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M9 Monochrom & Elmar-M 2.8/50mm
Der betagte CCD-Sensor aus 2012 schafft ein 3D-Pop, von dem neuere Kameras nur träumen können.
First South Yorkshire 34092 has just set off from West Street in Doncaster on service 88 to Goole. It is a Volvo Olympian OLY-50 with Northern Counties bodywork which had recently been cascaded from Centrewest. At this stage it still retained its centre exit and non-standard destination display.
After several years in South Yorkshire, it would move to First Manchester and later to First Devon & Cornwall.
"Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart - a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water - I accept with joy."
(Bhagavad Gita)
There is a little temple under the akhara at Jatara ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) where a priest offers water to the statue of the deity every evening.
It is a long ritual where he has to fill several times a bucket with the holy water of the river.
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These two silver relief plaques with images of Saint Paul, left, and Saint Peter, right, were part of a hoard found in Syria near Antioch. The objects from this treasure include a trove of silver liturgical vessels and other relief plaques with unidentified saints.
The typical images of these saints was established during the first centuries of the Christian church. Here Saint Paul—with a long face, receding hairline, and pointed beard—holds a book, an appropriate symbol for the author of many of the texts of the New Testament. The relief of Peter—with a round face, short hair, and a beard—shows the saint holding a cross and gesturing as if preaching. At his waist are the keys to the kingdom of heaven, given to him by Christ (Matthew 16:19). The arches flanked by peacocks—ancient Roman symbols of immortality—under which the saints stand are considered a representation of paradise in early Christian art. These arches are adapted from Roman sarcophagi and other art which typically showed images of Hercules or other mythological characters, like Bacchus and his retinue, in a series of arches that make up an arcade. These are also seen in late Classical tapestries, some of which survived in Egypt.
Several years ago, these plaques were thought to have served as covered for sacred books. Current thinking is that they may have flanked a lost central panel depicting Christ, as parts of an icon, or religious devotional image.
Byzantine, ca. 550-600. Silver and niello; originally partly gilt.
Met Museum, New York (50.5.1, .2)
My daughter has been home from college during this "stay at home" time. We have been doing a nightly devotional together and experimenting with hand-lettering in our journals. It has been so much fun and a blessing to be together in the Word.
At Palani you meet several religious groups coming from far by busses to worship Dhandapani Murugan on the mountain.
Impressions of a tourist:
What a deep faith they are showing here quite impressive and convincing expression of religious confession. The drums of the musicians pusses exaltation to a maximum and some get even in trance.
Impression of a Tamil man:
People of India have faith with God but pro's abuse this faith to pray for them, another form of making money, and this scene is a very good show, maybe they did their best knowing that a camera was pointing at them.
Conclusion: In India everything is possible with or for money. Lucky, under this surface, there are still a lot of very modest devotees if you got the patient to look for.
Date Taken: 2005-02-08
Canon EOS 1D Mark II, 24-70mm f/2.8L
Sepia -- a redbird seemingly in prayer!
See it framed and narrated along with the poem of prayer I was inspired to write for it here: © 2009 by: Teia -- 'Morning Devotional' -- Writing & Poetry:
Each morning I awake, singing songs of praise.
Giving thanks to you my Lord, for this new day.
For the breezes you create, giving lift to my wings.
Humbly remembering you for my nourishment, my care.
I bow to you in adoration, singing songs of praise.
Psalm 39:4,5 NKJV " LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreaths, And my age is as nothing before you; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor."
Psalm 90:12 " So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
--------------------------------------------
Life moves fast, and we are only here for a little while. We are not promised tomorrow, or even the next hour. We must walk wisely while here on earth. Oftentimes we take our days for granted until we lose a loved one, or we have some near-death experience for ourselves. It is in those moments of self-examination that we should ask ourselves some questions.
First and most important is : Have I truly surrendered my life to Christ? Have I trusted Jesus as my Lord and savior? Does my relationship with Christ hold top priority, or do I let other things get in the way?
Then we may ask: Who or what do I let influence my thoughts and actions in a day? Do I spend more time on social media reading the world's opinion, or do I spend time reading God's word looking for wisdom? There are plenty of people willing to voice their opinion on any given topic, And we need the help of the Holy Spirit to discern the good from the bad.
