Date: 8/11/13
Church name/type: Historic St Mary’s in Albany, Roman Catholic
Pastor: There were two priests listed in the bulletin and I actually don’t know which one preached; John Provost, or James Lefebvre
Style of worship: formal and concise
Overall Impression: predictable
Thoughts:
So another week, another Catholic church. It was alright. It was a nice day out. The couple people I shook hands with during passing of the peace were cordial enough. The deacon was friendly after mass was finished. No coffee hour here. It’s strange to me how often that is the norm. I was raised in a college Catholic church that was also a Newman center. It was casual and often filled with college students. We always had a coffee hour afterwards. I liked loved mingling after mass. These places without it have no idea what what are missing.
I’ll talk about the building again since it had some character. The church calls itself “Historic” St Mary’s. I guess I am supposed to think of history while inside. It does look old, but up-kept. You learn in schools about the Sistine Chapel and you’re like ‘yeah yeah painted ceilings’, but painted ceilings DO actually look cool. The walls here are painted too. The Virgin Mary and some cherubs hover overhead in bright pastels; saints are farther down the walls. All this is set against a background color somewhere between pink and lavender. The floor is carpeted in a shade of green like emerald, or dark turquoise. The ceiling and floor together give the church an early morning pastoral look- as if we awaited the dawn on a country hillside, colors not quite right without the sun, but beautiful.
Besides a pretty building there wasn’t a whole lot remarkable about this place. I guess the laminated Mass card was helpful. It had most of the repetitious parts of mass so churchgoers could follow along if unfamiliar. It’s pretty much the same every week for Catholics, so your regular churchgoer has that stuff memorized.
Latin of the day:
They thought they could sneak this by me but I’m waaay too quick. Instead of normal English ‘Lamb of God’ refrain they said it in Latin. Thank you years and years of choir! I was able to chant along:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.