Looong Sad Two Days

Just got back from funeral for Brian’s grandma. This was different than his grandpa was a few months ago on the other side of his family. His grandma and grandpa on this side are members of the Byzantine Catholic Church. I’ve been to Roman Catholic Churches before and in general they’re not that far from Lutheran. I’ve been to a Roman Catholic Church funeral.

This was completely different; the entire thing was chanting/singing and it was very long. The Church was domed and had bright colored, odd paintings inside. I say odd because they reminded me a medieval paintings except we are not in medieval times. The priest dressed in red and swung incense (I have seen that part before). He spent a minute describing some of the symbolism for us. Altogether, it was very much a ritual and I think a comfort to his grandfather. And in the end, that’s all that matters.

It was different for me too this time because I had only met her once and I didn’t have much interaction with her since she could only speak very softly. It is always hard to see people you love upset and grieving, but it wasn’t as tough to stay collected as last time. She has been sick for a long time.

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6 Comments

  1. Yeah, that is very different from what I’ve experienced at my roman catholic church here at BG, that definately would make me awkward to kiss the cross, and to be fed by the priest with a spoon? Crazy how it’s pretty much the same religion, they just do a few things differently. I experienced my first incense thing last night actually, I went to the Wed. Mass, called A Night of Worship. And it’s pretty laid-back and they do a mass in like 35ish min. and then the rest of the hour is spent in some silence, and then singing. The silence was a little awkward because I pray pretty fast. But the songs were very beautiful. I told the girl I went with that I thought the incense smelled funny haha, it was pretty strong actually. That’s nice that you were able to be there for Brian, even if you did feel uncomfortable. I hope he’s doing ok with the loss! Give him my condolences…

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