Laundry Service

I was on Acolyte duty this morning assisting at communion (the title is derived from the Greek word ἀκόλουθος, ‘akolouthos’, meaning an attendant). I’m getting the hang of it now, and feeling more comfortable with doing all the different bits during the service. Halfway through this morning, however, I managed to splash candle wax over the front and sleeve of my alb (from the Latin ‘albus’, meaning white). At least the candles are also white, so things weren’t as bad as they could have been. I had to take it home, pick off the worst of the wax then blot off the rest with a warm iron and kitchen paper. I’ve just given it a quick wash in the machine and it’s come out okay (see photo). Luckily albs are made of polyester these days, so they dry fast and don’t need pressing. Apparently in the olden days, when they were linen, they would crease terribly all the time. I’ll take it back to St Luke’s on Thursday morning before the service, as the vestry will be unlocked then.

So the unscheduled laundry session has used up a chunk of this afternoon which I could have done without. That’ll teach me to be more careful with my candle next time…