Sunday, November 22, 2015

Saturday with four churches, brisket and a swamp

Rocky was took a rare Saturday off from work so we decided to take a road trip to Southern Maryland. We went to Prince Frederick County, home of the Battle Creek Swamp. If you enjoy birding this is a lovely spot. They have a spy window in the visitor's center that looks out on a huge feeder. You can sit in comfort and get a good look at even the most timid birds because they can't see you. I counted five species that I haven't seen this year.

We went to St. John Vianney Church for their annual Christmas bazaar. It was great. They have serious artisans there with high quality goods. It was worth the trip and I'll go back next year. The church is okay at first glance until you look at the windows. Seeing  Martin Luther King Jr. and Thomas Merton in stained glass as if they were saints is a head shaker. Next we drove to Immaculate Conception  in Solomons Island and said a decade of the rosary.  We were repulsed by their Resurrection crucifix. Our Lord did not lift off the crucifix like a firecracker. He stayed on His throne of pain until His work was finished and then He commended His soul to God. Our Lord did not have 1980s hair.   We decided that we weren't coming back later for the vigil Mass. After lunch at Mission Barbeque we went over the bridge to St. Mary's County and enjoyed looking at the waterfowl and boats. Evening rolled around and we scouted around  for a place to go to Mass. The clostest chruch to our location was  Our Lady Star of the Sea but  as we were walking up the path a woman came blasting out of the door with a disgusted look on her face. She was a big, sturdily built country lady so we stepped aside and watched her head to her car.  Once inside we looked around.  listened to the choir and got an idea why the lady fled. Bless their hearts, I'm sure they were sincere but it was like being sucked back into 1974. I checked my phone and saw that St. Cecilia's had a 4:30 vigil. We decided to make a run for it.

St. Cecilia's was beautiful. It is this tiny chapel sized church in the woods of St. Mary's City with an energetic priest. Inside feels like being in the wooden chapels that the first priests in Maryland built. Mass was just fine.    Afterwards we headed home with a few stops on the way.