I don’t enjoy this time of year very much. Seasonal depression prevents much enjoyment and turns necessary tasks into impositions; painful memories and feelings surface and thoughts of what might have been become overwhelming.
People are stressed and I pick up a lot of the tension and unhappiness that are in the air.
Even though I am not a Christian, I hate the way that consumerism and secularism have taken over what should be a religious festival.
Despite not being religious, I did go to a Christmas service once. It was at the suggestion of a neighbour. One fateful Christmas Eve many years ago, I went for the first time ever to a Midnight Mass. It was held in Westminster Cathedral, and I went just for the carols and the spectacle.
The outing was pure delight from beginning to end. I felt very well, euphoric even; I had the feeling that something wonderful was on the horizon; the weather was very mild; we saw some happy looking policemen driving around in a car that was covered in Christmas decorations.
I enjoyed the lights, the surroundings and the music inside the Cathedral very much. Just as midnight was striking, I wished very hard for a good cause to support and a new and exciting interest in my life for the coming New Year.
The expression “Be very careful what you wish for as you may well end up getting it” is becoming a platitude but is very relevant here. A ‘chance’ meeting with a stranger on New Year’s Eve brought me exactly what I had wished for. For good or evil? I still don’t know. It led to some of the best and some of the worst moments of my life, including a Christmas that I still can’t bear to think about.
After the service was over, I noticed that a lot of priests were lined up outside the cathedral and that the form was to go up to one and shake his hand. I wanted to get some of whatever was going, so chose the best-looking one to approach. I held out my hand hopefully; he looked hard at me and hesitated perceptibly before shaking my hand. I am still wondering what he saw in me that caused him to behave in that way!
The first time we visit somewhere is often the best. It certainly was in the case of the Midnight Mass. I went to the Cathedral on Christmas Eve again once or twice, but it was nowhere near as good as the first time.
There was a very jarring incident during what was to be my final visit. We were a bit late and could only get seats in a side area with poor visibility. I didn’t enjoy the proceedings very much.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance: a man started shouting, “Let go of me” over and over again. I could see people surging forward in an arrow or inverted ‘V’ shape, but didn’t know what was happening. Someone told me later that a disturbed man had rushed forward to attack the Cardinal, knocking over some items on the altar.
I immediately thought of a woman I had seen in the Cathedral who made my alarms bells ring a bit. She was middle-aged, Latin looking and wore an expensive fur coat. She seemed out of it: her eyes were fixed and button-like. She was drifting around, perhaps looking for a seat. I had an idea that she was in some way connected with this incident.
Not long afterwards, I just happened to pick up a fiction book with ‘witch’ in the title while browsing in a bookshop. I opened it at a page where I read that a witch and a psychotic man are a lethal combination. I also learned that black magic practitioners can earn a lot of credit by disrupting a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I can’t remember the author or the exact title and I am writing from memory, but what a coincidence this was.
And so is this incident from Christmas Eve 2009:
“The Pope was knocked to the ground in a terrifying security scare just hours before his traditional Christmas Day message. Susanna Maiolo, vaulted over security barriers and dived on top of 82-year-old Benedict XVI, dragging him to the floor. Incredibly Maiolo, who is said to have a history of mental problems, was involved in a similar incident last Christmas Eve...
Medical experts said the Pope was lucky not to have broken any bones in the fall inside St Peter's Basilica at the beginning of the Christmas Eve Mass. He lost his mitre and staff and remained on the ground for a few seconds before being helped up by attendants. French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, also fell in the melee and was taken to hospital with a broken hip. He will be operated on in two or three days' time but is said to be in 'good spirits'.”
Read more here
People are stressed and I pick up a lot of the tension and unhappiness that are in the air.
Even though I am not a Christian, I hate the way that consumerism and secularism have taken over what should be a religious festival.
Despite not being religious, I did go to a Christmas service once. It was at the suggestion of a neighbour. One fateful Christmas Eve many years ago, I went for the first time ever to a Midnight Mass. It was held in Westminster Cathedral, and I went just for the carols and the spectacle.
The outing was pure delight from beginning to end. I felt very well, euphoric even; I had the feeling that something wonderful was on the horizon; the weather was very mild; we saw some happy looking policemen driving around in a car that was covered in Christmas decorations.
I enjoyed the lights, the surroundings and the music inside the Cathedral very much. Just as midnight was striking, I wished very hard for a good cause to support and a new and exciting interest in my life for the coming New Year.
