Goin' to the Chapel....

But, certainly not to get married.

For the first time in a few months, I went to church. It has been a long time looking for a mass I can go to, with my weird schedual. When I first got here, I called about five different Catholic churches, hoping to find one that had mass at a time I could go to it. Most of the Churches work on the idea that people do not work Sundays, or that, if they do, it is after 12pm. Most of the services on Sunday are at 9 am, or 10 am, and there is a mass in English at the St. Mary's Cathedral at 2pm. Because I am working from 7am to 3pm, none of these options are available to me. Last week, I found out that the only service I could attend, at 6.30 pm on a Saturday; it is, however, in Japanese.

But, a mass is a mass, and if Charles IV was ready to go to one for Paris, then I can go to one in nihongo. It is always strange to attend a religious service that is not in your native toungue, however. I have been to French masses, and I have been to ones in Spanish. Each language puts a distinct spin on how their prayers, and thus makes it meaningful to that culture, and a real window into the pysche (and I use this word in both senses)of the people it serves. This is true of the Japanese mass as well.

The ritual of the Latin Rite does not change from country to country, only the the translation of the words. You can follow along, if you are familiar with the idea, of what is happening, and, strangely enough, the rythm of every mass, no matter what language spoken, is still the same: the Gregorian chant--- even in Japan. But there are some differences: they do not shake hands at the sign of peace,for example; however, there is a reverential bow. And, at Communion, few people recieved, but all went up for blessing. Since I have not had Communion in a while, I took it. It is my custom, like many American Catholics, to do so. Here, I think I was the only one, beside the priest, who did. Even the woman (proabably a nun, she had the look) who did the most to assist Father (what do you call a priest in Japanese?) at the mass probably did not take Communion. But she was nice enough to inform me at the end of the service, in fractured English, that there was a mass in English. At some point, my Japanese will be good enough that I can tell her that it is impossible for me to go to that mass. However, by the time I reach that stage, I may not have a problem with my schedual conflicting with the English mass time, or I may not even be in Osaka to tell her.

Christmas Eve is another matter. I can go at 10pm--- not quite Midnnight Mass, but close enough not to bicker--- and in English to boot. Then, it will be back to Japanese for a while. I intend to take my prayer book with me, as it has the Order of the Mass in it, and I can follow along, chanting in English, or Latin or Japanese or Assyrian or whatever the Holy Spirit strikes me.