Click photos to enlarge*
"WASHING OF THE FEET"
We went to church tonight at 6:30 P.M. for the Holy Thursday Mass at Notre Dame des Victoires in Bush Street. It was a beautiful mass (high mass with
cantata, motet and Gregorian chant sang during the mass by the choir and parishioners); quite solemn, too. Father Bruce's sermon was very touching and enlightened the many regarding the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ during the last three days of the Holy Week. Holy Thursday is known as well as the time when Christ did the "washing of the feet" of his apostles. In the Catholic Church, this is done by the priests (as a re-enactment) and done after the homily- to give reverence to what had transpired during the time of Christ (to make the people remember how Christ's life was during His time).At Notre Dame, four women paced toward the front of the altar where four chairs were arranged neatly. They sat in front of us, took off their shoes while the church minister prepared the basin, pitcher of water and white towels to wipe off the water from their feet. The priests washed the feet of the women and then a number of men came forward, too. I was quite surprised with this practice in America since in most places I have been (while traveling around the globe), I have only seen *men* as participants in the "washing of the feet" during Holy Thursday (because the men represent the 12 apostles of Christ). Tonight was a revelation. Last year, we were not able to go to church during the Holy Week as we were in Napa Valley.
FYI: In the Philippines, the apostles are dressed like they were in the Biblical times so I missed seeing this in California. This is the cultural interpretation of how Christ's teaching varies from culture to culture.
Husband was the last one to have his feet washed at mass tonight. I was happy he did it. When he came back to his seat, he gave me a hug- a gesture of atonement he felt during the mass. It was very touching. And as soon as the mass ended, we were gestured by Father Bruce to follow him during the procession inside the church as he blessed each and everyone of us with incense. As the procession was going on, the doors were opened at random by the priests then we went out by the entrance of the church then got in immediately (until we were back by the altar) and knelt down. The mass ended with us parishioners feeling good about our roles as Catholics during this Holy Week. It ended almost at 8 P.M. We are happy we came to hear the mass tonight (we want to be a part of this parish when we relocate next month here in SFO).
NOTE: The Catholic incense always brings back childhood memories to me as this represents memories of "mass for the dead" that I witnessed as a child growing up in Cavite. I always thought this ritual was kind of scary but things changed, of course- I matured and learned more about the Catholic faith.
Click photos to enlarge*
From church this evening, we walked on from Bush Street to Grant (Chinatown) then to North Beach (Little Italy) where we came to dine at our favorite North Beach Pizza (ristorante) and ordered our favorite "San Francisco Cable Pizza" (baked with garlic sauce, mozarella, fresh tomatoes, bacon and ham). It was yummy! Because we are dieting, we only ate two slices each and felt full (the technique is to eat slowly and savor the taste; in doing so, one starts to feel full despite the lesser quantity of food taken. Discipline is a must. May be tough at first but it is a matter of getting used to it). Am proud to say that we are starting to eat less than before. Normally we would order a large pizza for the two of us and eat 6 slices each. This time, we ordered the small one (14" in diamter) and brought back to our hotel room the four other slices of pizza we didn't finish.
North Beach Pizza is endorsed by Yahoo as "the best pizza place" to eat when in SFO.
North Beach Pizza - Original
Tel (415) 433-2444 Fax (415) 433-7217
1499 Grant Avenue @ Union St, San Francisco, CA 94133
MENU
Delivery: North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, Marina, Financial District, Tenderloin, Western Addition, Pacific Heights, South of Market & China Basin
MAP
Dine In, Take Out, Delivery: Sun-Thur 9 am -1 am, Fri/Sat 9 am - 3 am
Here we are taken tonight before we dined. We were back in our hotel by half past ten in the evening feeling good about the day that passed.
NOTE: Husband wanted to go bar hopping and to go dancing as well but I said a firm NO. It's Holy Week!
Back home, we kids were not allowed to play the piano or to even turn on the stereo, much more, make noise; we were to keep silent in observance of the Holy Week. My maternal grandfather used to tie his piano with rope during this time of the year (so that when us- his grandkids- came to visit him, we won't be able to play the piano). Well, we all play piano but we never dared to go against his houserule or we would be in trouble. Tonight, I thought I'd duplicate Papang's house rule and so far, it worked well with blue-eyed husband...cha-ran (laughs)!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment: