Mass

The one thing on our "to do" list after Florence was mass.  We had noticed the day prior while walking around that San Marco (St. Mark the Evangelist) on the Corso near Piazza Venezia offers a 10 p.m mass.  We thought it might be possible to make that post-Florence, and so we ended up late at night in a hot church with gaggle of the faithful.  It was a beautiful service--the second we have been to since we got here, the first being vespers at S. Maria di Trastevere.  S. Marco was extremely hospitable to foreigners, offering a printed service bulletin that we could (mostly) follow along in as the service progressed.  The pre-service Taizai music was a special bonus for Meredith, enjoyed the sing-along. A touching moment at the beginning of the service involved an elderly man who crossed the pews to Linda who has suffered from a severe cough to offer her a bottle of holy water as a possible cure for what ails her.  One of the most pleasant parts of the service was listening to Cecily try to keep up with the service.  Her Italian pronunciation, probably as a result of her early exposure to Spanish, is pretty impressive!  The service proceeded quickly and was a beautiful way to end the day.