WASH DC – DAY 1: March and Pontifical Mass

It was a beautiful day in the nations capital. It couldn’t have been better for the March.

After the March today we had a wonderful Pontifical Mass at the faldstool with Bp. Paprocki. I don’t have photos yet, but I am sure they will soon be floating around.

After Mass there were a couple large receptions. Juventutem sponsored one, and that is where I landed. I didn’t have much of a chance to take photos of the large number of people who came, lots of familiar face and names, many blog readers, until the crowd was starting to thin.

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After the reception, one of the organizers and I walked across the street for some Japanese food (infinitely to be desired over Irish bar food).

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Sooooooup.  Just what I needed.

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And, as I walk into the door where I am staying.

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Tomorrow…. ART!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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25 Comments

  1. jflare says:

    *sigh*
    OK, I’m forced to plead gross ignorance of Catholic rites on this one. I assume that Mass “at the faldstool” must have some significance, but I’ll be busted if I know what.

    If anyone would care to elaborate about what a faldstool is or why it’s important, I’d be interested in learning.

  2. gramma10 says:

    Wonderful day for the March! I watched it on EWTN. I live in the area and host friends from NY each year for it. After it ended I went to adoration for a couple of hours.
    I used to go into DC constantly for this especially in the 1980’s-’90s-2000.
    Then I got older and arthritic and had a hard time walking and freezing at the same time!
    However some of my grandkids have come from SC. I often met them at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as they toured! A few times I took my local grandkids with me to March.I love living here by DC! Never a dull moment!
    Glad you had a good meal Father. I make great chicken soup so the next time you are in the DC area I would be happy to cook up a pot for you. God bless you!

  3. cdet1997 says:

    What a perfect day for the march! The missus and I took 3 of our kids out of school to attend (an excused absence, since it’s a parochial school). The weather was chilly, but not frigid, and the cold was barely noticeable once the march got started. Seeing the thousands of banners from parishes, schools, KoC councils and colleges from all over the nation was such a delight (there was even a group from Princeton. Who’da thunk it?)

    And then to end the day with the Pontifical High Mass was just perfection. The choir was angelic, the vestments were beautiful, and the liturgy…Oh, that liturgy. When I saw the procession with the army of altar boys, servers, deacons, priests and his excellency, I remember thinking, “These men aren’t here just to ‘say Mass’. They’re out to please a God in the most sacred and beautiful way possible.” Prosit!

    God bless, Father! It was a privilege to see you and his excellency in action!

  4. tzard says:

    Fishcake! Such a strange food product and very Japanese.

    The soup looks wonderful.

  5. Hank Igitur says:

    What is “Irish bar food” exactly?
    Potatoes done 500 ways?
    I have no idea.
    Japanese in DC?
    Also no idea……………

  6. Mike says:

    I was at the Mass. Wonderful celebration of the Eucharist! It was a pleasure hearing you read the epistle and the Gospel, Father. I was struck by the kindness of the people at the Mass in little, subtle but profound ways. Some of my students where there, too. One was even a server!

    A great day in our nations’s capital!

  7. RAve says:

    If you are going to the “Picturing Mary” art exhibit, the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist created a simple web site with 10 reflections to accompany 10 of the exhibit’s paintings, written by their Sister John Paul, OP. http://www.picturingmary.com/

  8. Suburbanbanshee says:

    A faldstool was a foldable, portable stool which a bishop used whenever he was away from his cathedral and hence his cathedra (chair of a philosopher, symbolizing the rabbinical Seat of Moses and the bishop’s apostolic teaching authority).

    So Mass at the faldstool is a special kind of bishop Mass.

  9. Johnny Domer says:

    jflare: The Old Rite has two different (and very cool) kinds of solemn Masses for bishops: Mass at the Throne/Cathedra, and Mass at the Faldstool. If a bishop is celebrating Mass in his own diocese (or an archbishop within his metropolitan area, or a cardinal anywhere outside of Rome), then he offers Mass at the Throne. The Throne is a symbol of the bishop’s authority within his own diocese, and is a big, elevated chair that’s usually (as you face the altar from the nave of the church) against the left-side wall of the sanctuary, or sometimes directly behind the altar (as at St. John Lateran in Rome). The bishop sits in it at various times during the Mass.

    When a bishop celebrates Mass outside of his own diocese, he offers Mass at a “faldstool” which is a smaller and more modest chair than the cathedra, usually only slightly elevated on a single step or platform. The faldstool is usually placed in the mid-right side of the sanctuary, with the bishop sitting facing the nave of the church. Its smaller size and stature indicates that this bishop, while still a successor to the Apostles, doesn’t exercise jurisdiction over the place where he’s offering Mass.

    Thus, when Bishop Paprocki offers Mass in Washington, he offers it at a faldstool; when he offers Mass in Peoria, he offers it at the throne.

  10. Chris Garton-Zavesky says:

    It appears that there were a few dozen people at your reception. Were there a few thousand at the march?

  11. rayrondini says:

    @jflare – I believe “at the faldstool” refers to when a bishop celebrates a Pontifical Mass outside his own Cathedral. At his own Cathedral, it would be a Pontifical Mass at the Throne. Since he’s not “at home”, it’s not his Throne, so a “portable throne” is used – called a “faldstool.”

    Corrections welcome :)

  12. Grateful to be Catholic says:

    Chris: “Were there a few thousand at the march?”

