Back again

After a rather busy year I am hoping to be more faithful in posting on the blog.  I found the last year in the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Winona to be focused on planning for diocesan liturgies.  And as much as I enjoy it I was left with little time for other enjoyable endeavors.  Hence the silence on the blog.

Looking forward to the new year and some additional help from Fr. Patrick Arens of our diocese I am hoping to find a better balance in the tasks of the Office. I am also hoping to have some of our Liturgical Commission members do an occasional post.  I would hope for at least a weekly posting if not more often.

One of the great adventures of my summer was to study Spanish at the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, Texas.  It is an intensive, pastorally focused program that I found very effective.  While in San Antonio I had the opportunity to celebrate Sunday Mass at some of the local churches.  One weekend I travelled to Houston to visit friends and worshiped at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in The Woodlands, Texas.  It is a large, newly built church.  The music ministry, as is so often the case during the summer, consisted of a cantor and keyboard player.  People sang well and the whole community seemed quite welcoming.

The next Sunday several of us travelled to Mision Concepcion which is one of four missions that formed the early stages of what became San Antonio.  The others are Mision San Jose, Mision San Juan and the Alamo (!) which was originally a mission.  Mision Concepion was filled to capacity with a diverse crowd.  Some were local parishioners and sopme were tourists.  The music was by an ensemble that led us in bi-lingual song although the Mass was in English.  The decor is very close to the original from the 1700's when the mission was founded.  Very simple and quite beautiful. 


The next Sunday we went to San Fernando Cathedral for Mass.  This is one of the oldest cathedrals in use in the country.  The original church was begun by Portuguese immigrants and forms the front section of the church.  Later another church was built that was attached to the old church.  This later church is the primary seating area of the cathedral.  In the old section are three beautiful retablos which are the Mexican version of the high altar.  All three were quite stunning but the central one which houses the tabernacle is especially beautiful and is gilded with gold leaf.  Unfortunately it is not wanting to upload but I will see what I can do in a later post.