Having had coffee and said the Little Hours at Starbucks (!), corner of Castlereagh and Market, in the Sydney CBD, with my recent acquaintance Andrew, a Californian pilgrim and gatecrasher-of-Juventutem (who has kindly volunteered his freelance photographic services for Psallite Sapienter), we have wiled away the hours of Cardinal Pell's Mass by instead taking a quick ferry cruise from Balmain to Circular Quay, up past the Cathedral (not open till 7pm, alas) and into this cafe.
Andrew and I decided that, after having heard solemn high Mass at St Augustine's Balmain, and then Fr Rowe's Low Mass also, we had had sufficient liturgy for one day.
Herewith some images of High and Low Mass, plus the Sydney Harbour Bridge for good measure:
(Upon arriving at Sydney airport last night, I was struck by the hordes of pilgrims - it finally felt 'real'. I got dropped off by Fr's brother at Drummoyne at 11.30pm, to find the Juventutem pilgrims half-arrived - their baggage lost till this afternoon - and was very lucky to get driven to my homestay, at the home of a nice Italian grandmother, by midnight! Andrew, Daniel - from Queensland - and I shared accommodation there.
(We had a good sleep-in, then bussed to Balmain, and I had time for Lauds - having said Matins by anticipation on the plane - before High Mass. The ICKSP celebrant preached on the collect of St Henry, Emperor and Confessor; the vestments were gothic, the servers in apparelled albs, the chant extremely good - Mass Stelliferi Conditor orbis.
(After the second, Low, Mass, Andrew and I decided to sightsee the rest of the day rather than attend a theology of the body talk...)
Hi Joshua,
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a lovely time at Sydney WYD!
Thanks so much for keeping us informed. I thought you wouldn't be doing any updates while you are at WYD, so its great you are, we feel a part of it too now! We just watched the Mass said by Cardinal Pell (3hrs coverage) on EWTN, and it was also on SBS but delayed by 2hrs. I can see why you didn't want to go. We taped it on a DVD, you can have a look when you get back if you want - there was singing, dancing, clapping, yelling, screaming and all sorts of ridiculous carry-on. More of a concert than a Mass. Such a shame, really.
Best wishes from all the family to all the Latin Mass pilgrims from Perth at Sydney.