1. Thou shalt not drip candle wax onto thy neighbor’s coat.
2. Thou shalt not smoke up the entire church with incense, thereby causing much coughing and sputtering among the people.
3. Thou shalt speak loudly and clearly when doing thy readings, with thy mouth close to the microphone.
4. Thou shalt not complain of the length of the service. Thou knowest full well how long it is and thou hast chosen to attend anyway. Thou must shut thy mouth and stop checking thy watch.
5. Thou shalt not cause thy mind to wander during the sermon.
6. Thou shalt not fall asleep during the service.
7. Thou must not be heard to whisper, “Oh no! How long is this going to take,” if there are several people being baptized or confirmed during the service.
8. Thou shalt not sing off-key into thy neighbor’s ear.
9. If thou be the organist, thou shalt make sure that every choir member has all the music.
10. If thou be a choir member, thou shalt gladly share music with thy neighbor and thou shalt not throw a hissy fit at the organist if he forgets to give you one page.
To this author, the Easter Vigil Mass is the most beautiful service of the entire year. I look forward to it, both as a singer and as a member of the congregation. It is a sacred and beautiful way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. However, human beings being … well … human, funny things are bound to happen. I like to think that God has a sense of humor about them.
Kathy, I believe I’m guilty of at least 9 out of 10!
I think I would go to one of these gigs to listen to the singers but when the priest dude does his thing, I might just find it hard to stay awake but hell, that’s Bill Y for you!