La nouvelle âme passionnée: Mass at Saint-Esprit

L'Orgue

L'Eglise Saint Esprit has been my favorite Mass experience in France thus far! It is currently referred to as the Student Cathedral of Aix. The Roman architecture is breathtaking, though it's clear that the altar piece is rather new. I'm sure there's a story to uncover there! I noticed a large student presence in the congregation, and I was thrilled to hear student-led musical offerings: drums, guitar, violin. The Mass was absolutely beautiful with a great balance between traditional elements (chant, incense) and modern flares (vocational blessings and the hodgepodge of instruments rather than a solitary organ). The serment was a brief (note: "brief" here is relative- a "brief" French sermon is the equivalent of a 15-minute American equivalent) meditation on the various ways that Christ touches us, physically and figuratively. For the first time, I was able to dismiss some of my anxious excitement and bewilderment to actually sing and pray earnestly. Sounds strange, but it's true. It's very easy for a service in a foreign country to feel more like tourism than worship- faites attention! At the end of Mass, the priest proclaimed joyfully: "Allez dans la paix du Christ!" (Go forth in Christ's peace) and then, a very Lutheran event occurred: post-worship refreshments in the back of the nave! On second thought, maybe this was just more French than Lutheran. Hmm....Mmm...