Finally we ask ourselves: Who am I influencing with my thoughts and actions? We have a lot of eyes and ears on us everyday of our lives. Our actions at home will influence our spouse, children, or siblings. When at work we will influence co-workers and customers with our language, and actions. At school, we may influence staff, and our friends. When we meet perfect strangers in public, in the grocery store, or the big box stores, our behavior and our words can make an impression on anyone there. We could be viewed as angry, impatient, complaining, always finding fault in everything. Or we could be viewed as patient, compassionate, always willing to help when possible, tough, but loving, and understanding.
We don't know how much time we have on earth, But we do know it is limited.
{ James 4:14} " Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." ------------ I say; Life is short, Walk wisely!
The Ganga Aarti (Aarti is a Hindu ritual in which light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities. Aartis also refer to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when offering of lamps is being offered) at Dasaswamedh ghat, close to Kashi Vishwanath Temple, is one of the prime attractions of Benaras (Varanasi). It starts just after sunset, with a group of young men dressed in Benarasi silk robes and saffron patta-bastra enacting synchronised mudras choreographing to the chantings, holding, incense sticks and lamps, beside the holy River Ganga (Ganges).
I understood that, pooled from Hindu gurukul institutions in Varanasi these young men (disciples) have been imparted the Nidhi s motto to preserve the purity, sanctity, and divinity of Ganga, its ghats and Kanshi (Benaras), the oldest religious place in the world besides Jerusalem. The choreography is excellent and worth seeing. But to me it also feels artificial in a devotional context. But the ceremony is definitely worth watching!
1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV " He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." -------
God ain't done with me yet!
How many have heard that quote before? You know there can be a lot of truth in that quote.. The same God that created us, and promised to never leave us nor forsake us is working on our lives, and in our lives everyday. Are we perfect people? Not by any means- and we will never be perfect until the day He calls us home. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12- " Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." V.14- " I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."-------------------------- We don't know how long we may live- for some it's short, and for some it is a marathon. As we grow older, we grow tired. Many will outlive family members and friends. Rest assured, even when you feel alone, the Lord is right beside you.. ( Isaiah 46:4) " Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and deliver you."--------------------------- God remains infinitely strong and sustains you today, Just as He did Paul, Moses, Abraham, Noah, And Adam... As believers we must have faith that He will turn our failures and hardships into opportunities for spiritual growth. Through good times, or tough times, through feelings of loneliness, or heartbreak; Know that the Lord is right beside you to hold your hand./// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsICAvyvVzk
A lovely picture, filled with tranquility. It was rather difficult but we really enjoyed it. 861 pieces (800 it says on the box), 62x41 cm. The brand is Nyckelpussel, made by Bengt D. Bengtson. The box design is seen in advertisements from 1961, so this one is likely from that timeframe.
If you have had a revelation of the Lord’s glory, you know what it means to taste His love, mercy and forgiveness. And you are being changed by that glory...Read more at ibibleverses.christianpost.com/?p=119406
#devotional #mercy #merciful
Dedicated to the devotion of Saint Ferrari of Maranello
Camera: Nikon FM2n
Lens: Cosina Voigtländer Ultron 40 f/2 SL II ASPH
Film: Kodak Ektar 100 professional grade colour negative film
Developed and scanned by www.meinfilmlab.de
I dipinti devozionali, quelli che non hanno pretese artistiche ma intendono solo esprimere il profondo affidamento di sé e dei congiunti alla protezione divina di santi e Madonne, sono i più suggestivi!
Basterebbe citare le migliaia di tavolette votive del santuario della Madonna dell'Arco a Sant'Anastasìa presso Napoli.
Questo affresco in foto, del XVII secolo, è sull'altare della cappella Sica nella chiesa di Carbonara della frazione Curti di Giffoni Valle Piana (Salerno).
Raffigura la Vergine che protegge, in una sorta di abbraccio materno, due bambini, non sappiamo se miracolati in qualche modo e se componenti della famiglia cui è dedicato l'altare. Da notare l'abito di quello a sinistra.
