Cathedral of the Madeleine

Meagan and I went to her last religious service for her Humanities class yesterday morning. We got to the Cathedral of the Madeleine at about 8:15 am. The first Mass of the day started at 8:30 am. (Aren't you proud of me, mom?)

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is such a beautiful building. I have only been there once before and I remember it being really dark. This time it did not seem very dark at all. Maybe it was because I went in the morning instead of the evening? Maybe they restored the frescoes when they re-did the cathedral a few years ago? Anyway, the paintings on the walls and ceilings and the stained glass were bright, colorful and very pretty. Maybe I don't have to go to Europe to see beautiful cathedrals after all--although I'd still like to!

Meagan and I switched seats 3 times because we wanted to be able to see what was going on without being too conspicuous that we were visitors that didn't have much idea what was going on. I think we may have still been conspicuous, because we didn't stand up, sit down or join in with the congregation much. That, and there was only one other person sitting in the section we were in. Since we were obviously visitors, they didn't bring the collections basket around to us or come to us during the "Peace be unto you" part. That's ok, 'cuz I wasn't expecting it. The greeter at the door was friendly, though, and the Pastor welcomed all the visitors at the end of the service, so I guess it's ok that we were there.

The service lasted about 1 1/2 hours, which wasn't too bad, but near the end, those wooden benches were starting to get hard! They had all the robes and candles and crosses you'd expect, but no incense. That was ok with me, we got enough incense at the Hindu Temple. We were given a printed program when we walked in that had lyrics to the music the congregation sang and the general program, but since I am not familiar with Catholic Mass, I was a bit lost. Meagan kept telling me how similar it is like the Lutheran services she's been to with Tyler. I was glad the services were in English and not Latin.

One of the more interesting things that happened was that the Associate Pastor got up and said he was from a Diocese in southern India. According to him, about 85% of the people in India are Hindu and only 1-2% are Catholic. He's in the US collecting money to help the Tsunami orphans in his Diocese. He told us that the caste system in India is still very strong, even among Catholics. Apparently the upper caste does not associate with or help out the lower caste. That's sad. Then again, the woman at the Hindu Temple told us that when they offer milk to the mother goddess in India, they give the milk to the poor. Who can say? I thought it very interesting that both of the worship services we went to had something to do with India/Hinduism.

When we left, I had the feeling I had stepped back in time. If I had been alive 400 years ago, I suspect the building and religious service may have been very similar to what I had just experienced--except it probably would not have been in English. I suppose I have had many ancestors who were Catholic.

Anyway, that was the end of our religious excursions. It was interesting, but I'm glad it's done. Although I would still like to go to the Buddist Temple...