled arrangement   Theme: A Wonderful Order . Sarah Bradley (Malton Flower Club).

7.         The Angel Gabriel appears to the Shepherds at Bethlehem (Luke 2)   Theme: Redemption and Healing.  Children of Lastingham and Spaunton.

8.         Jesus is encouraged and strengthened by an Angel to accept his suffering, as he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem (Luke 22.43)   Theme:  Support and Defence on Earth. 
Gill Renshaw (Malton Flower Club).

9.         Joseph is warned by an Angel not to return to King Herod  (Matthew 2)   Theme: Support and Defence on Earth.   Mary Harris (Malton Flower Club).

10.     Jacob’s Ladder (Genesis 28)   Theme: A Wonderful Order.   Catherine Gledhill (Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors).

11.      Ezekiel’s Visions  (Ezekiel 8.2;10.1ff)   Theme: Worship and Service in Heaven.   Celia Ellmore (St Gregory’s, Cropton).

12.      An Angel Flora   Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Penelope  Dawson-Brown (Friends of Lastingham Church).

13.     Tobias and the Fish  (Tobit 6)   Theme: Support and Defence on Earth.  Katherine King (Pickering Flower Club).

14.     “Do not neglect to show hospitality to Strangers;
for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares” (Hebrews 13.2)   Theme: A Wonderful Order.

15.     Guardian Angel  (Matthew 11, 12.3ff)   Theme: Support  and Defence on Earth.  Christine Bell Shaw (Scarborough Flower Club).

16.     Flowers on either side of the Spanish Calvary 
Theme: Redemption and Healing.  Pam Wamsley (St Mary’s, Lastingham).

17.     “Command these Gifts be carried by the hands of your holy Angel to your Altar on high...” (Supplices Te, from the Western Rite)   Theme: Redemption and Healing. 
Alice O’Neill.

18.     Abraham’s Three Visitors (Genesis 18)   Theme: A Wonderful Order.   Ann Procopé (St Mary’s, Lastingham)

19.     Gatherings of Angels around the Arches   Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Children and adults from the five villages.

20.     Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3)  Theme: The Fall into Chaos and Sadness. 
Mary Carlisle, Linda Chambers, Rachel Davidson, Ann Parker, Mary Windsor and others (St Mary’s, Lastingham).

21.     The Angel of Lastingham    What theme? In the Book of Revelation, seven Angels with trumpets signal bad news; but later on a voice announces the good news that God will come and dwell with his people and look after them.)  Nelly Trevelyan, Ann Procopé and many helpers.

22.     Arrangements on the sills of the Apse windows and two pedestals    Theme: A Wonderful Order.  Pam Russell & Gill Renshaw.

23.     Sing, Choirs of Angels    Theme: Worship and Service in Heaven.  Lastingham Benefice Choir.

24.     Rainbow of Flowers   Theme: Redemption and Healing.  Andie Cattle (St Mary’s, Lastingham).

25.     An Angel helps Peter to escape from prison  (Acts of the Apostles 12.1-9)    Theme: Support and Defence on Earth.  Wendy Simms (St Chad’s, Hutton-le-Hole).

26.     Angel at Play   Theme: Support  and Defence on Earth. Hills Trafford (The Blacksmith’s Arms, Lastingham).

27.               Lucifer, the fallen Archangel  (who, having set up a rebellion against God, is banished to the Earth  –Revelation 12) Theme: The Fall into Chaos and Sadness.  Jane Poole (St Mary’s, Lastingham).

28.     Churchyard Angels   Catherine Gledhill (Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors).

29.     Angels at the Gate    Elaine Bell (Marton).

30.     The Empty Tomb  (Matthew 28.2, Mark 16.5, Luke 24.4, John 20.12)   Theme: Redemption and Healing.  Sue Hallett & Val Weighell, (Pickering Flower Club).

4. Programme of the Festival

Morning Prayer is said each weekday at 8.30 am,
and Evening Prayer at 5.30 pm.  We hope some of you will join us.

A copy of the book Angels, by Adrian Roberts, hand-printed by the Celtic Press, Lastingham, will be on display near the South Door.  Sealed bids may be made to the Steward on duty. Proceeds in aid of Lastingham Organ Project.

Angelology: an Angelic Miscellany, which is the full text of the Angelology Montage, will be on sale at £5.

