What happened at my church?

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redtech

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I actually have 2 questions. The title goes with the second one.
  1. Since our attendance is shrinking, we have to cut a mass at our Church. (Our priest covers us and another church that only has 2 masses per weekend) I always go on Saturday vigil. We’ve been voting on different things on different weekends. We just found out that our 4:30 vigil will be changed to 5pm… :mad: We would probably have found out this weekend WHERE our Saturday vigil mass will be held but since its Christmas Eve he will probably do more talking about trying to get the C&E (Christmas and Easter) Catholics to attend more frequently than talk about which mass is getting erased… 😦 How sad.
  2. This is completely unrelated. I remember one time as a kid, we were at church late. At the end of mass they turned the lights off and they were playing some wierd music and it ended in a bell tolling. I remember it was very touching but I was scared to death. We sat there in complete silence for what seemed like a really long time, then they turned on just the lights in the doorways and group by group, people walked out. There was no recession or anything. What WAS that??? I know I didn’t dream it because one of my brothers remembers it too. Who was the pope before JPII. Maybe it was when that pope died or something… (I’m 27)
redtech
 
Part 2 of my post is really getting me the more I think about it. I really don’t think it was Easter because we didn’t have candles… Come to think of it, We don’t get those candles anymore do we? Was that even Easter??? I’ve got myself all turned around…

When is that when the priest goes outside and burns something?

I’ll tell you, if it didn’t happen yesterday, I don’t know anything about it… This is terrible. My preggo brain strikes again!!!
 
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redtech:
  1. This is completely unrelated. I remember one time as a kid, we were at church late. At the end of mass they turned the lights off and they were playing some wierd music and it ended in a bell tolling. I remember it was very touching but I was scared to death. We sat there in complete silence for what seemed like a really long time, then they turned on just the lights in the doorways and group by group, people walked out. There was no recession or anything. What WAS that??? I know I didn’t dream it because one of my brothers remembers it too. Who was the pope before JPII. Maybe it was when that pope died or something… (I’m 27)
redtech
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JPI was before JPII. That could have been it, but we didn’t do it for JPII.
 
Sounds almost like the end of the Good Friday services. Jesus has died and will not rise till Easter morn.
 
Greetings,
Sounds to me like Easter Vigil. At the beginning, they burn the palms from Palm Sunday to make ashes for the next Ash Wednesday. Also, there is a procession from there into the church, darkened. Everyone has unlit candles, and the lit Easter Candle is processed in. The priest or deacon carrying it can sing “Christ, Our Light”. Everyone’s candles are lit from it. It can be quite impressive. I think your memories are a little mixed up from time and lack of understanding.

Sorry to hear about your shrinking attendance.

Mulus
 
Good Friday - we leave in silence (I have heard drums or a bell at some churches, sort of a dirge) darkness as the vigil candle is extinguished… and then at the Easter Vigil there is the fire outside and candle comes into the dark Church - then the small candles are lit - then the lights come back on! Woudl make for great childhood memories…
 
Tenebrae (wed) snuffing out of candles with total darkness and people exit. This is wednesday of holy week.
 
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redtech:
I 2. This is completely unrelated. I remember one time as a kid, we were at church late. At the end of mass they turned the lights off and they were playing some wierd music and it ended in a bell tolling. I remember it was very touching but I was scared to death. We sat there in complete silence for what seemed like a really long time, then they turned on just the lights in the doorways and group by group, people walked out. There was no recession or anything. What WAS that??? I know I didn’t dream it because one of my brothers remembers it too. Who was the pope before JPII. Maybe it was when that pope died or something… (I’m 27)

redtech
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I don’t know when you were a kid, but after the Holy Thursday Mass in commemoration of the Last Supper, the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the tabernacle and reserved in another chapel or another location, there may be a procession to this location, but there is no music, and there may be a period of adoration. The altar is stripped, there is no recessional, and the congregation leaves in silence.

Pope before JP2 was JP1, who only reigned for one month. Before that was Pope Paul 6, John 23, Pius 12 who was pope when I was born. It is hard to realize that the young people he loved so much have only known this one pope.
 
  1. This is completely unrelated. I remember one time as a kid, we were at church late. At the end of mass they turned the lights off and they were playing some wierd music and it ended in a bell tolling. I remember it was very touching but I was scared to death. We sat there in complete silence for what seemed like a really long time, then they turned on just the lights in the doorways and group by group, people walked out. There was no recession or anything. What WAS that??? I know I didn’t dream it because one of my brothers remembers it too. Who was the pope before JPII. Maybe it was when that pope died or something… (I’m 27)
redtech

It sounds like a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae is Latin for darkness. Often during the darkness the congregation will make loud noises (like banging the hymn books on the pews), or they might have done the odd music you remember. After that, people leave in silence. I remember it being on Holy Thursday evening, though, not on Wednesday. The darkness and noise symbolize the tumult at the time of the death of Christ.

CathChemNerd
 
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CathChemNerd:
It sounds like a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae is Latin for darkness. Often during the darkness the congregation will make loud noises (like banging the hymn books on the pews), or they might have done the odd music you remember. After that, people leave in silence. I remember it being on Holy Thursday evening, though, not on Wednesday. The darkness and noise symbolize the tumult at the time of the death of Christ.

CathChemNerd
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I think you’ve got it!
We use wodden clackers instead of bells.

Also, on Good Friday, the tabernacle is emptied and The Eucharist is placed in a “tomb” in our chapel until Easter Sunrise Mass.
 
Thanks you guys. Thats probably what it was.

I was fairly young at the time. I know we started going to Mass on Easter Morning and not going to Easter Vigil because my mom and dad thought it was too long. With 5 kids, I could understand. I was the youngest and thought I was well behaved, but I must have been fooling myself! 😃 I do remember all of us laughing at the guy that invariably sat behind us who sang in an almost opera voice and he was always a tiny bit behind everyone elses singing. I do remember my mom scowling at us and shushing us.

ahhhh, Good Times! 😃

I think I’ll go to Easter Vigil next year. I hope my 2 year old can handle it.
 
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