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Dec. 24th, 2009 09:19 amIt's a quiet service, simple and joyful (the latter at least on the part of the man performing it). As usual, Father Mulcahy tries to keep the mass as nondenominational as possible, though he certainly knows his Roman Catholic traditions better than any others; he wears his full vestments and he does offer the Eucharist to anyone who would like to take it. For the most part, though, it's a generally Christian service rather than a Catholic one.
There are sheets of music on the chairs for the hymns (Father Mulcahy chose two: "Silent Night" to open and "O Come All Ye Faithful" to close; they may have been used before, but you can't beat the classics). He doesn't talk for overly long. He reads from the Bible and carries out the service; he thanks everyone for attending, talks a little bit about the spirit of the season (of love and joy and devotion, of celebration and helping each other); makes a couple of jokes and sings along with the hymns despite the fact that he will never quite be entirely on key. It's his standard Christmas service, but each one is different and he never grows tired of performing them.
The room has several tables spread with tea, punch, water, milk, and a wide variety of cookies, and after the service is over, Father Mulcahy directs people that way and happily spends ages circulating and meeting any temporary parishioners who decided to stick around.
There are sheets of music on the chairs for the hymns (Father Mulcahy chose two: "Silent Night" to open and "O Come All Ye Faithful" to close; they may have been used before, but you can't beat the classics). He doesn't talk for overly long. He reads from the Bible and carries out the service; he thanks everyone for attending, talks a little bit about the spirit of the season (of love and joy and devotion, of celebration and helping each other); makes a couple of jokes and sings along with the hymns despite the fact that he will never quite be entirely on key. It's his standard Christmas service, but each one is different and he never grows tired of performing them.
The room has several tables spread with tea, punch, water, milk, and a wide variety of cookies, and after the service is over, Father Mulcahy directs people that way and happily spends ages circulating and meeting any temporary parishioners who decided to stick around.
