Multiple firsts, this time in church!

Not everyone will follow part of this entry, especially if you're not Catholic. Sorry about that.

After not getting back from the suburbs last night until 2 a.m., I opted to sleep in instead of going to 10:30 mass as usual. Fortunately my religion is flexible in scheduling services, realizing that many of my kind are nothing if not lazy. So 5:00 mass it was. As I walked in I was recruited, by the Pastor no less, to help distribute some information, collect the responses and then help take in the collection. Though I've been to mass thousands of times, I've never helped in the collection. As usher, you walk down the aisle with a basket on the end of a stick and collect peoples' weekly contributions. Normally, I think, there's a whole group of volunteers that are "trained" in doing this kind of thing.

Apparently the 5:00 mass is very understaffed with volunteers. For the first time that I can recall, there were no alter boys or alter girls on hand. Not that they are particularly instrumental to the mass, but it's a little weird when you expect to see them and they aren't there. Just odd. But the weirdest part of the entire mass, besides me running laps up and down the aisle, was that while the priest is presiding over the occurrence of the transubstantiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation an alter boy/girl is supposed to shake the alter bell(s). This was the first mass that I can remember that didn't have any bells. Seems like a simple thing, but again, when you are soooooo used to hearing it and then you don't, it's a little weird.

While perusing Wikipedia, as I'm oft to do, I had to back track a page because I could have sworn I saw a familiar name just as I clicked a link to another page. It's an unusual name, so that's why it stood out. Turns out to be a pretty interesting Wiki entry. I wonder if my buddy is related to ol'Hipolit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Cegielski_-_Pozna%C5%84_S.A.