Sunday in Strasbourg. Pentecost Sunday in Strasbourg. I’m off to the Cathedral for the 9:30 AM Mass.

The Cathedral is a skyscraper amidst three or four story buildings. With the tallest tower in Europe from 1647-1874, this gothic Cathedral is distinctive. It is certainly not hard to find. Since I’m early, I walk to the east and then the south. I want to see the light reddish sandstone lit by the early morning sun. While not as many exterior statues as Reims Cathedral, the exterior has a harmonious beauty like Amiens. Beautiful.

I join 300-400 others. Some French. Some obviously members of this church. Some tourists like me. Most of us strangers to each other. Even while I’m having some trouble hearing (I bought an ear wax removal kit yesterday), I don’t have any difficulty hearing this organ prelude. It is as if the organ is right next to me! After the service I look up, I am directly underneath the organ!

After a dozen male choir members enter, the processional begins. Seven altar boys, four priests in Pentecost red robes, of whom one is a Bishop, two women, and one cross-bearer. I take a double look at him. He is in a blue uniform with a white sash, and a blue tricorn hat. Think Napoleonic era!

With incense burners swinging, the individuals move to their various places. For a 75-minute service, the service moves fairly quickly. The male choir sings several wonderful Gregorian style pieces. A priest prays the invocation followed by several responsive readings back and forth. After the two women walk to the lecturn, they read two passages. One woman reading in French; the other woman reading in German. Heh, it is Pentecost Sunday. But, then the German border is only 2-3 miles east, so maybe most of the church members are bilingual!

One of the priests delivers a brief sermon. I hear Saint Luc, Pentecote, diversite, universal, eclectique, and a few other words. Even I can tell that this is a Pentecost sermon. Following the sermon, seven or eight men and women collect the offering. Behind them, a man with an iPad, or is it a large Android phone placed in a basket which allows individuals to give electronically. Several do. A convenient touch. We pass the peace. Not really awkward even though most of us are strangers. Eye-contact, some words (in several languages around me), and a smile. Voila!

The Eucharistic prayers begin. Several people, including the young nun in front of me, kneel on the hard stone floor. Tough on the knees! Since I am Protestant, I don’t go forward to receive the Eucharist. I’m struck by how quickly the four priests at different stations serve the people.

The racially-distinguished African priest closes the service. He may be the resident Bishop from one of France’s former West African colonies. I hear in his prayer Francaise, Soudan, Ukrainians. At the very end, he blesses us.

A man from a West-African country blesses us, probably the majority white French. A man whose powerless ancestors may have been victimized by those powerful ancestors of the very individuals he was now blessing. Ironic. Reconciliatory. But then Pentecost Sunday is full of strange happenings!