Back then I was in the midst of my junior year abroad, attending the West Berlin university in Dahlem. I wrote my favorite aunt a report, excerpts from which follow in translated form. Note that I experienced that service as a very young person who had been aware of Anthroposophy all her life but had hitherto only worshipped in plain Quaker meetings in the American midwest.

Sunday, May 31, 1959

I've just returned from attending my first Christian Community service!

There was a great deal of ritual, which I was not prepared for. . . The face of the celebrant was remarkably beautiful; he reminded me of the old men portrayed by Fra Angelico in his frescoes. Altogether, there was in him and his assistants so much peace, love, and devotion that it was most refreshing! Hearing them speak, I thought to myself at first, “How they are dragging out the words!” . . . By and by I realized that they were pronouncing the words with great deliberation, as if just then grasping their meaning for the first time...

And here I still am, eager to hear those words sixty-two years later!

-Christiane Marks