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#33 - attend a Catholic mass

St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Ave., 2008
When I was in London in 2008, I had the chance to go to High Mass at Westminster Abbey.  It was an Anglican service, obviously, but it was so moving and beautiful that I've had this fondness for mass ever since.  Earlier that year I had gone to NYC, and I had taken pictures (one above) of this amazing cathedral I passed on the street--I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was lovely.  So, when Ricky and I were planning our trip this year and we had an empty spot in our schedule after our early-morning return from Boston, I knew where I wanted to go!

Picture from 2012
Our overnight bus rolled into NYC around 5:30 AM, and we loitered (read: slept) at the Port Authority terminal for an hour before grabbing the subway to 5th Avenue for mass.  We got to the cathedral just after 7:00; I wasn't dressed nearly as appropriately as I would've liked, but the ushers were very kind about it.  The 7:00 mass was accompanied with singing, which was lovely in the arched ceiling.

From Wikipedia, because I surely wasn't about to take a picture during mass.
Since we were a bit late, we stayed for the 7:30 mass as well, surrounded by New Yorkers on the way to work.  I marveled to Ricky at how wonderful they were to come to church that early--I don't think I would get up to do anything that lengthy before work!  (My early-morning seminary days are long, long over.)  Overall, we spent about an hour at mass, and it was jarring to come back out onto the busy NYC street after the services.  I'm grateful that we got to go and have such a peaceful experience. 

(I have to confess that I don't actually remember what the sermon was about...something about John, I think.  And this is why I can't do early-morning church.)

Yay for #33!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 29, 2012 at 1:45 PM

    Catholic masses are so relaxing. I always would feel pleasantly calm and drowsy during them when we would visit my grandma.

    ReplyDelete

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