Happy New Year!!

Resa77

How is everyone doing?  We survived 2012!  Woohoo! 

Yesterday I attended a Spanish Mass.  I don't do go often, but H likes Spanish Mass so if it's fits our schedule best, we go.  It's amazing how lost I get when Mass is in a foreign language!  I took 4 years of Spanish, but you'd think I'd never heard a Spanish word in my life by how little I understood lol.

My grandmother passed away, and now we're just finalizing funeral plans.  It's a very sad way to start the year, but it somehow hasn't really hit me.  I think I'm just so relieved that she won't have to suffer anymore, so the selfish "but I'll miss her!" part hasn't quite hit yet.

erin5286

Sorry to hear about your grandmother Resa.  Losing a loved one is always difficult. 

That spanish Mass sounds pretty interesting, I've never been to one.  Our chuch has a Latin Mass that I've been wanting to go to, but just haven't convinced H to go with me yet, and I'd rather not go alone.

I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff done between now and Friday - it was awesome having our office closed NYE/day, because the long weekend was great, but now I have a lot to do and not as much time to do it.  This weekend we're heading to H's brothers' house to root for our team in the FCS championship for the second year in a row!

bibliophile2010

I can usually follow Mass in Spanish well enough, but I am always a little bit thrown by not being as comfortable as I feel like I should be or focusing so hard on the language part that I miss the spiritual part. I have only attended a few Masses in Spanish, but there are numerous bilingual masses in this area, and I've attended several of those. I've taken lots of Spanish though, having minored in it in college. It does really make me ponder the value of Latin, though. Getting to a Latin Mass is high on H's and my list for the New Year, I think.

Today is H's first day back after his Christmas vacation. I miss having him around all the time, but I am glad to be settling back into a routine of sorts. That said, tonight we're going to dinner with some friends who are in town. It will be good to see them, but it's yet another night of a wonky schedule, which is hard on the baby and on us.

I'm oddly excited/hopeful for 2013. I don't usually get excited for the New Year (just a day on the calendar), but I know that my little family has lots of "stuff" to look forward to and to experience in the next year or so. It will be crazy in a lot of ways, but fun!

bibliophile2010

Oh, and, of course, I send lots of prayers and hugs to you and your family, Resa.

Resa77

I haven't been to a Latin Mass, but H refuses to go.  He used to go to Latin Mass in HS and says it makes him really uncomfortable.  I won't go alone, though, so I might not ever go to a Latin Mas.  I don't know that I'd be comfortable at Latin Mass, though, since I like wearing pants and apparently that's a no-no at Tridentine Mass (although I suspect that varies from place to place).

professorscience

I went to my first Latin Mass on Christmas Eve, and I definitely had mixed feelings.  On the one hand, it was definitely beautiful and I felt very strongly about what was happening.  On the other, I always want to know exactly what is going on, so trying to follow the Latin AND translate when most of what was going on was just mumbled was very difficult.  I looooved the reverence in the church and there were sooo many kids there that I was very impressed.

I've also been to a LOT of Spanish masses, and the general mood in the church seems way different from an English mass.  I've always noticed a lot more milling about and what seems like people not paying attention at Spanish masses, but then everyone is participating where they should be.  I did notice at a Spanish mass we attended recently that hardly anyone went up for communion.  I found that kind of odd, but in a good way.  Sometimes I feel like a lot of people go up for communion to keep up appearances (like, my MIL was upset that SIL did not receive one time and even said, "You could at LEAST get a blessing!" like it was bad that she just sat there).

I'm also happy 2013 is here.  2012 wasn't a bad year or anything, I'm just excited for all the changes that are coming our way!

Riss91

It took me over a year to feel comfortable at the Latin Mass - so I think that's pretty normal! Once you know what is going on and don't need to be referencing the missal every second, it is much easier. It was rough getting used to it - but my spiritual life is completely changed for the better because of that mass.

Some Latin masses people dress a bit more traditionally than others. At mass last night, I wore pants and didn't have my head covered. Everyone at our parish sort of does what they want - but there is definitely a commitment to keeping focused and reverent during mass. Even the children are pertty focused and calm.

Resa - If you're ever so inclined - we've been to Latin Mass at St. Mary's in DC (you can definitely attend in pants without a head covering) and St. John the Divine in McLean, Virginia (they have great homilies there).

Resa77

Biblio, I often feel the same at Spanish Mass.  I'm trying so hard to follow along in the multiple booklets (for some reason it's not all in one Missal, I don't know why!), and I swear they have extra prayers that we don't say at English Mass lol!  (Not literally...I just get confused/lost).  H doesn't have that problem because he knows Spanish fairly well, and has been to Spanish Mass many more times than I have.

Riss -- We actually have lots of Latin Masses offered around here.  I'm curious and want to attend, but I'm just to nervous to go alone!

lalaith50

Just to add- at all the Latin Masses I've been (Ann Arbor, Detroit, Cleveland,) no one would bat an eye if you weren't wearing a skirt or had a head covering. (Probably less than half the women there had both.) Don't let that deter you!

