![black mass II](https://quadrant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/black-mass-II-1.jpg)
The Last Service
Although intended as fantasy, this story deals with some of the difficulties that will arise if and when, as Philip Larkin puts it:
… churches fall completely out of use
What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show …
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There weren’t many worshippers coming out of the Cathedral that Easter morning, even though it had been an important service. Several grouped themselves under umbrellas on the wet stone steps, waiting for the courage to dash across the street to the tram stop and the station opposite. High above them the three crocketed spires soared heavenwards until the tips were lost in the drizzle. The rumble of an organ recessional competed with the traffic.
“It’s like the end of a way of life,” said one elderly lady. “Where on earth will I go now?”
“Home, I should think, if we don’t drown first,” said an umbrellaless lady, holding a service sheet inadequately across her…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins