Convert's Experience of Mass

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Isn’t HE glorious! I am so happy to hear you had a beautiful experience today, and that those children were able to come to mass.

Yes, the cry rooms are great blessing as you don’t have to stress about about what your kid is doing. You should try bringing yours to mass from time to time before too much time gets by. I would be there is somewhere in your church you can take them if they act up.

I did not start attending mass until my daughter was 5. It was an adjustment for her to get used to it as we did not go to any church prior to that. I was always impressed by how well behaved many of the other small children were. And some of the 2 and 3 year olds can be so cute trying to follow along. I know it would have been easier for her if we had started this earlier.
 
Contra_Mundum said:
Yeah, that would get you sent out.

I was once at a midnight mass on Christmas eve and a drunk woman started shouting profanities at the priest during the homily. She then vomited on the floor, and when a friar went over to talk to her and to calm her down she started hitting him and swearing. A couple of men then came to rescue the friar and dragged her out, kicking and screaming. She was with a friend who also seemed quite drunk and she also vomited on the floor. But she was quiet and was left alone. I could see people walking over the vomit in the communion line later on, wondering about the squishy sound under their feet. It was awful. My mother and I tried to hide our laughter, it was out of nervousness and shock I think, and was like being in school and having a giggling fit. Absolutely terrible.

This was not in the UK by the way. 🙂
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:eek::eek::eek:
 
WaitingForJesus said:
Isn’t HE glorious!

I did not start attending mass until my daughter was 5. It was an adjustment for her to get used to it as we did not go to any church prior to that. I was always impressed by how well behaved many of the other small children were. And some of the 2 and 3 year olds can be so cute trying to follow along. I know it would have been easier for her if we had started this earlier.
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At the last Sunday Mass, I sat in the back.

I noticed a little boy, probably bout 3yrs…he was asking his mother to go back to the the door…and I was wondering why?

He wanted to dip his hand in the Holy Water fount…so his mother took him there…dipped his hand…and made his best effort to do the sign of the Cross…👍

And yes, when we take our kids…they emulate what we do…👍
 
pablope said:
At the last Sunday Mass, I sat in the back.

I noticed a little boy, probably bout 3yrs…he was asking his mother to go back to the the door…and I was wondering why?

He wanted to dip his hand in the Holy Water fount…so his mother took him there…dipped his hand…and made his best effort to do the sign of the Cross…👍

And yes, when we take our kids…they emulate what we do…👍
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They are so precious! 🙂
 
Euphon said:
At my meeting with the priest last night, I alluded to it and he smiled - my assessment of who they were was correct, and they were well known to him. Without breaking any confidences, he mentioned a couple of things which went some way to explaining what was happening, and he emphasised that despite some mental and social problems they are good people.

It’s a beautiful day today. Every day the sun has been out, sunlight has streamed through the cathedral windows at an appropriate moment during the Eucharistic Prayer; another humbling reminder of whose presence we are celebrating.
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The gypsies/Travelers are indeed Catholic, and although their appearance can be quite scandalous, they are actually very traditional in their family structure, with the wives always staying home with the children (they tend to have quite a few) and the husbands going out to “earn” a living (sometimes, they don’t earn it honestly, as you must know. 😦 ) The girls are all virgins when they marry (usually very young). How this is possible when they tend to dress like prostitutes at Disneyland, I have no idea. 🤷

We do use ushers here…that is who would have stopped the antics and gotten them to sit down and be quiet. But not all churches have them, especially the smaller churches.
 
Every time I think I have a handle on Mass, something comes up to throw me for a loop and remind me how much I don’t know 🙂

I have no idea what happened today. Except that the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus apparently involves inviting lots and lots of priests to celebrate different parts of Mass (including one bit where they all stood together as if to sing a round, each priest saying a few lines in turn), and it isn’t in the weekday hand missal as far as I could find (I’m guessing it’s in the Sunday missal which I left back at home, what with this not being Sunday).
 
Euphon said:
Every time I think I have a handle on Mass, something comes up to throw me for a loop and remind me how much I don’t know 🙂

I have no idea what happened today. Except that the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus apparently involves inviting lots and lots of priests to celebrate different parts of Mass (including one bit where they all stood together as if to sing a round, each priest saying a few lines in turn), and it isn’t in the weekday hand missal as far as I could find (I’m guessing it’s in the Sunday missal which I left back at home, what with this not being Sunday).
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Today is a Solemnity which means that the Mass is just like a Sunday Mass.

Not every parish had multiple priests today, though. I love to see several priests concelebrating Mass together. 🙂
 
Long time no post! Sorry, I’ve been very, very busy. I still feel a long way from… not the “finish line” (I suppose “start line” is more accurate!), but the end of the process of reception and the beginning of my new life as a “real” Catholic. Still, it’s August now, ordinary time is whipping along and I know Easter is fast approaching. Grumble grumble grumble… I love going to Mass every day, but there’s always a pang of longing while I’m staying in place during communion. I pray for Jesus to help make me ready, prepare me for confession and help me to act in a manner more worthy of His forgiveness.

My priest is away now for various different commitments, so our meetings have been adjourned for a couple of months; as homework, he gave me the key documents of Vatican II to read and digest, particularly Gaudium et Spes (for which I went out and bought my own copy anyway). Brilliant.

Anyway. During our last meeting, I mentioned that I particularly liked the sung/chanted parts of the liturgy, and the gravitas (for want of a better word - but I think it mostly is the gravitas!) conferred by the use of Latin, which I contrasted to my past (brief) experiences in the happy-clappy Baptist church. He chuckled and we had an entertaining discussion about traditional Catholicism and the Society of St. Pius X, and how the general non-Catholic public (including me, before I started reading up) seems to still be under the impression that Mass is routinely celebrated in Latin rather than the vernacular, and it was all very interesting.

HOWEVER! In an aside at the end - just a throwaway comment - he mentioned something along the lines of “and, of course, you’ll have experienced a Mass completely in Latin before too long”. I have no idea what this meant. Any ideas, anyone? Is there a feast coming up that is traditionally celebrated entirely in Latin, or something? Or is it at the priest’s discretion to do the whole thing in Latin, just as I’ve learned it’s at his discretion whether to sing/speak the communal bits in English or Latin as he sees fit?
 
Oh, and I now know the speedy-talking priest is the Catholic chaplain of the local university, who is also the usual priest to celebrate Mass in the regular priest’s absence - I spoke to him after a Sunday Mass just to thank him because he’d given the most beautiful homily, a Marian interpretation of the parable of the good Samaritan, and he explained that he was used to celebrating Mass at breakneck speed because his students usually only had ~20 minutes between classes; “my” priest (the regular one, I mean) had joked with him that the parishioners would be expecting a 17-minute Mass by the time he got back 🙂
 
Hi Euphon, good to hear from you again! I read this the other day and didn’t answer because I don’t really understand the details on this. Thought someone else might. At my church, we have a Tridentine mass (in Latin) every Sunday, but this is not exactly the norm. We have many parishioners who want this and a priest who is able to do it. And, on Feast Days we sometimes have what is referred to as a “High Mass”. That one is an even more elaborate Latin mass.

I think it depends on having a priest that knows and feels comfortable doing this, so perhaps your priest is planning something special or someone will be coming to do this. I would just ask him to explain.
 
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