I went to a mass the other week (which happened to be in Polish, and while it's not a church that will take your breath away like some grand cathedral, but it has it's charms. Like for example the two side altars at about the halfway point of the church. On the left as you face the altar is the obligatory tribute to the Holy Queen Mother of Poland, Matka Boska Częstochowska. <----- She is done in a mosaic of golden tiles and resplendent in all her jewels. It is a rich but subdued statement of devotion. Who does Matka Boska stare at from across the nave? None other than Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe! Yesssss, there she is. In duplicate, maybe even triplicate.
Surrounded by 3-d tissue paper flowers of many colors. And other photos whose significance is lost to me. By comparison to her European altar, this one might seem a bit cluttered, but the point is the eclecticism and the vibrancy. This is a Mary with spunk! Contrast #1 in my perceptions of the two cultures that this parish serves.Contrast #2 came from the church's 103rd anniversary celebration mass, which involved songs and readings in all three languages. I was already intrigued. (Plus, there were going to be refreshments afterwards. I was in.) In 103 years, this was going to be the first service in which all three languages were going to appear in the same Mass. There was a small paper program outlining the order and which readings or responsorials were to be sung in each language. For example, the first reading was read from the lectern in Spanish, but the program had the text in Polish and English.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'd like to back up to the beginning of the Mass. After the opening song, the next two parts of the Ordinary are also sung: the Kyrie and the Gloria. The Kyrie was in Polish. The text is as follows: Kyrie elesion / Christe elesion / Kyrie eleison, or Panie zmiłuj się nad nami / Chryste zmiłuj się nad nami / Panie zmiłuj się nad nami, or Lord have mercy / Christ have mercy / Lord have mercy. To me, the Kyrie seems like an acknowledgment of something done wrong, a plea for atonement. It is very solemn, and the way it was sung by one soprano voice invoked the modality of Gregorian chant. And the subtext under the Greek text points to the exotic and conflicted Baltic region and the weight of history on Baltic and Slavic shoulders.
Next up, the Gloria. Here is where I burst into laughter in God's house. The Gloria is a song of praise and thanksgiving. Its text is much longer and more complicated. It verbosely talks about the Father and the Son with metaphors and allusions to Scripture. So what better musical setting for this upbeat text than a Mariachi band?? That's what Holy Innocents thought. Keeping in line with its Latin roots, the lines were sung in Spanish accompanied by guitar, keyboard, tambourine (yes, tambourine) and a host of voices declaring, "Gloria, Gloria, cantamos al Señor," and other joyful, joyful strains.
Maybe it's just me and my experiences in a Slavic and a Hispanic culture, but the way I felt when these two peoples stood face to face, I couldn't help but deem their musical interpretations and choices as extensions of their cultures and their respective worldviews. No doubt about it, the whole experience was so cool! I'm not sure if other parishioners felt the same, but then again, I'm not sure if any others have had the chance to see spirituality from both (or all three) sides. The bottom line is exactly the motto of the church, as echoed in the words of the pastor's homily, the church is a house of prayer (dom modlitwy, una casa de adoración) for all people (dla wszystkich ludzi, para todas las gentes)...
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