B
babochka
Guest
…that would warm the hearts of many on Catholic Answers.
I travel to my Byzantine parish on Sundays, but I attend daily Mass sometimes at a nearby parish. I wasn’t able to attend at all last week, so this morning was my first Mass there since Advent began. I was very surprised to find a prie dieu in place at the front of each communion line, and in the pews were sheets with Latin for the Agnus Dei and several other parts of the Mass. A few people usually kneel for Communion at the early morning Mass that I attend, but this morning many more than usual knelt to receive. The pastor is a dynamic young priest who has brought something very special to this parish. On solemnities (such as today), he uses a Benedictine altar arrangement. In his first months there, he moved the tabernacle to the center and replaced a risen Christ statue with a beautiful crucifix. The church is modern construction, semi-round and slightly sloping (built in early 1980s) without a center aisle. I used to think of it as an ugly church and it still isn’t my favorite style, but I’ve learned that a solemn, reverent Mass makes any space sacred and beautiful. I am so appreciative of this young pastor who has made (is making) these changes with pastoral sensitivity, but still returning to his parish the treasures of the Roman Rite.
I travel to my Byzantine parish on Sundays, but I attend daily Mass sometimes at a nearby parish. I wasn’t able to attend at all last week, so this morning was my first Mass there since Advent began. I was very surprised to find a prie dieu in place at the front of each communion line, and in the pews were sheets with Latin for the Agnus Dei and several other parts of the Mass. A few people usually kneel for Communion at the early morning Mass that I attend, but this morning many more than usual knelt to receive. The pastor is a dynamic young priest who has brought something very special to this parish. On solemnities (such as today), he uses a Benedictine altar arrangement. In his first months there, he moved the tabernacle to the center and replaced a risen Christ statue with a beautiful crucifix. The church is modern construction, semi-round and slightly sloping (built in early 1980s) without a center aisle. I used to think of it as an ugly church and it still isn’t my favorite style, but I’ve learned that a solemn, reverent Mass makes any space sacred and beautiful. I am so appreciative of this young pastor who has made (is making) these changes with pastoral sensitivity, but still returning to his parish the treasures of the Roman Rite.