Recently I had a very interesting experience. A few weeks ago my cousins were in town, they live in another state, and they had a baptismal service for their daughter. At a catholic church. Obviously, not being catholic, I did not know what to expect!
It was a chilly morning and mass started at 11:30. We left a little early, of course, to get in there in enough time to find a seat. After finding space and getting situated, I could actually look around and I quickly realized the church was beautiful! The ceilings were cathedral type and there was huge stain glass windows, all depicting a saint or biblical scene. I can't properly explain the beauty of the church because it is something you need to see for yourself. Anyways, the first thing that happened, and I'm not sure if it was happening as I walked in and I did not notice or if it started just slightly after getting situated, but a man in the church began... I can only describe it as chanting... the Lord's prayer and, I believe it's called, Hail Marys. I didn't immediately recognize what he was saying because I was attempting to locate where the sound was coming from, but, with the help of my mother, I final located him. After he would recite something once the congregation would recite it with him, be it the Lord's prayer or Hail Mary. The man had a very droning voice but that only added to the magic of the moment. And there isn't any other way to describe it rather than magical and mystical. I felt like I was going back in time to Ireland attending mass in the renaissance!
Many different things happened, and I'm not going to walk you through the whole service, but I actually really enjoyed it. One thing that really excited me was that in the front of the church they had a woman facing the crowd translating the service in ASL to the deaf attendees. I loved watching her since I'm learning sign language. I even picked up some signs I didn't know. :)
All in all, I had fun and really enjoyed getting to experience a Catholic mass.
It was a chilly morning and mass started at 11:30. We left a little early, of course, to get in there in enough time to find a seat. After finding space and getting situated, I could actually look around and I quickly realized the church was beautiful! The ceilings were cathedral type and there was huge stain glass windows, all depicting a saint or biblical scene. I can't properly explain the beauty of the church because it is something you need to see for yourself. Anyways, the first thing that happened, and I'm not sure if it was happening as I walked in and I did not notice or if it started just slightly after getting situated, but a man in the church began... I can only describe it as chanting... the Lord's prayer and, I believe it's called, Hail Marys. I didn't immediately recognize what he was saying because I was attempting to locate where the sound was coming from, but, with the help of my mother, I final located him. After he would recite something once the congregation would recite it with him, be it the Lord's prayer or Hail Mary. The man had a very droning voice but that only added to the magic of the moment. And there isn't any other way to describe it rather than magical and mystical. I felt like I was going back in time to Ireland attending mass in the renaissance!
Many different things happened, and I'm not going to walk you through the whole service, but I actually really enjoyed it. One thing that really excited me was that in the front of the church they had a woman facing the crowd translating the service in ASL to the deaf attendees. I loved watching her since I'm learning sign language. I even picked up some signs I didn't know. :)
All in all, I had fun and really enjoyed getting to experience a Catholic mass.
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