“All the noise, noise, noise, noise!” (aka, Mass at St. Pat’s)
I took my annual vacation to NYC this year, which, of course, included Mass at St. Patrick’s yesterday at 10:15.
Now I have been to NYC before. I have been in St. Pat’s on New Year’s Eve (around 4:00ish) and have seen it packed with tourists snapping photos and generally creating a rather circus-like atmosphere for people who were actually there to pray. But it wasn’t time for Mass and it wasn’t a holy day (yet–January 1 is, in the US, since it is a Marian feast and Mary is the patroness of the United States). So I was prepared for a bit of hoopla.
This time it was different. First, I was going there for Mass. The 9:00 had just let out when we got there, and people were milling around, going up and down,t aking pictures, wandering up the main aisle to snap a few pictures of the altar and windows and then meandering back down. There’s even a gift shop in the church proper, which I wasn’t too keen on.
Around 9:50 or so my friend and I got seats. They were sort of in the middle on the left side, and there are TV monitors on some of the pillars now, so no matter where you are, you can see the priest/cantor/lector. The use of incense in the Mass was wonderful, as was the music, the choir, and the reverence shown by all who were ministers at the Mass (the altar boys, especially, could show ours a thing or two!).
So what bugged me? Well, first off, how NOISY is was in there before Mass actually began. I didn’t like the constant picture snapping. And it wasn’t just from tourists–it was from the congregation, too! I mean people in the pews, ostensibly preparing for Mass, are snapping photos! Hello! Not appropriate whilst one is trying to prepare for Mass.
The Mass itself was quieter, since the main aisles are closed so people cannot just wander. Communion was a bit disorienting, because you just sort of went up whenever you felt like it. There weren’t any ushers to dismiss the pews, which I think would’ve been a VAST improvement.
There just seemed to be a lack of reverence, which cannot be faulted on the priest or the ministers. It’s just that it’s sucha major tourist place that the tourists distract from everything.
On the plus side, people did seem to dress a lot better than I’ve seen of late. There were even a few little boys in suit coats. 
I do not know how normal NYCers can pray there. I would go crazy.