And Resa, don't be nervous to go alone! The Latin Mass is *perfect* for just sneaking in and doing what everyone else is doing. Just sit in the back and stand/kneel when everyone else does. You won't even feel pressured to say any of the responses (if that is the custom there.) No one will probably even *look* at you!

Resa77

I prob should just try it out.  I'm weird...I get really high anxiety about going to different churches.  Like, weirdly high anxiety. I just feel like I'm going to do something totally wrong and make a big spectacle.   I also have the worst anxiety on Ash Wednesday (I get so nervous I feel sick) and at Veneration of the Cross. Like, seriously...I don't know why these things freak me out so much, but they do.  I have cantored at Mass, and I can handle that, but ask me to walk in a single file line to touch a cross and I have a panic attack.  I seriously need therapy haha.

bibliophile2010

I never felt weird about attending new parishes until I had the baby. Now, while people love oogling her, it seems that each parish has its own unwritten rules about what to do with fussy babies, which influences where we choose to sit, etc. C totally lost it at Mass with my ILs Saturday night, and being in a new-to-me parish made it all the worse!

That said, Resa, I can totally see how not knowing the customs of a particular parish could be nerve-wracking! Even figuring out the patterns of movement for the communion line can be off-putting in a new parish!

mcda04

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_happy-new-year-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:b27aabe0-4590-4517-b549-501f3e7601c1Post:2bb055ce-3b18-4c0d-a1c2-e56425a71b0a">Happy New Year!!</a>:
[QUOTE]How is everyone doing?  We survived 2012!  Woohoo!  Yesterday I attended a Spanish Mass.  I don't do go often, but H likes Spanish Mass so if it's fits our schedule best, we go.  It's amazing how lost I get when Mass is in a foreign language!  I took 4 years of Spanish, but you'd think I'd never heard a Spanish word in my life by how little I understood lol. My grandmother passed away, and now we're just finalizing funeral plans.  It's a very sad way to start the year, but it somehow hasn't really hit me.  I think I'm just so relieved that she won't have to suffer anymore, so the selfish "but I'll miss her!" part hasn't quite hit yet.
Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

My condolesces to you for your loss.

I feel the same way when I go to English service. I feel embarassed actually because I don't know any of the prayers and I know I have to do them in whatever language I know them in but it just throws me off so we're sticking to Spanish.

mcda04

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_happy-new-year-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:b27aabe0-4590-4517-b549-501f3e7601c1Post:a5b8b809-f479-4e00-944d-4991ce87f6c5">Re: Happy New Year!!</a>:
[QUOTE]I went to my first Latin Mass on Christmas Eve, and I definitely had mixed feelings.  On the one hand, it was definitely beautiful and I felt very strongly about what was happening.  On the other, I always want to know exactly what is going on, so trying to follow the Latin AND translate when most of what was going on was just mumbled was very difficult.  I looooved the reverence in the church and there were sooo many kids there that I was very impressed. I've also been to a LOT of Spanish masses, and the general mood in the church seems way different from an English mass. <strong> I've always noticed a lot more milling about and what seems like people not paying attention at Spanish masses, but then everyone is participating where they should be</strong>.  <strong>I did notice at a Spanish mass we attended recently that hardly anyone went up for communion</strong>.  I found that kind of odd, but in a good way.  Sometimes I feel like a lot of people go up for communion to keep up appearances (like, my MIL was upset that SIL did not receive one time and even said, "You could at LEAST get a blessing!" like it was bad that she just sat there). I'm also happy 2013 is here.  2012 wasn't a bad year or anything, I'm just excited for all the changes that are coming our way!
Posted by professorscience[/QUOTE]

Yes this is true and one of the things I REALLY liked from English Mass. I actually stopped going to church a few years ago because I was so turned off by how distracted the community was. Then I realized I had to keep going for myself and try to ignore the texters/sleepers.

And yes again, most of us don't receive communion for whatever reason but I couldn't because my H and I were Co-Habitating and I had not receive my first communion or confirmation sacraments. I'm currently enrolled in RCIA and we ♥ it.

Resa77

I don't notice any more distracted people at Spanish Mass than English, but it might just be me not noticing. I notice that ppl dress up more, but ppl also are less modest at Spanish Mass. Some of the attire seems more club like, you know? One thing I thought was really neat the first time I went to Spanish Mass was that the men would automatically give up a seat if a woman stood in the back. No women stood in the back. I also noticed ushers "scolding" ppl for not kneeling during comnunion, which I'm not sure I like, but it was cool in a way. Fewer ppl receiving, for sure, but I think that's better than all the ppl receiving who shouldn't be at English Mass.

professorscience

It might be a regional thing, too, Resa.  English masses have little behavioral differences depending on where you are.