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.

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.