Sunday, May 29, 2011

Westminster Cathedral

After being up too late last night (ok, not TOO late, but later...), I relished the opportunity to sleep in this morning and relax after I woke up. I finished my blog post from Saturday, and spent the rest of the early afternoon working on classwork  or relaxing.

Around 5:30, Jen and I headed to Westminster Cathedral, to catch the evening mass at 7. Now, most people know about Westminster Abbey, but Westminster Cathedral is also an amazing sight to behold.

Nestled in between several city buildings, the cathedral doesn't drawn near the crowd the Abbey does, which was relatively nice for a tourist who doesn't like big crowds (like me!)

I didn't take pictures inside the cathedral, both out of respect for those who came to pray, and so I didn't appear to be a crazy tourist. But, I did some research on the internet and picked out a couple pictures that show how magnificent the cathedral is on the interior.
 The seating within the church is incredible and expansive.
 These pictures don't do the cathedral justice, especially since they're a little blurry.
It's difficult to describe the awesome power of the cathedral. The ceilings are incredibly tall, and the small chapels to both sides are beautiful and serene. I'm having trouble coming up with ways to describe how spectacular and splendid the entire experience was.

The mass was also a very unique experience. Instead of singing, the entire mass was spoken, and a couple parts were said in Latin, but what amazed me throughout the service was the constant echo. At first it was extremely distracting, but after a little while, my ears grew more accustomed to it and it was not near as distracting. I would love to come back to hear a mass that is sung, as I'm sure the sounds would be interesting and beautiful to hear.

The cathedral is definitely on the list to visit with Mom, so get ready Mommy dearest!

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