The pilgrims are returning after performing the due rituals over the crater of mud volcano they call after the name of goddess Parvati.
Throwing rice, beetle nuts, coins, and other things into the crater and applying mud over face -all from the rituals of Hinglaj Mata pilgrimage they are on here to perform.
Every night before bed we read a devotional as a family. This is the Action Bible that we are currently reading.
The boys love it....
The winter Milky Way is a demanding religion. The summer Milky Way can be a kind of soiree in the warm night air. In winter it's a monastery. Up at 3. Driving long distances in the dark, too early even for music. The cold requires tight, quick work.
Strawberry Pinnacles, Utah
Trosky castle silhouette in background. Taken in sunset with a base flash.
THX ALL FOR VISITING AND COMMENTS!
On sale inside one of the Great Chola Living Temples, in Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
St Mary, Salcott-cum-Virley, Essex
One of my favourite Essex churches, a delightful little church in a pretty marshland village in earthquake country. The great Essex earthquake of April 1884 destroyed hundreds of buildings including wrecking a dozen churches, some of which were completely destroyed. There were two churches in this joint parish, but only one was repaired, the former Virley parish church remaining as a picturesque ruin in someone's garden. Despite the name, this is just one tiny village divided by a stream, and they have not been separate parishes for a century or more, but the BoE still insists on giving them separate entries.
The repaired church is a little gem, a delightful Anglo-catholic rustic church, reminiscent of Calthorpe in Norfolk. It is lovely. Statues and candles, yes, but also simple woodwork and brick flooring.
The entire church apart from the tower was destroyed in the earthquake, and was rebuilt some ten years later (fortunately late enough to escape the worst excesses of Victorianism). A mark of how High this church still is today is that the millennium window depicts the Roman Catholic symbol of the millennium. The ruined church on the other side of the creek is the church in Baring Gould's novel Mahala, described in the 19th Century as 'the Wuthering heights of the Essex Marshes'.
Look at the picture above. Now imagine seeing this in real life. What would your reaction be? Would you take action against it in order to prevent future harm, Or would you say it's harmless and continue on?
I am using the wasp nest as an illustration of sin in our lives. We may think because there is only one wasp on the nest that we could probably walk around it and not get stung. Oftentimes we do the same thing with sin. We play them down saying things like : It's only a little lie, It's only one drink, So I cuss a little when I get angry, Or (my favorite) I thought about it, but I didn't do it... Just like the wasp on the nest, If left unaddressed it will continue to grow rapidly. One sin leads to another, and they tend to get bigger over time. [ James 1:14,15] " But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death."------------------ When that single thought shows up, it's best to deal with it immediately and knock it out of the way. We have bug spray for the wasp, and we have the word of God for our thoughts..
[ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5] " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."---------- Our mind is the primary battlefield for spiritual warfare. The word of God is our weapon. We must be able to first, recognize, then reject anything that does not honor Christ in our thoughts. A thought reaps an action, an action reaps a habit, a habit reaps our character, and our character reaps our destiny. [ Psalm 119: 133] " Direct my steps by your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me."--------- Do not ignore the one wasp. Recognize the danger and deal with it quickly. Eliminate the small nest before it becomes a colony...... [ Romans 12:2] " And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."---//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpXzc8OZ08E
Near temple compounds there are often little shops which sell devotional articles for the pilgrims as souvenir
Jaipur_0097
Why did these men “fear exceedingly”? It was because He settled the #storm and brought #peace and #calm. In short, they trembled at the #goodness that #Christ showed His #faithless, undeserving #followers...Read more at ibibleverses.christianpost.com/?p=112308
#devotional #still
Colossians 3:17 NKJV
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him.----------------------------------------------------------As we go through life, we have many decisions to make daily.
Work, school, and chores all require some actions and decision making.
Remember W.W.J.D. ( what would Jesus do)? To test ourselves on this, we should ask these questions:
Can I do this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Would this be to His glory?
Could I expect His blessing to rest on it?
Would I want to be doing it when He comes back again?
When we apply this test to our own words and actions, we may find some things that need changing. [ Romans 13: 13-14]
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lust.------- What business does a Christian have with revelry, drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife, and envy? The answer is none!
