This trip ended so quickly! Today the boys and I headed back to Indiana but before we left, we went to mass at St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church. We often have adventures when we try to find a church on vacation and today was no exception. What made this mass different was the fact that the church is We arrived to the church early and we were warmly greeted. The usher gave us the missal and we got seated. What made this church different was that it was part of the 22 Eastern Rite Churches in Union with the Holy Father. The mass was celebrated according to their founder, St. Maron, and was trilingual in English, Spanish and Aramaic.
Some of the differences we noticed were the use of Aramaic in the liturgy. the language that Jesus Christ and his disciples spoke among themselves.
Instead of our typical handshake or kiss at the sign of peace, the priest gave it to the altar servers who walked down to the congregation. They shared it with the people at the end of the pews who, in turn, shared it down the rows. Mason was a big fan of this method.
Finally, communion was distributed by Intinction, meaning that the priest dipped host into the wine and placed it directly on our tongue.
So now we can say we have experienced an Eastern Rite Mass.
After church, Bill drove us to the airport and while we settling in at the gate, we started to get updates about the happenings of the Pediatric Bowl. This is one of the boys’ favorite AAP sessions and they were disappointed to miss it. University of Miami Holtz Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and University of Florida went head to head.
Bill said the winners, University of Miami, were really smart and they were awarded the Meconium Cup.
Our return was uneventful, wrapping up a full and fun weekend.
The only time I was ever at an Eastern Rite church also was in Orlando, but we went to this one:
http://orlandobyzantine.com/about
Very different experience. This church was pretty small.