....as theological as I can get.....

....as theological as I can get.....

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Virgin no more.

I have officially had my first Catholic experience. To make up for my fiasco this morning I went to the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City for 6pm mass. First let me just say that the cathedral is GORGEOUS outside and in. The religious art adorning the interior is super Roman Christian era, and everything is inlaid with gold. I was glad I came 15 minutes early so I could just sit in a pew to take it all in by myself.
The 40 minute drive was eventful in itself. I blared Hall & Oates the whole way and seat belt danced my jitters away. Private Eyes is my Handel's Messiah (it probably would be The Annunciation..H2O would definitely be The Passion and Big Bam Boom would be The Aftermath for sure).
As I turned onto South Temple Street, and drove past the LDS Salt Lake Temple, a thought popped into my head pertaining to the sticker on the back of my Ford Focus. This Sticker.

(I texted JS asking if my tires were going to get slashed for having such a sacrilegious decal adorning my vehicle, and he responded with "The Pope is Dope".)
I parked, tried in vain to peel the sticker off, gave up and walked to the cathedral's entrance.
Ready for anything, I pushed open the giant wooden door and was met by a smiling...Black Priest?
**Excuse my seemingly racist comment, but you must understand that I was raised in a predominantly white LDS church in a predominantly white wealthy town. I have never been in a church and seen, well, a black person. **
After receiving the day's program from the priest, I found a pew comfortably (but not completely) near the back of the Chapel (is it called a chapel? I think so) and sat.The church filled up with TONS of people, of all different ethnicity's. It was really cool. Did you know that there are Catholic Indian people? Well there are, and they are in Salt Lake City Utah.
The service was nice..Lots of sing talking, standing, sitting, kneeling and the like.
Did I feel God? I don't know..I felt relaxed. It was odd. Church usually makes me on edge. JS was right, and only half of the congregation got in line for the communion, and only every 3 people threw a buck in the donation baskets. After the service ( I really liked the melodic chant, "Mass is ended you may go...") I didn't get heckled or pressured to talk and divulge any information about myself. In fact, no one gave a crap that I even came. I appreciated that, and may return to not get noticed again.
Here are some pictures of The Cathedral of the Madeleine, courtesy of Saltlakecitycathedral.org

5 comments:

  1. "did you know there are catholic indian people?" totally made me crack up! what a fun adventure you are on doing this! totally peer pressured by jess to come over here and check your blog out and im glad i did! :)

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  2. i love your blog. i love what you say, it entertains me :) i live in utah (utah county to make it even worse) and i know how annoying all the religious pressure is and all the judgment ect.. i think its cool what you are doing :)

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  3. i'm glad you popped your catholic cherry.

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  4. Catholic churches are gorgeous, no doubt.

    By the way, I'm really loving your idea and this blog. Keep at it!

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