The expression “Be very careful what you wish for as you may well end up getting it” is becoming a platitude but is very relevant here. A ‘chance’ meeting with a stranger on New Year’s Eve brought me exactly what I had wished for. For good or evil? I still don’t know. It led to some of the best and some of the worst moments of my life, including a Christmas that I still can’t bear to think about.
After the service was over, I noticed that a lot of priests were lined up outside the cathedral and that the form was to go up to one and shake his hand. I wanted to get some of whatever was going, so chose the best-looking one to approach. I held out my hand hopefully; he looked hard at me and hesitated perceptibly before shaking my hand. I am still wondering what he saw in me that caused him to behave in that way!
The first time we visit somewhere is often the best. It certainly was in the case of the Midnight Mass. I went to the Cathedral on Christmas Eve again once or twice, but it was nowhere near as good as the first time.
There was a very jarring incident during what was to be my final visit. We were a bit late and could only get seats in a side area with poor visibility. I didn’t enjoy the proceedings very much.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance: a man started shouting, “Let go of me” over and over again. I could see people surging forward in an arrow or inverted ‘V’ shape, but didn’t know what was happening. Someone told me later that a disturbed man had rushed forward to attack the Cardinal, knocking over some items on the altar.
I immediately thought of a woman I had seen in the Cathedral who made my alarms bells ring a bit. She was middle-aged, Latin looking and wore an expensive fur coat. She seemed out of it: her eyes were fixed and button-like. She was drifting around, perhaps looking for a seat. I had an idea that she was in some way connected with this incident.
Not long afterwards, I just happened to pick up a fiction book with ‘witch’ in the title while browsing in a bookshop. I opened it at a page where I read that a witch and a psychotic man are a lethal combination. I also learned that black magic practitioners can earn a lot of credit by disrupting a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I can’t remember the author or the exact title and I am writing from memory, but what a coincidence this was.
And so is this incident from Christmas Eve 2009:
“The Pope was knocked to the ground in a terrifying security scare just hours before his traditional Christmas Day message. Susanna Maiolo, vaulted over security barriers and dived on top of 82-year-old Benedict XVI, dragging him to the floor. Incredibly Maiolo, who is said to have a history of mental problems, was involved in a similar incident last Christmas Eve...
Medical experts said the Pope was lucky not to have broken any bones in the fall inside St Peter's Basilica at the beginning of the Christmas Eve Mass. He lost his mitre and staff and remained on the ground for a few seconds before being helped up by attendants. French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, also fell in the melee and was taken to hospital with a broken hip. He will be operated on in two or three days' time but is said to be in 'good spirits'.”
Read more here
Could something be operating through disturbed people?
The neighbour I accompanied to the first Midnight Mass told me that it was nothing like it used to be. Women would wear hats and kneel to kiss the Cardinal’s hand for example. It seems that much of the magic and mystery have gone and there is not much reverence left. Could this be the only explanation for the sort of disruptions described in this article from December 2014 or are evil influences at work?
“Catholic churches across the country are being forced to abandon their traditional midnight Mass on Christmas Eve because of drunken louts disrupting the popular services.
The services start on the stroke of midnight and are popular among mass goers as they are the first services of the Christmas festival.
According to a survey of 50 priests across England and Wales, many are reporting that fewer parishes will be offering midnight Mass this year, while others have been forced bring forward the service several hours...
Canon Alan Sheridan of St George's parish in York admitted that he moved his midnight service to 8pm after a streaker ran through the church. “
Read more here
I went to Westminster cathedral in the first place because of something I had read, probably in some New Age book. It was to the effect that if someone makes a suggestion to do something new, we should go ahead and do it provided that there are no strong reasons for refraining.
My neighbour made an intriguing suggestion, and as I didn’t feel reluctant to go to the Cathedral and there seemed to be no reasons for not going, I decided to give myself this new experience.
I am still wondering what my life would have been like if I had stayed at home that night.
Westminster Cathedral at Christmas:
I went to Westminster cathedral in the first place because of something I had read, probably in some New Age book. It was to the effect that if someone makes a suggestion to do something new, we should go ahead and do it provided that there are no strong reasons for refraining.
My neighbour made an intriguing suggestion, and as I didn’t feel reluctant to go to the Cathedral and there seemed to be no reasons for not going, I decided to give myself this new experience.
I am still wondering what my life would have been like if I had stayed at home that night.
Westminster Cathedral at Christmas:
