Coming Off a Fantastic Weekend

As you have probably figured out by now, our group visited three cities this past weekend: Heidelberg, Koblenz, and Cologne. It was such a great weekend, filled with laughs, sights, and explorations. One of the highlights of the excursion was worshipping on Sunday morning in the Cologne Cathedral. The congregation was sizeable, and the organ sent chills down my spine.

The service itself was very different from my home church. I go to a Wesleyan “mega-church” in Grand Rapids that is very modern, so you can imagine the contrast. I had only been to one Catholic service before this one, so I had some idea of how the service was going to go, but not much. It started with the priests walking down the middle aisle with one of them swinging burning incense from a chain, something I had not seen in person before. As the service went on, the choir and congregation sang multiple hymns sometimes together and sometimes separately. I enjoyed that part the most, mainly because I got to hear more of the organ.

I should also tell you that during the whole service, tourists were moving around (quietly for the most part) in the very back of the cathedral, craning their necks to get better views of the inside of the cathedral. It felt a little weird being in a congregation that has someone watching them besides the priests up front. On the other hand, it was a great way for people to experience first hand how some people worship God on a weekly basis. If seeing how Christians worship brings people closer to God, I’m all for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed High Mass at the Cologne Cathedral this past Sunday. We sang songs not heard in my home church, and we got to see the inside of a grand cathedral. And, you guessed it, we got to listen to an organ.

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