After the solemn collects at yesterday's Good Friday liturgy at St. Thomas Church, there was this stretch of solemn ritual that left all present hushed with awe and wonder. A large wooden cross was carried down the transept by the rector, pausing three times en route. When it arrived on the altar, priests and acolytes in white robes moved back and forth gracefully as if performing a ballet. Then, the priests full-out prostrated themselves in the chancel while the great Choir of men and boys, led by John Scott, sang a stretch of 16th Century motets and hymns by Gesualdo, de Victoria and Lotti that lasted nearly half-an-hour. It was so sublime, so otherworldly in its spare beauty, it made you wish there was more than only one day a year these sorrowful masterpieces could be heard. Sadder still there weren't more people who ventured in from the fray of 5th Avenue to hear them. (More pics below.)