Went to a Mass for my Grandmother (or my Mom's Mother) and it was beautiful!

So, about 2 years ago, my Grandmother died of old age. Well, I was at work and my Mom texted me, and we got to talking a little bit. My Mom said “Well I’m going to Mass for your Grandmother, they’re dedicating the mass to her.” And I said “You know…I never said goodbye to Grandma when she passed.” (Make a long story short, my Grandmother, within minutes from coming back from the hospital, she passed away. I was planning on going to see her, in hopes of being able to see her before she passed, but I didn’t, and I wasn’t able to say goodbye to her). So I told Mom “Maybe I’ll go to the Mass for her when I get off of work.”

So, I decided to go. The mass was beautiful, and Grandma was there. Mom pointed out that there was an angel above the Mary statue in Church (the sun, at the right angle was pointed towards one of the stain glass windows, and we saw a reflection of the window on the wall, and the angel that was on that stained glass window appeared above the Mary statue. Mom said that Grandma was in the mass with us. My Mother’s family was also in the Church at the time, and it was just really nice. I also found out that my legs must be too long or something, cause when I tried to kneel on the kneelers, my legs felt cramped LOL!

Then, the whole family decided to go to my Grandmother’s grave. I basically said that I was sorry to my Grandma for not being there before she passed. I hope beyond the grave she’s able to forgive me. Mom’s family told me that she forgave me, but I’m not sure if she did or not.

Something that surprised me was I was able to remember all the words that the congregation says during the Mass. I was even able to remember the rosary they do before Mass, and even some of the extra prayers they did before Mass started.

When my Grandmother was still alive, even though when she was young she was hard to get along with, whenever my brothers and I would come over, she always treated us nice. I mean, every time I went over there she always offered me tea or soda. And if there was food she’d allow me to have some. And she was always asking how me and my brothers were doing. I always felt a tinge of guilt going over there, cause I don’t really know my Mother’s side of the family all that well. So anytime I’d go over there, it was always very awkward. I never knew what to talk about, or what to joke around about. But, Granny was always very kind to me and my brothers, and I’m glad I have nothing but fond memories of Granny before she passed. And, even though my Mother suffers because of all the past trauma she had to endure, I remember before her Mother passed that, when Granny was in the hospital during the last few weeks of her life, my Mother finally sat down and had a very healing conversation with her Mother. And, I was very glad she had the conversation she had with Granny, cause ever since she had that conversation, she’s on her way to healing. I don’t know if Mom will ever fully heal, but I’d like to think that maybe this is the start of her healing.

Source (or God) is good.

1 Like

Thank you so much for sharing this moving story! It is a nice tribute to your Grandma and your Mom as well.

The Mass is where Heaven and Earth meet. We will never be closer (this side of Heaven).

You must be a baby, because they changed some of the responses at Mass back in 2011, under Benedict XVI. It was done to be a more literal translation of the Latin.

It was funny, because you could tell who had not been to Church in a while, because they were not aware these changes had taken place, or maybe they had and forgotten.

I liked the part about your legs being too long too. That made me chuckle. I once left a review for a Church we visited who had what felt like Tempur-Pedic® kneelers. So comfortable! : )

I have been to other Churches where they do not have kneelers and you had to kneel on the carpet and my chin nearly touched the back of the pew in front me. You have long legs, so you probably would prefer this : )

Prayers for your Mom and her journey of reconciliation with her Mother. We can’t change the past, but we can choose to love none-the-less.

1 Like

Cade,

Well…so my legs were so long cause I could feel my legs brush up against the kneeler behind me, so I was like cramped when I had to kneel lol.

But yeah, it was nice. I dunno if Mom is healing or is just going through the motions like normal, but I’ll always love her. It’s the only gift I can give her, cause the only people she has in her life that she trusts is her sons. So….I’ll do what I can to keep loving her.

1 Like

Kneelers: I think that some of them were not designed for people with long legs. I’ve seen some tall guys lower the kneeler in the pew behind them before they kneel themselves. And some of the kneelers are too far forward, not only causing a problem for people with long legs in the pew ahead but making it hard to kneel upright, instead causing people to lean backward a little when they kneel. In the 1990s I had a herniated disk in my back, for which I received Anointing of the Sick, but I’m still careful, and now I’m in my 70s and have arthritis. I usually can kneel for all the appropriate parts of the Mass but sometimes I sit for a while. Anyway, Jake, you got me started on kneelers! Thank you for sharing that story.

And, Cade, speaking of responses, what happened to “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again”? I think I haven’t heard that in years. And who decides what response to use? If it’s the priest, does he tell the organist ahead of time?

2 Likes