I should note to myself: sleep is important. The lack of sleep from yesterday still affected me today. I think an early bedtime will be beneficial for me.
Explaining the Oopses from yesterday:
#1. Yesterday, I played the 7:45 am Mass at Immaculate Conception. It was the first Mass I attended since the full implementation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition. (I was travelling last Sunday and was unable to attend Mass.) Admittedly, I wasn't sure what to expect. We've been slowly introducing bits and pieces over the past several months. We began with the service music: Gloria, Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation since Easter, 2011, and the Nicene Creed since Pentecost, 2011. I'll be honest—I am so very glad we're doing the Chant Mass. It took a while for the people to learn it, but learn it they did, and they sung it very well. The Kyrie was a call-and-response type of thing, and the 7:45 am congregation have always done very well with those types of settings. And of course, people have more or less memorised the Creed by now, so that was no problem. Before Mass, everyone was given a large card with the new responses, music, etc., that was produced by the Diocese of Raleigh. Also, the responses were pasted into the front and back covers of all the hymnals as well. However, the way the Mass began, after the Sign of the Cross, was:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with your spirit.
Uh... oops? And the other places where the response would be, "And with your spirit," people reverted to what they knew: "And also with you."
The cantor did speak the responses into the microphone, as did the priest, so hopefully, with those cues, the people will eventually get it.
As for me, I'm glad it's finally implemented. It was nice to pray the words instead of recite them by rote. It gives the opportunity to really pay attention to what the words are saying and to reflect and meditate on them.
#2. The Advent Wreath incident. Members of my choir noticed how low the Advent Wreath was hanging in the chancel. There was talk of raising it, and a couple of my choir members said, how difficult can that be, and took it upon themselves to give it a go.
I'll admit that I wasn't paying close attention; I was scurrying around the choir area, collecting music and such. The next thing I know, I see the wreath on the ground, a choir member holding the chain that had held it up, and another couple of choir members looking rather shocked at the wreath. They ended up going across the street to Whole Foods to borrow a ladder so they could put the wreath back to rights.
At the end of it all, the wreath wasn't raised up too significantly much, but it was just slightly higher than it was before. By the way, none of the candles on the wreath were lit yet, so a burning wreath was never a possibility. Thank goodness for little mercies? :P
I looked at the time and decided we wouldn't have enough time to rehearse the choir anthem (something out of the New Oxford Easy Anthem Book) and so after consulting with the clergy, I decided to replace it with 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' and have the congregation join in singing it.
And with that, I'm going to bed. I'm hoping to recover from this self-imposed 'jet lag' soon since I still have so many things on my to-do list that are not getting done due to a lack of energy on my part.
Until tomorrow...
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