I left the hotel at 6.30 and walked up Madison Avenue to 50th Street, then along Cardinal O'Connor Street, to the front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The preferred route on the map above. I arrived at 6.40 and spent the spare 20 minutes in prayer.
Mass was at 7.00 am and there were a large number of people in attendance, perhaps 400, still in a church this size it seemed small. Mass was very prayerful.
Though I was reminded of the old saying about the US and the UK being two nations divided by one language. Since 2013 the Vatican has ensured that Mass in English throughout the world uses the same translation - so the shock of different prayers and responses that I have had in the past here has now completely gone. However we continue to use two different translations of the bible. We use the Jerusalem Bible in the UK and the New American Bible, revised edition is used here. Today, especially in the first reading, the different translation stood out.
The reading was 1 Kings 19:4-8 so I heard the reader say: "He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree" a 'what' tree I thought, a broom bringing a very different image to mind. When he got up he found "at his head a hearth cake" a 'what' cake. See the full text. Luckily when I was at the hotel I had updated my Universalis app (I only use wi-fi here, being to mean to pay roaming charges on the iPhone) so I had the UK English version on the iPhone. Here I found Elijah "sitting under a furze bush" - ah a furze bush I know what one of them is. Then he found "at his head was a scone baked on hot stones" - a scone, no doubt about that then. See the full text
Still apart from the language issue the gospel was one very much at the heart of my prayer life. Drawing from John chapter 6:41-51 including the phrase: "the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
Devotion to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist, and to the gift of meeting him every Sunday, and every other time I can get to Mass is the heart and reason of my on-going commitment of faith and love of the Lord. Even in the darkest times of my life, being able to come and meet Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist has been my strength and hope.
So enthused by this reminder of Jesus gift of himself to me, I walked back to the hotel, taking the alternative route on the map, walking down Fifth Avene past Saks of Fifth Avenue and getting a great view of the Empire State Building lower down the road.
After a few moments in the hotel it was time for breakfast and in another New York 'tradition' we eat at Blooms on Lexington Avenue at East 40th Street. Drew opted for three eggs, sunny side up, with bacon. I had three eggs, over hard, with link sausages. These were both served with two slices of toast each, an orange juice and as much coffee as we wanted - and we had plenty.
So yes Morning had broken and it had been a good start to the day.
Though I was reminded of the old saying about the US and the UK being two nations divided by one language. Since 2013 the Vatican has ensured that Mass in English throughout the world uses the same translation - so the shock of different prayers and responses that I have had in the past here has now completely gone. However we continue to use two different translations of the bible. We use the Jerusalem Bible in the UK and the New American Bible, revised edition is used here. Today, especially in the first reading, the different translation stood out.
The reading was 1 Kings 19:4-8 so I heard the reader say: "He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree" a 'what' tree I thought, a broom bringing a very different image to mind. When he got up he found "at his head a hearth cake" a 'what' cake. See the full text. Luckily when I was at the hotel I had updated my Universalis app (I only use wi-fi here, being to mean to pay roaming charges on the iPhone) so I had the UK English version on the iPhone. Here I found Elijah "sitting under a furze bush" - ah a furze bush I know what one of them is. Then he found "at his head was a scone baked on hot stones" - a scone, no doubt about that then. See the full text
Still apart from the language issue the gospel was one very much at the heart of my prayer life. Drawing from John chapter 6:41-51 including the phrase: "the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
Devotion to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist, and to the gift of meeting him every Sunday, and every other time I can get to Mass is the heart and reason of my on-going commitment of faith and love of the Lord. Even in the darkest times of my life, being able to come and meet Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist has been my strength and hope.
So enthused by this reminder of Jesus gift of himself to me, I walked back to the hotel, taking the alternative route on the map, walking down Fifth Avene past Saks of Fifth Avenue and getting a great view of the Empire State Building lower down the road.
After a few moments in the hotel it was time for breakfast and in another New York 'tradition' we eat at Blooms on Lexington Avenue at East 40th Street. Drew opted for three eggs, sunny side up, with bacon. I had three eggs, over hard, with link sausages. These were both served with two slices of toast each, an orange juice and as much coffee as we wanted - and we had plenty.
So yes Morning had broken and it had been a good start to the day.
I never have jet lag fortunately despite not sleeping well on planes. I always consider extra hours waking early as a bonus :-)
ReplyDeleteI never have jet lag fortunately despite not sleeping well on planes. I always consider extra hours waking early as a bonus :-)
ReplyDeleteIt is always the evening of the second day that it effects me worst. I don't mind getting up early, I get up at 4 many Saturday's. But I start to become less lucid than normal - it happened again last night, though not as bad as on previous occasions.
DeleteI've never heard of eggs over hard Haydn...learn something new every day XX
ReplyDeleteHi Llinos,
DeleteMany years ago, I think on my first visit here in 1997, someone asked how I would like my eggs - I asked what the options were and was told - Sunny side up; over easy and over hard - given my propensity to dribble yolk down myself I've stuck with over hard ever since :-)
The other thing I remember from that first holiday was being asked if I wanted a fifth or a twelfth of wine - I had to see the bottle to know what they meant - a fifth (or a gallon = our standard bottle size; a twelfth a small bottle - like a large glass size.) Always something new!!