A personal quest to find a mass to move me

Since my most recent visit to Charleston in October, and in particular, since attending mass at the cathedral there, I've been on a quest of sorts. I'm looking for somewhere to attend mass that has a similar combination of inspirational architecture, gorgeous artwork and sensational music. In my search, I discovered that the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception celebrates a solemn mass with their choir every weekend, which sounded like it had potential. Unfortunately, most weekends during the school year, I need to be at my parish so my girls can attend CCD. In addition, a solemn mass, with its extra ritual elements, tends to be longer than the standard mass my daughters are used to, and also involves the use of incence, which my girls have yet to learn to appreciate. All of which meant that my options for attending mass there were somewhat limited.

As the long Thanksgiving weekend approached, it became clear that the girls wanted to spend the weekend at my mother-in-law's. I would need to go out to pick them up on Sunday, but that still would give me time to drive into DC to attend mass at the Basilica. And so I did.

It has probably been more than a decade since my last visit to the Basilica, and I guess my memory of the beauty of the place had faded over time. It is a huge building (the largest Catholic church in the US, and claims to be in the top 10 largest churches in the world), but it still felt warm and welcoming. The mass was more-or-less what I expected, though at an hour and a quarter in length, it was actually a bit shorter than I had anticipated (the standard mass at my parish can go that long if my pastor is celebrating). The music was nice (the organ is truly impressive...during the prelude, there were low notes that you didn't hear so much as feel) and the choir was good. But when compared to the music from the cathedral in Charleston, it felt a bit pedestrian. Part of that might be the season...this was the first Sunday in Advent, so the Gloria was omitted, which reduced the role of the choir somewhat.

I'm looking at the calendar, trying to figure out when I might be able to attend my next mass there. I'm thinking that I might give it a try with my daughters, just to see how they do. Since my older daughter joined the youth choir at our parish, I expect she might take an interest in the music. Perhaps we can attend mass on the Sunday after Christmas...