Sinful actions and sinful attitudes all start with a single thought. [ James 1:14-15]
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.----
Sow a thought- reap a habit.
Sow a habit- reap a lifestyle.
Sow a lifestyle- reap a destiny.
What will your destiny be? The choice is yours to make.
You can choose to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, submit your life to Him and enjoy a growing relationship that will take you into Heaven to spend eternity with God.
You can choose to embrace the world and its views. Reject Christ and spend eternity in Hell separated from God.
If you are a believer, do not let the worlds temptations make you play the hypocrite.
If you are not a believer, I urge you to choose wisely!
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St Peter and St Paul, Salle, Norfolk
During their awesome reign over the other great teams of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, Liverpool football club placed a huge sign in the changing room corridor, so that it was the last thing visiting teams saw before they walked out on to the pitch: This is ANFIELD, it warned. The name alone was enough. Similarly, the cover of the guidebook here proclaims, in a single word, SALLE. Again, it suffices; the word, pronounced to rhyme with call, stands for the building. Perhaps only the name Blythburgh has the same power in all East Anglia.
The greatest East Anglian churches were built in the 15th century. It is often observed that there can never have been enough people to fill them, but this is to miss the point. They were never intended for the forms of worship to which they now play host.
The shape of a late medieval church is not an accident. East Anglian parish churches of the 15th century had many common features; wide aisles to enable liturgical processions, a chancel for the celebration of Mass, places for other altars, niches for devotional statues, a focus towards the Blessed Sacrament in the east, a large nave for social activities, large windows to fill the building with light, a roof of angels to proclaim a hymn of praise, a pulpit for the preaching of orthodox doctrine, benches to enable the people to hear the preaching, and carvings, stained glass and wall paintings of the sacraments, Gospels and rosary mysteries, of the catechism and teaching of the Catholic Church.
As Le Corbusier might have said if he'd been around at the time, a late medieval East Anglian church was a machine for making Catholicism happen.
No longer, of course. The radical and violent fracture in popular religion in the middle years of the 16th century gave birth to the Church of England, and the new Church inherited buildings that were often unsuitable for congregational protestant liturgy - a problem that the Church of England has never satisfactorily solved.
Over the centuries, the problem has been addressed in different ways; celebrating Communion at a table in the nave, for example, and blocking off the chancel for other uses. Although this was challenged by the Laudian party in the early part of the 17th century, it was the way that many parishes reinvented their buildings, and most were to stay like that until the middle years of the 19th century. Some went further: a pulpit placed halfway down the nave, or even at the back of the church, meant that the seating could be arranged so that it no longer focused towards the east, thus breaking the link with Catholic (and Laudian) sacramentalism. For several centuries, Anglican churches focused on the pulpit rather than the altar.
With the rise of the 19th century Oxford Movement, all this underwent another dramatic change, with the great majority of our medieval parish churches having their interiors restored to their medieval integrity, reinventing themselves as sacramental spaces. This Victorian conception of the medieval suited itself to congregational worship, and responded in a satisfactory way to the structure of the building. But still, of course, they weren't full.
This 19th century re-imagining is the condition in which we find most of them today, and Anglican theologians everywhere are asking the question that the Catholic Church asked itself at Vatican II in the 1960s - is a 19th century liturgical space really appropriate for the Church of the 21st century?
It requires a shift in the mind to recall that these were not originally Anglican buildings, but it is a shift we need to make. The idea of a previously unchanging Church now confronting the demands of the modern age is wholly incorrect. These buildings have faced a variety of challenges over the centuries; they have only ever been truly suitable for the use for which they were originally built six hundred years ago.
Two of the largest late medieval churches in East Anglia are just three miles apart, at Cawston and Salle in the middle of Norfolk. These clusters are not uncommon; think of Blythburgh, Southwold and Walberswick in Suffolk, for example, or Lavenham and Long Melford in the same county. But Cawston and Salle are really close - you can see the tower of one from the other. St Peter and St Paul is a complete example of a 15th century rebuilding; St Agnes at Cawston retains its elegant earlier chancel.
