Unfamiliar Familiarity

Today, I attended mass at the Dom in Köln. Since the Dom is approximately 700 years old, I felt obligated to bring my best. Therefore, I suited up in my gray suit with a light pink shirt and a pink and gray striped tie. Nailed it! Others wore just about everything you could imagine. As in the United States, many of the older churchgoers wore fancier clothing, and my generation wore more casual clothing. Because it was very cold inside the Dom, most people left their coats on throughout the mass.

I got to the Dom around 9:45, a little bit ahead of time, for the “Hochmesse” (high mass). For safety sake, I sat beside an elderly man who I assumed knows the ins and outs of Catholic masses. For those of you who don’t know, Catholic masses are very regimented. I wanted to make sure I was kneeling or standing or singing at the right time. Fortunately, I guessed right, and he knew what he was doing! Thank goodness.

Inside the Dom is similar to a museum: it’s very beautiful and very cold. It didn’t help that the weather outside is -5 degrees Celsius (approximately 20 degrees Fahrenheit). Throughout the entirety of the mass, I could see my breath in front of my face. It was very cold, but life must go on.

In order to describe how I felt as the mass began, I must first warn you that I mean no disrespect by what I am saying. As the organs filled the entire room, I looked to the back of the Dom where the priests and alter servers (young boys from age 8 to 16) stood when I walked in. As is customary, the incense was burning, and smoke began to fill the room. To be honest, the loud music and massive amount of smoke made me feel like I was at a rock concert and Van Halen was about to run on stage. He didn’t. Mass went on as expected.

Throughout the actual vigil, I could understand very little. My German is not very good yet, but I could pick out words here and there. Having grown up in a Catholic parish, I picked up on some of the ideas and processes. They have the same ritual in Germany that we have in America where we shake hands and offer a sign of peace and good tidings. Most of the mass was very similar. A priest gave a homily (which I didn’t understand), the chorus of priests led us in song, and we had communion. Communion here was a bit different. In the US, communion is done in a very orderly fashion where each row takes its turn, adds onto the line up to the alter, takes communion, and files down the opposites side of the row to return to their seats. In Germany, communion is a free for all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like people are fighting their way to the front, but it does not follow the same order. People make their way to the front, jump in one of the several lines, and wait as the priests passed out the bread to two or three of the lines at a time. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was nice too because while he gave the bread to my neighbor, I listened for the appropriate response (which was simply “Amen”).

Overall, Catholic masses in Germany were incredibly similar to their following in the US, except the whole different language part. It was incredible to take part in a mass in a building with the deep history that the Dom has. Supposedly, the Köln Dom houses the treasures the Three Wise Men “Drei Heilige Könige” (literally Three Holy Kings) brought to Jesus at his birth. It is also where Cardinal Frings gave his New Year’s Day homily giving the citizens of Köln permission to steal food if in dire need during the depression after World War II. So much history in such an unfamiliar place, yet such a familiar feel throughout the entire service.