One traditionalist summed up the Victoria Eucharistic Conference by saying, "Now I know I am not alone." The liturgical responses, hymns and psalms nearly raised the roof of the 157-year-old St. Ann's Chapel in Victoria, B.C., once the Roman Catholic cathedral, restored by the provincial government to its white and gold elegance in time for the conference.

The Aug. 20-24 event was clearly advertised to be "traditional Anglican," avoiding the familiar contemporary debates about liturgy (only the "classic" Book of Common Prayer, chiefly the Canadian version, was used).

The climax though not the conclusion of the conference was the Solemn High Mass on Sunday, which used a setting composed by Canadian composer-conductor Lloyd Blackman, in memory of the Rev. Roland Palmer, S.S.J.E., founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Canada.

The preacher, the Rt. Rev. Robert Mercer, diocesan for the 40 parishes of the Canadian Anglican Catholics, spoke on "The Bread of Life." Fr. Palmer was later eulogized at Solemn Evensong and Benediction in St. John the Evangelist Anglican Catholic Church by the Rev. Peter Wilkinson, O.S.G.

The opening night banquet at the Empress Hotel featured an address by the Most Rev. Louis Falk, primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, on "Eating and Drinking," an interpretation of Holy Communion. Other addresses were given on "Eucharistic Theology in Holy Scripture," by Prof. J.R. Porter, emeritus professor of Old Testament at Exeter University; "The Real Presence," by Bishop Donald Parsons, retired, of Quincy; and "Eucharistic Theology in the Patristic Age," by the Rev. G. Richmond Bridge, chaplain of Kings College, Halifax.

The conference was a project of the Order of Servants in Adoration (Canada), a small religious society, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Catholic Parish.