If not merely for congregational worship, why were these churches built so big? Impressive as they seem now, they must have been awesome at the time they were built, since they were the only substantial buildings outside of the towns, and would have dwarfed the houses of the parish. Some were in villages; but many were not. Salle church has always been out in the fields. Why are earlier East Anglian churches not so massive? Certainly, East Anglia has its cathedrals; Norwich and Ely pre-date the great churches by several centuries, and Bury Abbey was bigger than either before its destruction. The great majority of East Anglia's churches are piecemeal affairs; typically, a 13th century chancel, which must have been the most substantial part of the building when it was first erected, an early 14th century nave and tower, and perhaps later elaborations of the piece with aisles and a clerestory. Salle and Cawston churches are both rebuildings of earlier structures, but a surprising number of East Anglian churches were not rebuilt, until perhaps the Victorians saw the need for a new chancel, or new aisles. Often, these smaller churches are exquisitely beautiful, as if beauty rather than grandeur was the imperative.
And then, towards the end of the 1340s, a great pestilence swept across Europe; in East Anglia, outside of Norwich which got off lightly, it killed perhaps a half of the population. In emptying the countryside, it completely altered the economic balance; a shortage of labour gave new power to the survivors, perhaps setting in place the preconditions for the capitalism that we can recognise by the 16th century. And, in extinguishing the flower of Decorated architecture, it also gave birth to the great love affair between the late medieval mind and death.
In Catholic theology there is no great divide between the dead and the living. For the medieval Christian, communion was something that existed between all members of the parish, whether alive or dead. Thus, prayers were said for the souls of the dead (who, it was presumed, were saying prayers for the souls of the living).
To ensure that prayers were said for them after their death, the very richest people endowed chantries. These were foundations, by which priests could be employed to say masses for their souls in perpetuity. A priest in such a capacity was called a chantry priest. The masses would be said at a chantry altar, probably in the nave; if the person was rich enough, this might be enclosed in a specially constructed chantry chapel. Many churches had them. After the Reformation, many were pressed into service as family mausoleums or pews.
For the poorest people, there was the opportunity to join a guild, where, for a penny or so a week, they could ensure that the guild chantry priest would say masses for their soul after their death (along with those of the other dead members of the guild). Many of these guilds were organised around particular occupations or devotions, and became a focus of social activity. The investment that produced the income to pay the chantry priests was most commonly in land. The church or guild oversaw the management of the land, which is one of the reasons we have an image of a wealthy pre-Reformation church. Land bought to produce income in this way was known as chantry land, a name surviving in many places today. Those who invested in chantries (and few and far between must have been those who didn't) presumed that they were ensuring prayers and masses in perpetuity; but, of course, this was not to be.
Bequests and chantries seem to have reached their peak in the 15th century. Perhaps the Black Death reinforced the urgency of the task. People did not merely want to be remembered; they wanted to be prayed for. And so, those who could afford it ensured that this was not forgotten by leaving their wealth in the very place that was at the centre of communion: the parish church. The richest paid for the additions of aisles and chapels, or for a new font or rood screen. This was not just a naked desire for the recognition of their family status. There was an underlying insecurity to the new landed classes. They wanted to control their destiny beyond their deaths. And so, their gift would be recorded in the form of a dedicatory inscription. One of these survives on the screen at Cawston, and another on the base of the font at Salle. Orate pro anima, they begin, "Pray for the soul of...", an injunction urgently emphasised by the pre-Reformation liturgy, only to be cursed and defaced by the later Anglicans and puritans. Stained glass was another common gift, as well as images, candlesticks, furnishings. Thus were many churches developed piecemeal.
But sometimes, where a parish could rely on a steady supply of substantial bequests, they might be channelled into a complete rebuilding, as at Salle, a summa cum laude apothesosis, where the new church of the late 15th century survives in pretty much its original form. Sometimes, a single wealthy family would shape and direct the rebuilding of a church. One of the richest families in East Anglia in the 14th and 15th centuries was the de la Poles, the Earls of Suffolk. Their mark can be found throughout East Anglia, but most famously and substantially at Wingfield in Suffolk, and at Cawston in Norfolk. Theirs was a long term project; at Cawston, the tower predates the furnishings of the nave and chancel by almost a century.
