Maine State Day Celebrated at National Cathedral
Maine State Day
Bangor Daily News
Lauren Smith
Boston University News Service
11/12/06
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 —A stained glass window in the Washington National Cathedral tells the story of a seasoned sea captain out on the water. A schooner sets sail in the background. On the opposite wall, the Maine state flag hangs amidst other state flags.
On Sunday morning the Maine state flag was marched down the aisle as the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Maine, the Rev. Chilton Knudsen, joined other clergy in celebrating Maine State Day at the Cathedral.
To a small group of Mainers gathered before the service, Benjamin Bradburn, the National Cathedral’s program coordinator, said the Maine state prayer. It speaks of a chowder “concocted so delectably of pine needles and potatoes, of herring and clams and lobsters in their rocky lairs, of blueberries and new-mown hay and a thousand lakes and little boats brave upon the deep.”
“It’s really a celebration of the people of the state and their service to their neighbors and the nation,” Bradburn said.
Each state has its own day once every four years to five years, when the Cathedral welcomes people who have ties to the honored state and provides them with opportunities for worship, prayer and fellowship.
Linda and Bill Rhine were two of those people. The Wells couple are the Cathedral’s regional volunteer leaders. Bill Rhine read a lesson during the ceremony.
“There’s nothing quite like looking up at the Cathedral,” Linda Rhine said. “Or looking at it from a distance from the Washington Monument. It just blows you away.”
In the gothic cathedral, buttresses fly hundreds of feet into the air and stained glass windows shine down on gray limestone. The commanding organ, that blasts notes from its 2,560 pipes, played to more than a hundred people gathered for the Sunday service.
“It’s always important for people to come here and see the Cathedral,” Linda said. “To think of how many years it took for people to create this all–through wars and depressions. The people who thought of this are brilliant.”
The National Cathedral’s foundation stone was set in 1907, but construction continued for 83 years, and was not completed until 1990. Although Anglican, the Cathedral is a place for people of all denominations and faiths to worship.
A stained glass window picturing Episcopal, Catholic and Quaker leaders,, acts as a reminder of that.
“It’s a house of prayer for all people,” said Jim Rose, a docent at the Cathedral who summers in Prouts Neck. “This is an Episcopal church, but it has many windows which honor all faiths.”
Bangor native and past president of the Maine State Society in Washington, Wayne Hanson, also took part in the ceremony, carrying the Maine flag in the procession.
Barb Rich and daughter Anna, 14, and Val Bemis and two daughters Vanessa, 13, and Violet, 9, drove 12 hours down to Washington just for the ceremony. The girls, representing the Girl Scouts of Kennebec Council, wore green sashes and their troop number and carried wine to the altar before communion.
“It was special,” said Rich, a Rockland resident. “Well worth the drive.”
The mothers and daughters, who made the same trip for the last Maine State Day four years ago, said they were excited to be a part of it again. The Bemises are from Rockport.
The Maine state flag will rest at the front of the altar for the duration of the week, beside the pulpit where Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu and the Dali Lama have spoken. All prayers during the week will be offered for the people of Maine.
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