Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral

On Sunday Grandma, Grandpa and I went down to San Francisco to get Golden Delicious.  She was on tour with her high school choir.  That morning they were singing at a Cathedral.  The plan was to go to Mass, listen to the choir, and then bring G.D.  back to Gravenstein's house so she could spend the rest of the week with us in California instead of riding home on the bus that afternoon.

I had never really attended Mass before.  (once I went to midnight Mass in Brussels on Christmas eve which was super exciting, but so packed we couldn't see what was going on.)  This time we got a program that listed the hymns and scriptures and latin text they would be using so we could follow along and participate.

St. Mary's is a huge cathedral.  The ceiling goes up 194 feet, with 4 enormous concrete pillars swooping up on the corners, and stained glass on each of the four sides representing the four elements of the earth.  It was also absolutely freezing.  About 50 degrees.  The priest said they have their own weather patterns in the church because it's so big, and I think he meant that even if it's warm, sunny, and pleasant outside it is bone chilling cold inside.  I really didn't see any way to fix that problem though.  It was probably quite warm 194 feet up.  I'm sure all the heat floats right to the top of the cathedral.

The choir sounded fantastic.  Of course they sang Latin stuff that seemed very appropriate.  (No Praise to the Man, etc. )  The organ was excellent and I was swept up in the whole ceremony from the instant it started.  I especially loved the girl that carried the burning incense, swinging it back and forth at the end of a long chain in front of the Priest as he walked in.

My other favorite part was the sign of peace, or sign of friendship.  Everyone greets their neighbor with hugs, handshakes or smiles.  I felt very welcome and loved greeting these good people who come from all over the city to worship.  It was a lovely way to start sunday.