Italian Mass

This past Sunday I got to go to a real Catholic Italian mass. It was such an amazing experience. I feel a bit guilty since I have been living in Italy for the past couple months and have only gone to mass, oh, a few times. Plus it's Lent so that means double the guilt. Steph Hornsby and I went to the market Sunday morning in Crespano del Grappa. It is just a short twenty-minute walk. We attended mass at 11:30. The church doesn't look like much on the outside but on the inside it is more beautiful than any church I have been in at home. The mass seemed pretty much the same as one at home except for that it was entirely in Italian, obviously, and the way they received the Eucharist was very strange. Usually when it's time to take the Eucharist you form two straight lines and everyone takes it. This was a bit different. Italians don't exactly know what a straight line is. Everywhere you go they form blobs. It's a trademark really. Church is no different. They formed a "blob" with no order to receive the host. The weirdest part for me was that not everyone took it. In fact, most people didn't. So much so that Steph and I felt a tad confused on whether it was appropriate for us to go up. In the end we joined the Italian line. After mass was ended we both looked at each other in amazement really. It was an experience I will never forget and am so blessed to be afforded the opportunity to do. Can't wait for Palm Sunday.