5.  A Modern-day Angel Hymn

ONS of the Holy One bright with his splendour,

 Wakened to life at creation’s new day,

First to uplift in the joy of surrender

 Spirits to worship and wills to obey.

Armies of Michael, a heavenly wonder,

 Crashed to the onset with evil on high,

Till the proud angel, o’ercome by their thunder,

 Dropped on his darkening wings from the sky.

Stars of the morn, for creation returning

 Praise to the wisdom ordaining the whole,

Hushed their glad songs, in amazement discerning

 God’s very likeness in man’s living soul.

Sentries of Paradise, knew ye no sorrow,

 Guarding the way with a flame of the sword?

Visioned ye not on a glorious morrow

 Man by a tree to his Eden restored?

Gabriel came with his high salutation,

 Burning with ardour and eager in flight:

‘Ave Maria!’ The dawn of salvation

 Rose at its music and banished our night.

See, then, my soul, on a stairway all golden

 Angels ascending, descending again!

Sion is here, if our eyes were not holden,

 Praise would not fail for their service to men.

Praise God for Michael, in strife our defender,

 Praise him for Raphael, our healer and guide,

Praise him for guardians, watchful and tender,

 True to their charges in need at their side.

Laud to thee, Father of spirits supernal!

 We with the angels adore thee, O Son!

Comforter holy, proceeding, eternal,

 In thee be glory to God, Three in One.  Amen.

F.A.Judd SSM,
Copyright © Society of the Sacred Mission,
used by kind permission

6.  Thank you to all those who took part

The angels figures in the exhibition are very much
the inspiration and of Nelly Trevelyan.

The Angel of Lastingham is of willow, masking tape and tissue paper. Many interested people cheerfully helped with this challenging work.  Special thanks to Philip Trevelyan, whose barn, normally used for table tennis, has been taken over with angels.  Also thanks to a stalwart gang who kept coming back: Mary Carlisle, Clarissa Napier, Barbara Ralphs and Robert Martin, whose engineering enabled this Angel to fly in the church.

Angels in the Arches  Who would have thought you could make angels out of plastic milk bottles, with the help of masking tape and paper clips  – the ultimate in recycling!  Three workshops were held in the villages to make these angels.  Appleton-le-Moors:  Agatha Boxall, Elliott Boxall, Val Bulidon, Sophie Fawcett, Clarissa Napier, Amy Sunderland, Abigail Thompson.  Cropton: Claire Barnes, Elizabeth Cornforth, Helena Findley, Angela Knights, Beatrice Knights,  Anya Malinowski, Annie Monkman, Charlie Monkman, Harry Monkman, Clarissa Napier, Katherine Standen, Janet Sutor, Mary Windsor, Joyce Wright.  Hutton-le-Hole:  Ellie Agar Brennan, Agatha Boxall, Elliott Boxall, Heidi Coultas, Lucinda Coultas, Sabrina Coultas, Miranda Hartley, Chelsea Leadley, Emma Shaw,     

Angel Mobiles  Several workshops took place at both Rosedale and Sinnington Schools.  Again, these angels were made of plastic milk bottles, and are what you see in the mobiles.  Thanks to the two head teachers and staff at the schools.  Rosedale School:  Cara Burn Brace, Lydia Coote, Olivia Doughty, Eva Gillies, Annie Horseman, Maddie Kenderdine, Chloe Marley, Thomas Middleton, Bethany Richardson, Peter Simpson.  Sinnington School:  Rick Bell, Xanthe Davison, Jonathan Earp, Amy Hutchinson, Reece Knight, Harry Leonard, Oliver Marshall, Jon Mitchell, Morgen Peak, Tom Richardson, William Sanders, Lettie Simmonds, Bridie Smith, Charlotte Hornby Todd.                                       

Angelology Display:  John Lane, Katrina  Lane, Jean-Claude Bulidon, Val Bulidon

Stewards : Mabs Biggins, Val Bulidon, Mary Carlisle, Christine Cawley, Christine Cawley, Martin Connell, Penelope Dawson-Brown, Celia Ellmore, Clare Haynes, John Hobcraft, Kate Kiernan, Katrina Lane, Marjorie Mallinson, Jo McDowell, Miranda Parrott, Ann Parker, Leslie Parker, Jane Poole, John Poole, Gill Potter, Ann Procopé, Barbara Ralphs, Nigel Roberts, David Snell, Helen Snowden, Pete Trafford, Norma Tueart, Angie Turner, Pam Wamsley, Rosie Wilstrop.