So why so vast? Certainly, it was ad maiorem deo gloria, to the Greater Glory of God; but it was also to the greater glory of the de la Poles and their contemporaries. The great landed families of England came into the late middle ages full of confidence, and they were determined to demonstrate it. They had survived the Black Death. They had grown richer on its consequences. They had assumed a political power unthinkable a few centuries before. They controlled not just the wealth but the imagination of their parishes. They asserted orthodox Catholic dogma in the face of rural superstitions and abuses. They imposed a homogenised Catholicism on late medieval England. And, as they increased their secular power and influence, a time would come when they would embrace the Great Idea already beginning to take shape on the continent - protestantism. But that was still in the future.
And so, to Salle. St Peter and St Paul is big. This is accentuated by the way in which it stands almost alone in the barley fields, with only a couple of Victorian buildings and a cricket pitch for company. What an idyllic spot! And yet there is an urban quality to the building, as if this was some great city church in the middle of Norwich or Bristol. It went up in the course of the 15th century, a replacement for an earlier building on the same site, broadly contemporary with neighbouring Cawston. While Cawston was largely the work of a single family, here the building benefited from an accident of history; several very wealthy families owned manors and halls in the parish at the same time, and it so happened that the time was the greatest era of rural church building.
Among them were the Boleyns, the Brewes, the Mautebys, the Briggs, the Morleys, the Luces and the Kerdistons, and some of their shields appear above the great west door, along with two mighty censing angels, characteristic of late medieval piety. A steady stream of hefty bequests meant that no expense needed to be spared, and the mighty tower with its vast bell openings was topped with battlements and pinnacles on the very eve of the Reformation.
As at Blythburgh, St Peter and St Paul benefited from the restraint of a late restoration, and the building as we see it now has no external Victorian additions. It is all of a piece. The porches either side are huge affairs, matching the transepts, and give the effect of a vast animal, a dragon perhaps, sprawling with erect head in the Norfolk countryside. Its tail is the chancel, in itself longer and higher than many Norfolk churches. The aisles are tall, austere, parapeted, the Perpendicular windows arcades of glass. In the porches, the vaulted ceilings are studded with bosses; the central one in the north porch depicts Christ in Majesty, sitting on a rainbow in judgement.
You enter the building from the west, an unusual experience in East Anglia, and your first sight is of the seven sacraments font with its tall 15th century canopy, similar to the cover at Cawston. This one is so big it is supported by a crane attached to the ringing gallery under the tower. The font below is interesting because each panel is supported by an angel holding a symbol of the sacrament above - a pot of chrism oil beneath Baptism, for example. The panels themselves are simply done, and are not particularly characterful, apart from the way that Mary turns away and is comforted at the Crucifixion. This panel faces west, and then anticlockwise are the Mass (viewed sideways, as at nearby Great Witchingham), Ordination (the candidate kneeling), Baptism (a server holds the book up for the Priest to read), Confirmation (the candidate obviously a child), Penance (perhaps the most interesting panel - the penitent kneels in a shriving pew), Matrimony (the couples' hands joined by a stole, she in late 15th century dress) and finally Last Rites (the dying man on the floor under blankets also as at Great Witchingham). The font step has a dedicatory inscription to John and Agnes Luce, asking for prayers for their souls. We know that John died in 1489. Perhaps the fabric of the building was complete by this date.
Beyond the font stretches the vastness of the building, the arcades gathering the eyes and leading them forward to the great east window. The chancel arch is barely there at all, just a simple high opening; but as MR James pointed out, it was never intended to be seen.The sheer bulk of the rood screen dado tells us quite how vast the rood apparatus must have been here, and the arch would have been pretty well hidden. Everything is built to scale; although everything has been cut off above the panels, probably in the late 1540s, the panels themselves are enormous, almost six feet high. As at Cawston, St Gregory, St Jerome, St Ambrose and St Augustine, the four Doctors of the Church, are on the doors. Either side are just two surviving paintings; to the north are Thomas and James, to the south are Philip and Bartholomew. The empty panels are a mystery; the screen stood here for a century before its destruction, so it must have been finished; and the dado seems too high to have been hidden by nave altars. And yet, it has all the appearance of never having been painted.
