[Magdalen] Papal Visit.

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

Silly me.  I assumed the Mass and Canonization Liturgy yesterday
would be held IN the National Shrine, giving the excellent musical  forces
of the Basilica a chance to show off their talents.  But no, I should  have
known that the Mass would be out of doors, allowing a very large  crowd
to get closer participation than watching television monitors.
 
Significantly, the Mass was in Spanish.  I'm sure one of the reasons  for
this is the Pope's obviously rudimentary English.  If memory  serves,
Benedict XVI in such a situation would revert to a mostly Latin  format,
and there was some chanting of the Ordinary in Latin.
 
Still, I wonder how this is all playing in much of middle America.
Spanish instead of English?  I am led to believe that the  Philadelphia
Mass over the weekend will be in English, but we shall see.
 
This commentary should not be construed as my somehow deploring
the use of Spanish, which is, of course, the language of perhaps
40% of USA Roman Catholics, but rather questioning just how such things 
play in Peoria......or for that matter Atlanta, Houston, and  Charleston.
 
 
David Strang.