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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

I am not RC but when travelling in France I would try to find churches
which sparked my interest. While I was in Paris several
times I felt more repelled by ND de Paris than draw to see it and it was
only to go to a Vespers service that I went inside. It was
a shared service with RC clergy and clergy from an Eastern Orthodox order.
Had I to base my choice of a church to follow
the Orthodox would have won hands down. Their vestments, their demeanor and
their carriage spoke of the value they gave to
their work and in all things they seemed joyful. I had been to a Greek
Orthodox service at St Sophia in Los Angeles so I was
prepared for that approach. I was not prepared for what I was shown in
Notre Dame.
The clergy all wore matching chasubles. And unfortunately, many of them
seemed to be in the same rumpled/just taken from the
dryer look of wash-and-dry polyester clothing. There was no look of joy or
purpose in their faces unless the purpose was to just
get through the ordeal so they could get back to treating whatever ailment
they were all suffering from.
The contrast continued in the service with the singing from the Orthodox
clergy not just professional and beautiful but the devotion palpable. The
Catholic clergy did not seem to be interested in making a 'joyful noise
unto the Lord', but a noise which happened
to be one they all knew.

One year I was flying into Paris the day before Easter and rather than stay
in Paris I chose to drive to Chartres where I had visited
the cathedral on another trip. Compared to other gothic cathedrals in
France I had found Chartres a living place of worship so
I thought it would be a good place to experience the Feast of the
Resurrection. From the Archbishop to the ushers, the worshippers were all
made welcome, not as each separate but each as part of the greater family.
There was a section made
available for those in wheelchairs and with other mobility issues. Their
needs were seen to, assistance if needed, was given.
Seeing that, I had my welcome, as personal as I could want.
The vestments were not overly ornate but well-suited for the service and
they neither called attention to the clergy by being too much or too
little.
I have observed Archbishops of the RC church in Los Angeles and found them
gravely wanting. They spoke of humility and showed none. They spoke of
charity and ignored their own works which contained little. How could I
feel at all welcome in such
a place? I had gone to a Saturday afternoon mass at the old Cathedral one
time and when it was over I had the distinct impression that the celebrant
(who wore trainers under his cassock and moved around the altar as if he
was being timed for efficiency) had forgotten who the service was in honor
of and didn't take time to prepare before hand to welcome Him.
I watched as people took communion...offered on a tray from which each
person took their own. There was one prayer before they were offered (no
blessing during the communions) and a quick one after, then a dash back to
the altar to clean up and
I've seen more careful bartenders cleaning and drying ordinary glasses than
that priest.
I had been to a service of Gregorian chant there before (wonderful) in
honor of Peace Day so I confess I had expected more.
The most generous of personal welcomes to that service could not have
overcome the feeling I had of that priest, that service.
Perhaps the congregation (more than half were from a local teaching
convent) was used to that; I wasn't.

Back to Chartres. The archbishop was so full of love and devotion that I
felt we were all included in all he said and did.  The choirs (adult and
child) were small but their singing and manner was all one could hope for.
There were paper flyers with the necessary information and while I am not
expert in liturgical French, since they use the modern 'past' verb form it
was easy to follow (having forgotten all of the passé simple I had learned
in school). It discussed that this was the beginning of the Year of the
Priest.

When I was in France I usually rented a gite in the south (near the
Pyrenees, not the Cote d'Azur) and by chance I stayed in a town where there
was a small 11-12th century chapel where a Passionist priest had made it
his hermitage. There was a morning mass four days of the week, an afternoon
Sunday mass and another service on Monday. I was one of 6 attending and
with a simple cassock over his Passionist gown, I knew this would be a true
mass.  I left when the mass was over but came back several times. When it
appeared there would be no one to read the lesson, he came and asked me. I
explained I was not RC (which was why I did not come to receive communion).
We spoke several other times (when I stayed in another town, 100 km from
that chapel I still drove there for one mass) and he asked me why I came
that distance when there were churches much closer to where I stayed. I
said I had visited them but that I found more in that chapel (ND du Cros)
than in others.

From the Archbishop in one of the grander cathedrals in the world to a very
simple priest in a small local chapel in the Year of the Priest I had known
two and they had more in common than their vows to the Church. Each gave a
welcome to worship which was drawn from their own profound commitment to a
Christian life.

As a visitor to many churches as an outsider I see how much or how little
the clergy influence the actions of the congregations.
I think people can be too attached to the idea of 'their church' and so
want to control what is done within it. And the clergy let them
do it. If the welcome does not come from the sanctuary, from the altar
first then how can it spread through the congregation?

I am not a touchy-feely person so I would not initiate the embrace of
peace. If I feel everyone around me wants to embrace, I hold up both my
hands before me , not to repel but instead say 'Peace be with you as well',
or cross my hands over my breast and bow my head, saying the same thing.
Once, when questioned about this, I replied 'this practice was given to me'
and said no more.  Once, when asked why I didn't join in the singing I
replied that I followed the French form of oraison (which they didn't know
anything of) and that since I was a visitor, I followed the practices with
which I was the most comfortable and I was glad to see them finding
sustenance in their own.

In the US, and more specifically in California I have seen the divisions
between the corporate churches (those whose clergy are part of a structure
based not on a specific order but upon a specific location. Power seems to
be the focus and not holiness.
I'm sure it's true in France to some extent but I, fortunately, haven't
seen that often.

For those who have not come across the website, I'd recommend looking at
this (from the UK) where they have Mystery Worshippers who visited churches
and report on what they found...and didn't find. It is instructive to those
who would learn, sad for those who would hope to find more and funny for
those who think it's ok to have a sense of humor about religion.
http://www.shipoffools.com/mystery/

I am so enjoying all that I've read in the week or so since joining. The
links for the works of art are amazing  (for me, an act of worship in
itself) and treasure the remarks about the saint who had among his listed
miracles, that he could silence the frogs.
The first house I rented in France was in the Aude department and the
owners had lots of old books about the area. There was a pamphlet about
small churches in the area and their saints. I looked through it briefly
(many of the churches had fallen into disrepair, the book was from the
1800s) and noted that one of the miracles most attributes to the various
local saints was their ability to cure hemorrhoids!  I now wish I has taken
it to have copies made, it was a little treasure.

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