It’s a First Saturday morning
and I’m at a solemn Latin Mass.
Yet again
what strikes me about the Mass
is the reverence and humility
of the priests and servers
on the sanctuary.

The priests and servers genuflect
every … single … time
that they pass
in front of the altar.
They all kneel in reverence
while the bread and wine
are transformed
into the body and blood
of Our Lord.

The book containing
the Word of God
is carried slowly, carefully
and reverently.
A priest then meekly holds the book
as it rests
on his bowed head
while the Gospel is proclaimed
in song.

On top of all of that
everything and everyone
who is taking part
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass
is blessed
and incensed.

As I stand in line for Communion
I ponder
the respect and reverence,
the meekness and humility,
the blessing and the incense.

I have a sense of being in the presence
of something sacred,
something extraordinary,
something truly mind-blowing.

A sense of being in the presence
of God Almighty.

A sense that
at this Latin Mass
the priests are,
above all else,
simply trying to give God
His place.

© Claire Murray