Because the building is so vast, the surviving medieval glass seems scattered, but there is actually a lot of it and some of it is very significant. Some was moved during the restoration of the early 20th century, when the modern glass in the north transept was installed, and the yellow galley lozenges were thankfully replaced with clear glass in the 1970s. The images in the east window are mainly figures; old kings kneel before young princes, there are armoured men and angels, the remains of a scaly dragon. In the centre at the bottom is a perfect Trinity shield, displayed by an angel looking askance.
Some of the panels are now in the south transept. These include fragments of a set of the orders of angels. A kneeling figure is Thomas Brigg, donor of the transept; the scroll behind him begins Benedicat Virgo, 'Blessed Virgin'. The mother of God sits surrounded by red glory, and two women holding croziers, one of them crowned, may be St Etheldreda and St Hilda. Certainly, the crowned figure holding a cross is St Helena.
Despite the wonders of the font, the screen and the glass, the crowning glory of the building is the set of bosses that line the roof of the chancel. They are easily missed, being very high. There are nine altogether, the first and last set against the walls at the ends of the roof ridge, and they form a kind of rosary sequence of joyful and glorious mysteries. They start with the Annunciation in the west (see left) and then continue with the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension into Heaven.
There is a fine set of return stalls in the chancel. Although Salle probably never had a college of Priests, all those Masses for the dead must have provided plenty of employment, because we know that there were seven Priests here at a time when the population of the parish was barely 200. Bench ends include heads, a dragon tied up in a knot, a cock, a restored pelican in her piety, and a monkey. The misericord seats feature faces, including one that is quite extraordinary.
Although the roof isn't up to the glory of neighbouring Cawston, it includes lots of original angels and paintwork, including sacred monograms, and around the wallplate part of the Te Deum Laudamus and Psalm 150. These particular texts seem to have provided the inspiration for many late 15th century interiors; the angels in the roof, the animals on the bench ends, the Saints on the rood screen all in harmony: Let everything that has breath Praise ye the Lord!
The nave benches are mostly renewed now, but the pulpit is an elegant example of the 15th century, from the time when a priority began to be placed on preaching. Curiously, it has been rather awkwardly converted into a three-decker arrangement, probably in the 18th century, with the addition of a platform and desk from a set of box pews. A large sounding board has been placed overhead. The box pews suggest that the medieval furnishings were replaced at an early date, although the replacements too have gone now.
Salle is one of those churches full of intriguing little details that might easily pass you by, so great is the wonder of everything around. Those two little corbel heads above the south door, for instance - what were they for? Perhaps they supported an image that could be seen from the north doorway as people entered, although not a St Christopher as the guidebook suggests, I think. There is a pretty piscina in the unfortunate north transept that has been outlined in wood, a memorial and helm above, a tall image bracket in the corner of the wall of the south transept, a floreated piscina nearby.
There are many brasses and brass inlays in the nave floor; one of the most interesting is a chalice brass (although the chalice is now gone) to Simon Boleyn, a Priest, who died in 1489, and to the east of it a pair of brasses to Geoffrey and Alice Boleyn, great-grandparents to Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. Another pair of brasses are to Thomas and Katherine Rose and their eight children. Unlike many churches, Salle actually retains some of the 'missing' brasses, now locked away for safety. It would be nice to think they could eventually be reset in the floor.
One part of the building that many visitors must miss is the chapel above the north porch. There is no sign indicating it; but the doorway, at the west end of the north aisle, is always open. Inside, the vaulted roof is punctuated by spectacularly pretty bosses which you can view at close quarters. The colour is a bit fanciful, but they are fascinating, particularly the central boss of the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven - how on earth did that survive the Reformation?
This is a tremendous building, a box of fascinating delights. What purpose does it serve now? As I said in the introduction, its size was not in response to the needs of a congregation, and as far as worship is concerned it will never be full. It remains constantly in use, however; for regular services in the chancel, sometimes for concerts and recordings, but also of course for the poshest sort of wedding, the kind only the Church of England can provide, and no doubt other elements of the core business of CofE PLC. It is easy to be cynical, but if they ensure the survival of the building, then so be it.