Monday, June 30, 2008

Community Day

Today is our community Feast of St. Paul. We have a special Mass and Liturgy of the Hours and everything, just for the Pauline Family. So I joined the sisters yesterday and today to celebrate the opening of the Pauline Year and our special feast day. (It was quite a weekend, all in all.) Yesterday's Mass at St. Louis Cathedral was celebrated by the archbishop, with an opera singer as cantor (!). After Mass, my Mom treated the community to a jazz brunch at a French Quarter restaurant. Because it is Sr. Charlotte's Silver Jubilee, she got a free dessert; we all had a fabulous meal. Afterwards, Sr. Julia and I visited the French Market. I had a wonderful time looking at the stalls of surprisingly inexpensive souvenirs and craft items; we both really enjoyed the brass band. Then Sr. Julia took me to one of her favorite places in the Quarter: a shop with hand-crafted Mardi Gras masks--the elaborate kind you would see in movies. The designer told us he had great hopes that a movie that was being filmed here recently would use one or two of his creations, but alas... that will have to wait for another movie. Sr. Julia brought a camera, so as soon as she sends me the pictures (and the video clips of the brass band!), I'll post them for your enjoyment.
The daily thunderstorm came early today (usually it's in the mid-afternoon). When I came home from Mass and breakfast with the sisters, I barely had time to plant one of Mom's newly-acquired rosemary bushes before the lightning started flashing. Maybe I'll dig into one of the books I borrowed from Sr. Julia!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your Sunday in the FQ made me homesick...and I wish I had known you were going...you all could have visited my brother Louis' photo gallery (called PHOTOWORKS) just a block from the Cathedral on Chartres. You and Sister Julia would have loved his images of New Orleans and he loves to "receive" guests.
People are still praising your presentation of St. Paul here and I used some of your material in my homily on Sunday for the big feast...I ended up celebrating four masses because one of the other priests was sick. The most exciting was with our Sudanese community...such joyful people who really know how to CELEBRATE with drums and music and grateful smiles inspite of the traumas they suffered in their homeland...I almost cried with joy at being able to be with them in Eucharist.
Give my regards to your Mom!
Father Fred, CMF