It was a wonderful weekend... We began by attending the Stations of the Cross followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction on Friday. Our parish has this every week during Lent, which we try to make as often as we can. This week was a special one. Because of the 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Lourdes, we also venerated the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes at the end of the Benediction. There was also the opportunity for confession (with four priests) after. The lines were long... many parishioners were hoping for the plenary indulgences and taking advantage of the opportunity for confession. When there are more priests than confessionals available, it offers the opportunity for parents to watch (from a distance, of course) when our little ones make their confession. I have to say I particularly enjoyed seeing the priest kneel down so he could be face to face with my little seven-year old while hearing his confession. We all went home with clean souls...
Saturday morning began early for me. I had to get up about 5:45 to start getting my voice warmed up for singing at Mass. Our pastor was saying his first Extraordinary form Low Mass at 7:30 am. There were two other priests from out of town, one learning along with our pastor, and another helping both of them learn. It was a private Mass, so there were only a handful of people in the pews. The altar servers (who had spent a good amount of time on Thursday and Friday learning how to serve) did a great job. Since it was a low Mass, the music was fairly minimal, but I was asked to sing four chants for it (no accompaniment -- just my little voice). They were:
Parce, Domine
Attende, Domine
Adoro te, Devote
and Ave Maris Stella
It was very solemn, holy,and with a lot more silence than we are used to in the Novus Ordo Mass. I am hoping that I'll get emailed some photos of the beautiful altar that I can post later. The altar was arranged with a beautiful marble crucifix and six beautiful tall candles, three on each side of the crucifix.
I was able to go out for coffee with a very good friend after Mass -- a real treat to get to have some girl-talk without the kids around to chase.
Then, we had a very relaxing and fun weekend -- the boys were happy they got to play outside in their swim trunks and make a huge mess in the yard with the garden hose... yes, it is already quite warm here in Louisiana... and had a neighbor boy over to assist. I took the time to find the bottom of my desk (hasn't happened for awhile prior to this) and tried to work on organization...
This evening was the topper of it all... Mass at 5:30 was especially nice. Singers from the Centenary College choir were guest singers for the Mass. They did a beautiful job... wonderful a cappella pieces, and very simple accompaniment for the Mozart Ave Verum as a meditation piece after Communion. They do such a fine job, I tried my best to sing unobtrusively (as cantor) so that the parishioners could enjoy that beautiful sound. My oldest boy was also serving at Mass, so that also is a special treat for me to watch. After Mass, my husband and boys and I went to dinner... a great time was had by all.
Ending the day, we pulled out the holy candles, got our picture of Our Lady of Lourdes out, prayed day 8 of the Novena, a prayer for the Pope's intentions... and then talked about who we were offering prayers for...
It was a great weekend... I hope to post pictures later on...
No comments:
Post a Comment