Morning Mass

Bella and I made it to mass this morning at the Carmelite monastery that is just down the street from our new apartment. What a wonderful way to start the day. I love seeing all the Carmelite nuns with the joyful faces as they receive communion. I love hearing their sweet voices as they sing.

I was sad to see that last fall’s explosion had knocked out some of the stained glass in their chapel. At least it spared the windows with Sts Teresa and Therese. The glass had been replaced with plain glass and it looked rather odd. It looked like repair work is being done, though.

Bella was very good.  Rather she was very good for a thirteen month old. She squirmed and wiggled and writhed; she chatted and moaned and said mama and yummy and shoes at inappropriate times. But she didn’t scream or cry and didn’t have to be taken out. And one lady stopped and complimented me on her behavior after mass, so I was really the only one bothered. All I saw directed towards her were a bunch of smiles and one lady (the one who we talked to after mass) played a bit of peek-a-boo.

Only one bad incident: she’d grabbed a rosary from a bag of them that Dom had collected. The bag had been on the table, but I guess she pulled it down. Anyway, I let her carry it because I’m all in favor of promoting good habits. But then in the middle of mass she got a bit upset with me and swung the rosary furiously at the pew in front of us and it broke. After mass I gathered it up and discovered that it was intact except that the corpus had come off of the crucifix. But I think it can be reglued. It looks like it was glued on in the first place.

I hope we get back to the monastery frequently. 8 am mass that’s only a minute or so away is going to be a real treat so long as Bella continues to behave.