Anderer Tag, andere Heilige Messe

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(Another day, another Mass....)

Heilige Messe at Aachener Dom was fantastic. As a weekday morning Mass, it was small, sparsely attended (mostly by nuns, and at least one monk) and music-free. However, it was a great opportunity not only to see, but to experience the inside of this ancient church. I believe it's the oldest in Germany and one of the oldest in northern Europe. Out of respect, I did not take any photographs inside, not even after the service. It was very dark anyway and they wouldn't've turned out too well.

There are a lot of nuns in Germany and Austria, by the way. Mostly older women (the vocation, like Masonry and Eastern Star and practically everything else, is in decline), but I've seen at least one young nun and at least one African nun. I've seen at black, blue and grey habits, short traveling skirts and long formal ones. I feel sorry for the poor sisters in this heat. Anyway, it's cool seeing nuns around, and especially cool attending Mass with them.

Speaking of Masonry, I haven't seen a single Masonic building or emblem anywhere, nor was there any mention of it in the Mozart museums even though his membership and his use of Masonic imagery in his music was well-known. Only in the Mucha museum in Prague. Drea and Herr Schröer pointed out a Masonic building somewhere on our drive through Dresden, but I didn't look fast enough and I missed it. 😞 I have the impression that Masonry is more private here; besides which, Lodges and Grand Lodges were dissolved and repressed under the Third Reich (and, in the east, socialism as well) and I'm not sure to what extent they have really rebuilt.

On to Trier this evening...!

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Photos

Aachener Dom
The oldest cathedral in northern Europe and burial site of Karl der Große (a.k.a. Charlemagne). I don't know much about these sorts of things, but it seems to me there are a variety of building techniques and architectural styles going on here.