The Churchyard Working Group altered some fencing, mowed and generally tidied up: Christine Cawley, John Cawley, Stefan Charters, Martin Connell, John Hardy, Eddie Snowden.           

The Organ Working Group and assistants removed organ pipes for the display ‘Sing, Choirs of Angels’  (as part of the dismantling of the organ):  Judi Bailey, Anna Bailey, Alex Bailey, Clare Haynes, Sam Haynes, Andrew Vaux.

Well Dressing of St Cedd’s Well at Lastingham   The origins of well dressing are something of a mystery, and may date back to the Celts or even earlier. Well dressing is usually found only in Derbyshire. (The canopy of this well was built in the 19th century over the existing well, with stone from the ruins of Rosedale Priory. When mains water reached the village in 1969, the well was changed to a drinking fountain.) Mabs Biggins, Jo McDowell, Gill Potter, Helen Snowden, Rosie Wilstrop. The frame was beautifully made by Roy Milestone. Thanks to the Gladys Grayson and the Stape Band for playing at the Well Dressing rite.

Sponsorship and Donations were gratefully received from: Barnes Nurseries, Elaine Bell, Antony Bentley, K. E. Bland of Ripon, Andrew & Mary Chappell, Fabulous Flowers, Mary Herd, Dianne Humble, Alice O’Neill, Julia Procopé, Rosemary Roberts, Ryedale District Council, Mark & Jackie Simpson, Annabel & Richard Strickland, C.W. Strickland & Son, Terry Sunderland, Ted & Harry, Towler’s Chemists.

Apologies to any others who may have been
inadvertently omitted from this list.

To learn more about angels, try these links:

The Angels

I believe in angels

What is Temple Theology?
 

Who are the Angels?

Some may say that the theme of the Angels is no longer relevant, just discarded mythology, stories for children.

However there have been a number of good new books on them lately, which in this very materialist and flat-earthy time in our history, may indicate a desire to re-connect to the supernatural and spiritual grandeur and beauty of the universe. The stories of the angels allow us access into the spiritual quality of the things beyond the world of mere human society.

Certainly the Bible and the Liturgy have many references to the angels. But who or what are they?

Well the word angel comes from a Greek word for messenger.
The angels are spoken of as go-betweens, connecting the one God who is mysterious, invisible and beyond our grasp with the more familiar world of humanity. In one of the best-known angel stories, Jacob’s Ladder, we hear of Jacob’s dream of angels ascending and descending on a vast ladder from earth to heaven – as if carrying messages between God and the world, like a celestial email. 

The Archangels are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Notice how each name ends in ‘-el’, a Hebrew word for God.

The story of Michael and the Dragon is of cosmic warfare. There was war in heaven (Revelation 12). The great angel Lucifer (seen as the Dragon) and his army attempt a coup to seize the throne from God. The name Michael means ‘Who is like God?’ – a defiant cry to Lucifer to stand back! This dramatic story speaks of how old and deep are the roots of pride and rebellion. Well, Lucifer and his angels lose the fight, and are thrown out of heaven, down onto the earth unfortunately, where to this day they prowl around causing mischief and war and sorrow.

Another archangel has a hand in reversing this tragic event: the Archangel Gabriel brings the news to Mary that she will be the mother of the Son of God (Luke 1), who will be the saviour of the world.

Raphael is an agent of healing:  we read of how he brings God’s healing to the world: Tobit has his clouded sight restored by him.

Uriel, means ‘the flame of God’ and he is traditionally the angel with the flaming sword at the gates of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).     

Then there are the Guardian Angels, who protect us (Matthew 10) Traditionally, one is allocated to each human being for their time on earth. In a lovely saying of Jesus, we hear that the gaze of each child’s guardian angel, because that child’s awareness of God is as yet unclouded, is always directed towards God’s face. This  saying may well make one hanker after the innocence of childhood (in happier times when there still was such a thing as childhood), those days when an unhurried life and a brighter vision seemed to keep us closer to heaven.

The Church’s view, and the biblical view, has always been that there are spiritual energies in the universe other than those of human beings. A traditional view that angels are pure intelligences – they would not be able  feel emotion. The image of an angel as a human being might be the product of the human imagination. Yet the angels can still exist as centres, or agents, of powerful spiritual energies.

The Feast of St Michael and All Angels will be kept on Sunday 30 September.