...the Westminster diocese had its Chrism Mass, in an absolutely overflowing Cathedral - we packed into every corner, most of us kneeling on the floor, crowding into side-chapels and around the back, stewards trying to make a route for the procession of clergy to reach the sanctuary. It is rather intriguing - the Chrism Mass isn't widely advertised, people aren't urged to come, there are no leaflets about it...but people just seem to hear about it and they pour into the Cathedral in vast, vast numbers. The Mass took two hours. Hearing the beautiful prayers over the oils - references to the dove bringing back an olive branch to Noakh and so on - in hushed cathedral with with tht vast crowd is,to use a sometimes overworked word, awesome.
We had our Thank You to priests organised as they arrived - see here.
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3 comments:
I've never been to one. In fact I've never seen one advertised.
I love this little tradition of you and your friends! Such a great idea. Thank you!
I heard about it from a priest at Clergy House who blessed a little icon my cousin gave me of the Mother of God the Unfading Bloom (similar to Semper Virgine in the West) whose feast day was on April 3rd. It occurred to me during the Mass that the title could also be applied to the Church of which Mary is a figure or type and which is forever young and always being renewed.
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