Chrism Mass

Last night my family and I attended the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in New Ulm. This was the first Chrism Mass for me and I will just start by saying that it scored a 9 on my WOW! scale. It was truly the most moving Mass that I have been to (not counting the Easter Vigil Mass where I came into the church).

The choir (and everyone else) sang with much emotion as the priests were coming in; it was a truly amazing experience. I was just pulled right into the Mass. There was absolutely nothing else happening as far as I was concerned. There was also plenty on incense used and they rang bells at the consecration. Incense is rarely used in our parish and the bells are not used at all; it was a joy for me that these things were used here. The music, smells, and bells all contributed to pulling me into the Mass and keeping me focused there.

This was also the first time I have heard Eucharistic Prayer #1 used in our Diocese. I have heard it used on EWTN quite often, and watching all of those priests concelebrating just reminded me that the priesthood is truly one of the Church's treasures. We need more of them.

My boys, like me were also very into the Mass. My oldest had a lot of questions. He was very excited that when it came time to receive Jesus that he was in the bishop's line. It was just his luck though that when he finally got up to the front of the line, the bishop was replaced by another priest. Bummer!


This was truly a great experience; one that I'll not be forgetting soon.