Rocky and I went to the Vigil of the Assumption at the DC Franciscan Monastery. It was packed. The friars looked surprised and delighted. A huge number of Catholic University students were there. Originally, the Mass was supposed to be in the grotto but the threat of thunderstorms made the abbot decide to move it indoors. I'm glad of that because the mosquitoes in the grotto are fierce. Archbishop Wilton Gregory came. He's shorter than he looks on TV. He did not say anything offensive in his homily and did not talk politics. After Mass Rocky and I accidentally walked close to him in the garden and he waved at us. The guest choir was astonishing and I don't mean that in a good way. Their version of the Magnificat was blues style and sounded like Vera Hall singing the Death Have Mercy song. Rocky looked at me out of the corner of his eye. When they sang the Alleluia and it went on so long and the tambourines were so loud I was almost surprised when the priest finally began reading the Gospel. One man couldn't take it and quietly left during the singing. The Gloria went on so long I wondered if I could do a whole decade of the rosary before it ended.
After Mass Rocky as we walked to our car told me that he didn't feel like he'd been to Mass at all. It was like a concert with Mass added as an afterthought.
Posts
