Your questions
Why is lighting the Easter fire usually the first part of the vigil and first mass of Easter, coming before the vigil readings? I have attended churches where the vigil readings come first, with the church still in darkness, and it seems to make much more liturgical sense this way round: we wait in darkness and hear the promise of God’s redemption, then go and light the Easter fire.
M. V.
When I was a student in the 1970s, several times our chaplain used in worship a prayer that had a phrase in it something like “Take the stumbling words we say, and turn them into words of gold.” The phrase has stayed with me as a telling way of expressing one of the works of the Holy Spirit, but I have never been able to rediscover the full words of the prayer, or its source. Sadly, the chaplain who used them in our worship has died, so cannot answer the question himself. Can anyone help?
M. G.
I note that a certain London area bishop is regularly referred to as “Lord Bishop”, but I thought that the title “Lord” was applicable only to certain diocesan bishops who had a seat in the House of Lords by virtue of their office. What is correct?
P. G.
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