Mass in Italian in North Africa

The 6pm mass was different to the English mass I went to last week. It had the feeling of being an occasion. The congretation were, I would guess more than 100 in number. There were a number of families. There were a dozen or so nuns, especially Carmelites. One of them was at the front with a number of little girls, and I would guess that she was their teacher. The Epistle was in English, and the Homily was given twice, in Italian and English. Mostly, though, it was in Italian, which was fine: I already know the texts in English, so was able to follow the proceedings, though not to join in as much as I would have liked.

Afterwards, outside, people were gathered in small groups, some of them smoking, all of them chatting in English or Italian. It was a bit weird to walk down the street and “back” into Libya, after spending an hour there.

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