We took the train Friday morning from Vilseck and got in to Munich in early afternoon, which gave us enough time to get something to eat and do a little shopping. My mom unfortunately in no longer in the best physical condition, so by the time that was all said and done, she was kaput for the day. I, however, had gotten the shopping bug after seeing all the good prices on clothes and proceeded to spend my entire amount of budgeted clothes money. It was well worth it though. I got two pairs of boots, one pair of jeans, 3 sweaters, a coat, two necklaces, and a pair of earrings for a dollar equivalent of just under $200. I love blending in, and I am learning that I also love to shop. You know what they say, when you look good, you feel good, and I am doing both lately.
Along those same lines, and on a funny note, I am apparently doing something right when it comes to style. I wore one of my new outfits today and was asked to have coffee by a Parisan, told that his heart felt connected with mine when I passed by an African, and had a Middle Easterner try to invite himself up to my hotel room. Quite the persistence by all of them...
Anyway, Saturday I did a little bit of wandering on my own in the morning, and then mom and I took a bus tour around the city. We saw a bunch of different sites but unfortunately most of them were from the seat of a double decker bus. I definitely plan on coming back here some time and doing some more exploring. We passed by the Olympic City, the palace, the BMW museum, and several other historical buildings. We did get out and see the Rathaus and the Glockenspiel, but we were too late in the day to hear it chime. Also, because it was Christmas Eve, which is a "half holiday" as they call it, we weren't able to eat at the Hofbrauhaus. But, we did find out that they serve a big Christmas meal to the poor and homeless every year on Christmas Eve, which is pretty awesome and I would have loved to have seen it. Here are a couple of pictures. The first is of the Church of Our Lady, which has the tallest points in the city and I believe is also the oldest building. The next is in front of the Rathaus, and the last is just a beautiful nativity set that was assembled in amongst the Christkindlesmarkt there.
But, I have to say that the best part about the trip thus far was midnight mass. I will not be able to fully describe it, but I am going to attempt to the best of my ability. My Catholic-geeky friends will be giddy.
It was, far and away, the most beautiful Mass that I have ever been to, even topping the private Mass that we had in St. Peter's in Rome when I went for World Youth Day in high school. Mass technically started at 22.00 (10 pm), but I had scoped it out earlier and knew that there was to be music beforehand starting at 21.20 (9:20 pm), which, as every good Catholic knows, meant that I needed to get there no later than 20.45 (8:45 pm). I was glad that I did so, because by the time that the music started, it was standing room only.
The preface music was the choir and organ, which was also an interactive event. Basically, the organist would play while the choir sang, then someone would do a reading, and then they would play a song that most people knew and would sing along to. It helped that they had little booklets that were set out in the pews beforehand, so you could follow along. I didn't know the tunes or the songs, but I was able to read what they were singing and thereby work on my pronunciation techniques. :)
After that, Mass started. The procession started in the front of the church, went up the side aisle, and then back down the middle. Somewhere around 15-20 altar servers (men and children - male and female) were in the procession, along with 5 priests. But, the processional hymn had not only the organ and beautiful choir, but they added an entire orchestra for the service! I was flabbergasted! Talk about the spirit being alive! So, then the mass proceeded as normal and progressively reminded me just how universal Catholicism is. Those who go to mass regularly know that we recently changed the wording a little bit to make the English version fit the rest of the world. This was the first time that I had heard it in practical application. I don't know too much German yet, but I was able to understand that the response that they said a few times was "And with your spirit"...Sound familiar? I thought that was pretty cool. Better yet, though, was getting to sing along on a couple of the songs. Once again, the universality of the Church showed itself when I got to sing "O Come Let Us Adore Him" and"Silent Night" in Mass. I know that those aren't purely Catholic songs, but it still shows that around the world, those songs have pertinent meaning this time of year. HOWEVER, the kicker was when the Alleluia that we sang was the one that I grew up singing at St. Angela's! I couldn't help but smile. It was pretty awesome.
As far as the homily, I'm not totally sure what was said, and it was really long, but I'm pretty sure that Father did some sort of dissection of the song "Silent Night" because he kept repeated lines from in. I'm sure that it was beautiful, and I tried to listen best I could, but my mind did go into daydream mode once or twice. Eventually I'll be able to go and actually know what the priest is saying...
And the recessional was also beautiful. It was "Silent Night" (or "Stille Nacht" in German), and they turned off all the lights in the church with the exception of a spot light on Michael, the Archangel on the altar background and the choir loft. Once that was finished, then the priest and his posse went up the altar to the back. In total, I was in the church for round about 3 hours. Like I said, I can't fully describe it, but I am so glad that I ventured off on my own and went. I just wish that mom had been able to join me because she would have loved it, but unfortunately she just wasn't up to the walk. Being at this Mass kindof hit home just how blessed I am to be out here.
The first picture I took before Mass started and the second was after Mass was finished. There was a significant amount of incense filling up the church...
Tomorrow we leave Munich, but not before going to Dachau concentration camp. I can't say I'm excited, because that's obviously not the right word, but I am anticipatory of the trip. I have been fascinated by the Holocaust since I was a child, and I have always wanted to visit a concentration camp. I would like to see Auschwitz some day, but because of the distance and logistics, this is much closer and practical. I plan to hopefully write another blog tomorrow after I visit there to tell everyone how it went.
That's all for now. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday and enjoying whatever company they are with. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
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