    I was at the March and it took about 1 1/2 hours for it to pass where I was standing at 3rd and Constitution. The eight lanes of Constitution Ave. were packed curb to curb and it moved without stopping and without a break at about 2 mph. The crowd was overwhelmingly young and I saw groups from Florida to Kansas, Texas to Connecticut and NY. So it was several hundred thousand people, at least as big as any I have seen in the 35 years I have been going. It was also the best weather!

    The Nellie Gray Memorial Pontifical Mass at Old St. Mary’s, organized by the Paulus Institute, was packed, SRO. Again, mostly young people. The Schola Cantorum from the Lyceum School of Cleveland provided beautiful chants and polyphony. You can get their CD http://thelyceum.org/schola.html. We owe a debt of gratitude to Bishop Paprocki, all the ministers, and the excellent servers from St. Mary’s for providing such a rich and reverent liturgy.

  13. Also: Whereas the (permanent) “throne” on which a bishop sits to preside in his own cathedral is generally located on the Gospel side of the sanctuary and faces liturgical south, the “faldstool” on which a bishop sits outside his own cathedral (if any) is a typically ornate stool generally placed nearer the front of the sanctuary on the epistle side facing liturgically west (toward the people).

  14. jaykay says:

    Hanc Igitur says:

    “What is “Irish bar food” exactly?”

    Ummm… well, it’s what might be politely referred to as “hearty”. Ok, that means basic. We’re not talking cuisine here, we’re talking cooking. Unkind persons have referred to it as “bog standard”. But they are unkind. And probably English.

    ” Potatoes done 500 ways?”

    Heyyyy… you’re getting it! (Nobody here actually eats corned beef, b.t.w. – whatever it is).

    On a more serious note, we’ll have our March for Life in Dublin on Saturday 4th July (it alternates between Dublin and Belfast every year). By that stage, the referendum on gay “marriage” may well have been passed (or lost, from our point of view) which, with the shameful passing of the abortion legislation in 2013, means that the “choice” mob will probably be out in force and more obnoxious than usual. Not that there have been all that many of them in numbers, actually, but they more than make up for that in the vileness of their taunting and “literature”. And the media amen corner give them far more than their share of attention, of course, something I know is a regular feature of the March in DC.

  15. Siculum says:

    I have some pictures and video footage of Mass and I’ll do my best to get it up tonight, with some links here.

  16. Siculum says:

    Japanese food in Chinatown… Yum!

  17. Toan says:

    “What is “Irish bar food” exactly?”

    Last night it happened to be chili (at least I think it was chili) with mashed potatoes on top, pasta with tomato sauce, and bread with butter. Not overwhelmingly fine cuisine, but the beer was good.

  18. jhayes says:

    jaykay wrote: Nobody here actually eats corned beef, b.t.w. – whatever it is

    Corned beef and cabbage is what we eat in the US instead of bacon and cabbage.

    UK salt beef is called corned beef here.

  19. Spade says:

    “Japanese food in Chinatown… Yum!”

    In my experience, most of the Chinese food in DC’s Chinatown is terrible. So Japanese would probably be a better choice.

  20. Sandy says:

    There are fantastic pictures of the March on Lifesite news. The first one shown gives a good idea of the crowd, and later pictures show so many young people. I was so moved that I cried, for two reasons. First being so proud of all the young folks, but secondly, that there was hardly a mention on last night’s news, and certainly no pictures of this beautiful crowd.

  21. Supertradmum says:

    Irish pub food is bangers and mash, stew, fish and chips, stuff made with Guinness, shepherd’s pie, cottage pie, bacon and cabbage, all made with Guinness.

    I am in Dublin and speaking with a med student who is an expert in Irish pub food.

  22. jaykay says:

    Supertradmum, as ever, rem acu tetigisti! I know you’re a regular visitor here and thus speak from experience. And you’ve commented on your fruitless search for a decent US-style sandwich???? No doubt you’ll be in St. Kevin’s. Wish I could be there more often.

    JHayes (Tipperary name!), my tongue was firmly lodged in cheek in previous comment. Now bacon and cabbage… hairy bacon… ahh, a staple of Saturday lunch in my childhood. With mash and butter. Yes! Cuisine à la Irlandaise. Begod.

  23. jaykay says:

    Supertradmum, as ever, rem acu tetigisti! I know you’re a regular visitor here and thus speak from experience. And you’ve commented on your fruitless search for a decent US-style sandwich???? No doubt you’ll be in St. Kevin’s. Wish I could be there more often.

    JHayes (Tipperary name!), my tongue was firmly lodged in cheek in previous comment. Now bacon and cabbage… hairy bacon… ahh, a staple of Saturday lunch in my childhood. With mash and butter. Yes! Cuisine à la Irlandaise. Begod.

  24. jaykay says:

    Supertradmum, as ever, rem acu tetigisti! I know you’re a regular visitor here and thus speak from experience. And you’ve commented on your fruitless search for a decent US-style sandwich???? No doubt you’ll be in St. Kevin’s. Wish I could be there more often.

    JHayes (Tipperary name!), my tongue was firmly lodged in cheek in previous comment. Now bacon and cabbage… hairy bacon… ahh, a staple of Saturday lunch in my childhood. With mash and butter. Yes! Cuisine à la Irlandaise. Begod.

  25. jaykay says:

    Oh Lord, forgive the triple post. New mobile phone, tchh.

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