Sunday Mass

So this past Sunday Anne and I attended the normal Sunday mass here at the parish. I look forward to attending mass here (despite the huge language barrier) because the music is so lively and it is amazing seeing so many people who are excited to be at church- whereas in the U.S. I feel that a lot more people attended becasue they felt obligated to get their weekly one hour mass in. Not all people, but some.

The procession of the Bible brought up on an airplane

However, this Sunday mass was a bit different. Sunday mass here usually lasts about two hours, but this past Sunday was the feast day (St. Jude)  for the church. Okay, I thought it will be a little bit longer then 2 hours, but no more then three max. It was to start at 10am, and I thought for sure we would be home for lunch at 1pm. Well five hours later we were still there and my stomach was growling. The music was great, the dancing was beautiful, and it was the first time I had seen the Bible being brought down the aisle in such a large procession. Try and imagine a man carrying a homemade large piece of foil in the shape of an airplane on which the Bible sat. The man is surrounded by children dancing, packed pews, lots of shrilling and singing, and people throwing confetti at the plane as it's wings moved around in a circle. Now that is how it is done. Mass had ended after about three hours, but no one had left, because there were still announcements to be said, speeches, and a fundraising campaign going on in the church. After four hours of praying, listening to music, reading my English missal (several days worth,) and asking many questions to one of the Sister's I was getting restless. Thankfully, the Sister's encouraged Anne and I to leave considering we did not know a word of Rutorro the people were speaking. So after five hours we went home and fed our grumbling stomachs only to be called back to the parish an  hour later for a celebratory lunch. After six hours the mass had ended. My three hour time prediction was just three hours too short.