Marathon

2nd October, 2011

Today I decided to go to the 10am Solemn Mass in the Cathedral of St. Paul. Unfortunately I missed the first bus and didn't get in until 10.30am. Just outside the Cathedral, the Twin Cities marathon was taking place (the photo above was taken from the Cathedral steps). I sat in for the end of the Mass just to see what they considered a Solemn Mass. What they consider solemn is different from St Peter and Paul's in Cork (not as much Latin or incense).

I decided to stay for the 12 Mass so I wandered around the church in the meantime. I spoke to the Priest about getting more involved over the next few weeks. He told me that they have a yound adults group that do sports and socialise every Friday and have a more faith-centered meeting every Wednesday. I hope to get involved with them. The priest, Father Joseph (another Fr. Joe) also said that he would ask some of his parishioners, who are bankers, if there were any vacancies for an Irish guy. He pointed out the St. Patrick's chapel to me as well. I had been there before but I decided to go back. They even have green Connemara marble in the chapel. As I looked around the church, I realised that there are a number of Irish connections. Almost all of the crosses in the church are Celtic-style crosses. I looked at the list of Bishops from the formation and all, except 2, had Irish surnames, including Bishop John Ireland who commissioned the building. The 12 Mass was almost the same as the Solemn Mass. There was just a little less chanting.

After Mass, I had to cross the marathon line to get back to St. Paul town. It was funny to see it.There were a lot of people who were ringing cow bells and others who took it upon themselves to motivate the runners with words of encouragement like "Good job" and "You're looking great". When I crossed the line, I looked for somewhere to eat. I was amazed that so many places were closed and there were very few people in the city. People really stay away from the cities here on Sundays (same was the case in Minneapolis).

While the day was lovely today (around 25 degrees C), it was very cold last night. I knew I had to get some sheets, a quilt and pillow. I got some great deals in Macy's. I then had to get home (with a massive Macy's bag). Because of the marathon, loads of the streets were closed so I just decided to take an hour long bus to Minneapolis, where I knew I could take the train. So I had my own little public transport marathon today.