this afternoon, i attended for the first time the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola Eucharistic Celebration at the Ateneo de Manila University. i was invited by a friend who had only the highest praises for said mass. he said it's the biggest mass celebration in the philippines with maybe a hundred jesuit priests.
i went with a friend and true enough it was big. the mass was held at the Ateneo de Manila High School Covered Courts and the venue was full. i'm not really sure though whether it's the biggest mass attendance i've seen. what i am sure of is that this the first time in my life i saw so many priests gathered together. i stopped counting at 60.
earlier i was thinking when my friend said there were so many priests that all of them would be at the altar concelebrating the mass. well, not quite. there were only two onstage. the main celebrant and the homilist. the rest of the priests were seated in the front rows.
the mass itself was just like the regular masses except that you had a part where the readings were in different languages, delivered by different nationalities, with english translation on the board.
after the mass, there were free food and drinks and even ice cream.
now what i find unusual is that the friend who had only the best words for this annual mass did not attend it himself. he kept on calling me about the mass. just this day he called me four times before the mass, twice right after and three times nighttime, the last one that many only because the line was getting cut off. i dunno whether it's because i told him i don't want to go out with him and i was telling him i'll be attending the mass with friends. i'd like to think not but i really am not sure.
hmmm... he has attended this eucharistic celebration before. he has told me there's a big crowd. had he really wanted to, he could have attended and i doubt we would have bumped into each other there.
i am puzzled... and fighting off feeling guilty...
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