So today was, without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences of this trip and possibly my life to this point. Yeah. That cool.
So I woke up this morning and went to eat breakfast with Elena, who had kindly agreed to go to mass with me before the parade. No one else had wanted to go, especially not since it meant getting up even earlier than we already had to. I really wanted to go, because I thought it would be a cool opportunity to actually go to a mass for the feast day of the city's patron saint, and I've been meaning to go to mass at the cathedral, and today seemed like it would be fun.
SO we went and Elena helped me out with some of the Catholic-isms that I wan't quite familiar with, having never been to a Catholic mass. We read a little pamphlet about San Valero who is connected to Saint Vincent, and chatted while waiting for the mass to start.
The mass was, admittedly, pretty long. About an hour and a half, and I was very confused and a little tired. They didn't have hymnals or prayerbooks and so I was trying to follow along with people who know the script in a foreign language. It was a little overwhelming, but I'm glad I went. It was kind of amazing to see high church in such a massive space. There really isn't anything like it in the US, at least not outside of big cities, and even then, it's just got a different feel to it. It was all so choreographed. The standing and the kneeling, and the archbishop putting his hat on and taking it off, and sitting down and uncovering the bread. There was so much ritual, in a way we don't have in Protestant churches.
The archbishop preached a sermon, which to be honest I didn't understand much of. The microphone was not great and he wasn't young and his speaking was not as clear as it could have been. But it was still cool to have been there. I mean, he talked about Vincent and I am pretty sure encouraged us to be like that "brave young martyr" probably.
And then the insanity started. So by the time it was time for communion the church was pretty packed. And since they had like 20 priests up there (you think I'm joking. I'm not. There will soon be videographic evidence of the number of priests at the front of that church. I didn't think the catholic church had that many priests in the entirety of Spain.) they sent a couple to the middle of the church where we were sitting to administer communion to the poor people who were seated towards the back of the church. And these priests that came to give communion stopped like, ON OUR ROW directly perpendicular (parallel? perpendicular? right next to?) us, but it was horribly disorganized. Like, in a normal church, at least the churches I've been in, people do the communion by calmly lining up and waiting for their row's turn to come so that they can get in line. Maybe that's just the protestants, because the Catholics all try to rush the priests en masse. And Elena and I decide, well we should try to get in, because people are going to be blocking the entrance to our row trying to get to the priests to receive communion. So I finally get up to the priest and, like a good religion student, cross my arms over my chest, because I'm not Catholic, and therefore can't take communion, but felt like it would be nice to participate, and hey, I will never say no to a blessing. Can't hurt. And I'm standing there, arms crossed over my chest and the priest... turns and gives communion to the people behind him. and to his right. and behind him again, and I'm just awkwardly standing there doing a really great confused mummy impersonation when FINALLY the priest turns back to me and holds out the communion wafer, which confused me slightly more. But I assumed he was just gonna cross me with it and be all like, "bless you my child." Instead, he shoves it in my mouth. So I've got half a mouthful of illicit communion wafer and about 100 people behind me wanting to get communion, and I just kind of get the rest of the wafer into my mouth as quickly as possible without moving my hands from my shoulders and get out of the way. So that's two Googes who have gotten Catholic communion in the past couple months. Dad, Nicole, you're up next.
Elena and I decided to make our way to the back of the church and watch the service finish from there so that we could get out of the church once it was over and meet up with the rest of the group that was there to watch the parade. But after communion, the service stopped. The archbishop (should I be capitalizing that? Eh, too late now!) left the chapel and another priest got up to speak. He informed us that the archbishop was going to change (I have a secret theory that the catholic clergy are really Victorian socialites based on how often they change and how elaborate their clothes are) before the parade started, and that the benediction would happen after the parade.
Apparently all of our research had neglected to mention that the people who attend the mass are part of the parade. And that's how I wound up in the Saint Vincent Day parade today. Elena and I walked out of the church right behind the archbishop, but then the band came and we wound up right behind them. It was absolutely amazing. The bells were ringing in churches all over the city and there was a full band with drums and the path that the parade took was strewn with rosemary and cyprus branches, in addition to the incense they were waving in front of the statue, so it smelled amazing. There were people on the balconies of their buildings throwing laurel leaves down on the statue of Saint Vincent that was leading the parade. It was a little rainy, so everyone had their umbrella's out, but you could see this beautiful silver and gold statue and the priests in all their red through this sea of umbrellas.
We walked past the others of our group coming out of the cathedral and waved at their happy, but hilariously surprised faces. A couple of them joined us in the parade and we followed the statue and the archbishop around a couple of squares in Valencia to important places in the life of Saint Vincent before coming back into the cathedral through a different door. We stood at the front of the church as the archbishop gave the benediction and the big celebration ended. There were other smaller celebrations throughout the day, but I'm so glad I got to be there for that one. We hung around the cathedral for a little bit, took a couple pictures in front of the statue and looked around the altar a little bit.
Probably my favorite part of that time after the service and the parade ended was walking up to the altar with Jess. The altar in the cathedral in Valencia is big and gothic and impressive. There are statues and gold and paintings and lots of dark wood. It's big and ornate, and Jess just looks at it, and looks at us, and says, "There's nothing like this in the US. I come from a Southern Baptist background, and... we just don't have this." It's something I've commented on before, but, while there is a lot about Protestantism that I respect intellectually, I feel like it lost a lot when it took the big, grand, mysticism out of church. The Old World religion here in Spain is so different, and it's absolutely beautiful. You don't have to be religious to recognize and respect and be moved by the faith that caused somebody to build a cathedral, or the devotion of the men and women who rubbed their medals on the feet of the statue of Saint Vincent. I'm not religious, but there's something to being over here, being in these spaces that are so sacred, if not because of some actual divine presence, but just because of the overwhelming and awe inspiring faith of the people who created them and inhabit them. When I'm in those places I understand religion in a way I never quite do back home.
There were other aspects of today, of course. We saw some people dressed in 13th century clothes in honor of another Saint Vincent that is important here, because he was named for the Saint Vincent that we celebrate today. I don't quite know, but we almost got caught up in a mass for him too. Instead, though, we went outside, took pictures of horses and ate ice cream. We also walked around and found various places in the city. We wound up in the old University of Valencia, which was pretty cool, and then found a church and some statues. Again, not quite sure, but it was all old and pretty. Then we came home and ate lunch, which was actually really excellent. I think that they try to go a little further for the holiday.
The rest of the day was pretty chill. Homework, laundry, a nap, talking to people, getting things sorted out, listening to the bells ring for all the other services and processions today. It was nice.
All in all, today was really amazing, and I'm even feeling better!
All my love.
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