Glorious!

Last weekend, we threw a surprise birthday party for Francine.

She’s very clever, so we had to take some care in making sure she woudn’t find out. We figured the only way we could throw a surprise birthday party for Francine’s big 50 was to hold it seven weeks early and in another state.

To get her to the appointed place, Francine’s best friend (and my co-conspirator) Mel proposed a road trip. So for a week, the ladies drove all over: camping in a tipi in Montana, confronting road-blocking bison at Yellowstone, hanging out with horses at a ranch in Idaho.

In the end, Mel got her to the hotel in Portland on the right day at the correct time (more or less), and the surprise was complete. There were screams, wavy hands, and tears as the tiara and birthday sash were bestowed.

Surrounded by family and friends, some of whom had come quite a distance, Francine was absolutely delighted. It was a glorious celebration, and it lasted deep into the night.

Needless to say, we were not particularly able to get to Mass on Sunday morning, even though I’d researched a number of places and had a string of possible times. Fortunately, we had a Plan B.

We went out for breakfast, and we did get to spend some time with Francine’s various out-of-state friends. And of course we made our pilgrimage to Powell’s Book Store.

We arrived back in Tacoma on Sunday afternoon.

Now, about Plan B: recently, the Church of the North American Martyrs in Seattle had established a mission in Tacoma at SS. Peter and Paul parish. The Mass was at 7:00 PM.

So that’s where we went.

It was only the second Extraordinary Form Mass that I’ve attended. It was a low Mass (Missa lecta), which means (basically) that it was stripped of most of the bells and whistles you’d get in sung Mass (Missa Cantata) or in a high Mass (Missa Solemnis).

Having said that, there was a lovely choir who sang the various parts of the Mass and two nervous (but obviously well-trained) servers to assist.

And, of course, the Mass was entirely in Latin. Well, that’s not quite true. The Kyrie is in Greek, and the celebrant re-read the readings in English and preached in English.

The Mass was celebrated by our one-time interim pastor, Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J. It was interesting to see that he trundled through the Latin in exactly the same way he does in English. His sermon, delivered largely from memory, was terrific as usual.

At first, I tried to follow the Latin prayers in my old Saint Joseph’s Missal. After a bit, I realized that I was so unused to this Liturgy that I was becoming frantic in trying to keep up or, in some cases, figure out where we were. I was forgetting to actually pray the Mass.

So I put the Missal down.

And it was glorious.