eight o'clock
From the upland dales all round they streamed in , at news of the priest , and those who had come from far and were fasting he communicated at once from the Reserved Sacrament . At last , tired out , but intensely happy , he went back to the Hall . But the next morning was yet more startling . Mass was at eight o'clock , and by the time Anthony entered the church he found a congregation of nearly two hundred souls ; the village itself did not number above seventy , but many came in from the country round , and some had stayed all night in the church-porch . Then , too , he heard the North-country singing in the old way ; all the mass music was sung in three parts , except the unchanging melody of the creed , which , like the tremendous and unchanging words themselves , at one time had united the whole of England ; but what stirred Anthony more than all were the ancient hymns sung here and there during the service , some in Latin , which a few picked voices rendered , and some in English , to the old lilting tunes which were as much the growth of the north-country as the heather itself . The `` Ave Verum Corpus '' was sung after the Elevation , and Anthony felt that his heart would break for very joy ; as he bent before the Body of his Lord , and the voices behind him rose and exulted up the aisles , the women 's and children 's voices soaring passionately up in the melody , the mellow men 's voices establishing , as it seemed , these ecstatic pinnacles of song on mighty and immovable foundations . Vespers were said at three o'clock , after baptisms and more confessions ; and Anthony was astonished at the number of folk who could answer the priest .