Bring Your Own Missal, really??

On Sunday, I ventured into the local Catholic church for Sunday Mass. I went to the St. Mauritius Kirche, about a 10 minute walk.


I was a bit nervous- having never been to mass in Germany- but thought to myself, "Hey, they'll have a missal or something, then I can follow along with the responses and I'll gradually learn what to say."

I walked up to the brick fortress (as almost all churches in Berlin seem to be), the sound of bells drawing me in on the rainy morning. I entered the church- there appeared to be no bulletin, and the church had no website, but hey I'm just here for church, right? I walked up to a pew in the middle and realized there were no missals, or hymnals. Hmmm...maybe I missed them walking in?? I went back to the foyer, looked around for books and the like, but none were to be found. Hmmm...Then I noticed people already walking in with books. It seems, at least at this church, that we operate under a policy of bring your own missal/hymnal to church!

The mass was very nice, began with the sound of a bell, whereupon everyone stood up and the organ began to play. Then the priest and about 10 Seminarians and 3 alter servers filed in, from the side and rather not down the center aisle. At the end of mass, they once more filed down the side aisle, and after the priest did not guard the door to shake everyone's hands- kind of a disappointment, not going to lie. There was a lot of singing, which was great- but I hadn't brought my own missal/hymnal- so I was out of luck! I was sitting next to two old women, both who didn't have the missal/hymnal, but clearly knew every song already. The general population of the church consists of old woman, a few older couples, a smattering of families, and the rare young and seemingly single person such as me.


As I left, I noticed there was a message board, but it was raining. Provided it does not rain next Sunday, I will have to see what goes on at this church! Wikipedia has told me of the existence of an elementary school connected to the church, and of a Seminary. Clearly the Seminary is to be believed, given the large number of Seminarians.

Today, in search of the mysterious missal/hymnal,I traveled to the one Catholic Book Store I was able to find online in Berlin. It was a charming shop I shall be frequenting again. I was able to find the book- called a Gotteslob, meaning more or less "God's Praise" in English, and had a marvelous conversation with the shopkeeper. In addition to being very helpful, she complimented my German and told me she would have taken me for a true resident of Berlin, had I not told her I was from California! Later, when I got home, I started to go through the book...it has all the songs and a nice collection of prayers for nearly every time of day and event or stage of life- but I have yet to find a complete order of the Mass! I am not even sure what that would be called in German. I have a feeling I will be going back to the shop sooner than anticipated!