Latin With a Kiwi Accent

My hosts are most considerate, and arranged for me to attend a Latin Mass at the Cathedral in Christchurch (I wonder if there’s a “Christ Church” in a city named “Cathedral” somewhere in the world).  By coincidence or providence, several of the families participating in the conference were Catholics, and a couple of them also attended the Latin Mass on Saturday at 5:30 with me.  Evidently, they’ve had one a week there for some time, and they are doing their best to keep it going. The present bishop seems supportive. 

The Cathedral is beautiful on the outside.  However, a few years ago, the lovely wood pews were replaced with ghastly metal chairs, and the kneelers were replaced with awkward foam pads that hang from the back of the chairs on little hooks. You have to take the pad of and put it on the floor, and it’s rather small; it was hard for me to keep my knees close enough together to fit on the pad. Well, discomfort is good, I thought, and the foam pad was better than the marble floor.  Additionally, someone had put a large, modernistic crucifix right in the middle of this magnificent building, and it was all I could do to not stare at the ridiculousness of it—a rather fat Jesus with a hideous face and absurdly long spikes protruding from the feet.

The mass was Tridentine, and I was provided with a missal book. The Priest was quiet and reverent, with a good homily delivered in a rather monotone voice. I confess I dozed ever so slightly. The Latin was spoken rather speedily, with a strange variance on some of the vowels. Finally I realized that this was Latin with a New Zealand accent!  Who would have thought?  In any case, I enjoyed meeting the other Catholic homeschoolers (wonderful people, all), conversing briefly with the priest at the church (who seemed to want an in-depth conversation about Rousseau and Dewey and education…), and having a peaceful mass in a reverent environment. Most notable was the magnificent Bach fugue played after Mass on the large pipe organ, resounding throughout the great domed church. I might be willing to go back and kneel for 20 minutes on those little foam pads just to hear it again!