El Paso: Christmas Eve at Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

December 2016

I'm not a member of a house of worship, but I do like to attend such for cultural events and traditions. Since I move each year, I experience traditions such as Christmas Mass in different parts of the world.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

My Christmas Eve in Lafayette, Louisiana, was memorable. I actually attended TWO masses in one evening! The first was nice, but ohhh, the second - at Our Lady of Wisdom on the University of Louisiana-Lafayette campus - it was a gorgeous visual, auditory, and olfactory bath.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

For 2016, an El Paso friend told me that she liked to attend Our Lady of Guadalupe's Christmas services, and that was a good enough recommendation for me.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

Below is the conveyance of the Baby Jesus to the altar, his presentation to the congregation, his blessing on the altar, and loving placement in the manger, snuggled against a lamb:

Later, a priest and a couple wrap the infant ceremoniously in a swaddling blanket:

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

The Christmas-time altar held many delights. Even a Christmas fish.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

Not to appear disrespectful, but I wish the Virgin Mary above and the cow below didn't look so worried. I don't know; maybe the cow just looks startled.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, El Paso, Texas. December 2016.

It is a special privilege for me to witness so many traditional events that show how richly textured our American culture is.

Christmas Eve in Louisiana and a Look at Christmas Eve Past

Christmas Eve 2012 on Canyon Drive, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Last year, my mother and sister and I were in Santa Fe for Christmas. The folks at the Silver Saddle Motel were so kind to invite us and some other motel guests to join them on the traditional farolito walk on Canyon Drive.

Today, Christmas Eve in Lafayette, I remembered how special it was to enter the St. Joseph Apache Mission Church in Mescalero, New Mexico, during Christmas season last year. My mother and I visited the church once when it was empty, and we also attended Mass. 

St. Joseph Apache Mission Church, Mescalero, New Mexico

What a beautiful space.

So today, it made sense to me to attend a Mass this year also.

St. Mary Mother of the Church, Lafayette, Louisiana

A new friend is in the choir at St. Mary Mother of the Church, so that's where I went.  Heard graceful song and breathed deeply of the exotic frankincense.

St. Mary Mother of the Church, Lafayette, Louisiana

 
... and then, I thought, what the hell - no I mean heck, because, shhh, we're in church! - what about going to midnight Mass?

Our Lady of Wisdom, Lafayette, Louisiana

For this, I selected Our Lady of Wisdom Church on St. Mary's Boulevard, on the University of Louisana - Lafayette campus.

I'm so glad I did.

Our Lady of Wisdom, Lafayette, Louisiana

The church was full but not overcrowded. The altar is an open one where there is seating in front and in back. Or better said, the altar is set perpendicular to the attendees.

Our Lady of Wisdom, Lafayette, Louisiana

The music, vocal and instrumental, was exquisite, and the acoustics or sound system or both, superb. Violins, cello, deep drums, soaring voices en masse and solo and twinned. It was possible to close one's eyes and simply dwell in the sound .... there were a few moments where it felt like being in the lapping water in the hot springs of Truth and Consequences.

Our Lady of Wisdom, Lafayette, Louisiana

The reader had a mellifluous voice; the priest(s) chanted the liturgy. The incense and its attendant smoke rounded out the sensory experience for the eyes, ears, and nose.

Our Lady of Wisdom, Lafayette, Louisiana

 

What a satisfying Christmas Eve in my new land.