Romania | London

Thursday, June 05, 2014

I went last weekend to Saint Dunstans in the West - a church on Fleet Street - to take a photo of its statue of Elizabeth I. I've read that it is the oldest outdoor statue in London, which is pretty impressive.




While there, I looked inside and found some kind of baptism ceremony happening.

There were signs outside the church advertising Romanian church services, so I'm assuming it was a Romanian tradition.

Around 30 people were gathered in front of the altar, dressed up in bright colours: lots of green and yellow. Some of the women wore scarves as veils. One man carried a candle with a large lacy pink pompom attached.

Three priests recited prayers and hymns. One priest then cut some hair from the babies' heads after which the babies were presented  in front of religious paintings. Proud parents cooed, filmed and took photos.

After the short ceremony, a large silver baptism font and some religious icon paintings were taken away while everyone drank fizzy wine from paper cups.

During the ceremony, a man arrived - quite clearly a tourist. He took a photo of the ceremony. I hope he is a foreign tourist, and goes back home telling everyone that this is what happens in London, England. For it is. Behind doors - open and closed - there are communities coming together in so many fascinating ways.

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