International Mass
Let us try to be positive. Over 10,000 people from England, Italy, Austria, Korea and France - to name only some of the larger groups - all gathered for Mass, makes for an experience of the Catholicity of the Church. The actual organisation of the ceremony, including the distribution of Holy Communion, is reverent and very competent. My people always come back very impressed and moved by the occasion. It was a bonus for them that Archbishop Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Birmingham) was the principal celebrant There were some odd elements, looking rather like the Cardinal Mahoney Masses featured across the US Catholic blogo-hemisphere. To link with the theme of "Keep your lamps lit", representatives from the larger groups carried candles for the penitential rite. Bizzarely, these were housed in china ducks. There was a bit of coloured cloth-waving at the Gloria, and the Gospel was read 4 times by Deacons dressed in dalmatics with different coloured orphreys. This gets to the