Home, Sick Home

I had a great morning. After showering, folding laundry, and packing (the newlyweds weren't up yet), I went to Mass at the newly reopened Baltimore Basilica. (It was closed 2 yrs for restoration.) Built in 1806, it's really gorgeous inside, very light, open, and airy. I went to a Latin Novus Ordo Mass. It was the first Latin Mass since it reopened. There were maybe 100 people in the huge interior. I should have known that it was going to be sparsely attended when it took me three tries to find a door that wasn't locked. I'd never been to a Latin Mass before, but they passed out missals as you came in. I sat near the front. After Mass, the monsignor complimented me and thanked me for participating. Apparently, I was the only response he could here (not surprising, considering the woman behind me who knew what was going on only spoke in a whisper). All in all, it was pretty awesome and I'd definitely do Latin again. Here's a picture of the dome over the altar. The whole ceiling has those flowers on it.

Afterwards, I decided to go over to St. Alphonsus Church around the corner and catch the last half of their English Mass. There were about 50 people at that one. The interior of St. Alphonsus is the total opposite of the Basilica, but breathtaking. It's pretty dark inside, lots of stained glass, ornate carvings, and tons of statues of saints. I tried to take some pictures, but the light was terrible. Baltimore seems to have a wealth of beautiful churches (I didn't visit any of the shrines), but not many people attend, because they are downtown.
When I got back to the apartment, we had official Maryland crabcakes and watercress salad for lunch. Real crabcakes are huge are basically chunks of crabmeat slightly bound together. Expensive, but delicious. Flew home, back to poor Mr. Headcold, the King of Kleenex, who is currently snoring on the couch. Well, at least the cat is excited to see me.