Thursday, December 22, 2005

visit to a church

Yesterday I was in Vienna Virginia and made a quick stop to a church that I'd driven past for years but never visited. It's a traditional Latin rite church and the parish is independent of the diocese. The door was locked when my husband and I stopped by but the sacristan let us in to pray. It was the most beautiful little church I've ever seen in Virginia, period. The altar and altar rails were oak. The place smelled of sweet pine from the wreaths and garland. They had traditional pews and kneelers and there were viels available for visitors. There were lovely stations of the cross on the walls and wooden ones along the walkway outside. It was silent except for our voices saying the Hail Mary. I was really moved. I haven't felt such precious peace in a long time.