This past weekend, my husband, Dan, and I attended Mass at St. James Cathedral in Seattle. Fr. Mike Ryan and his amazing team create a beautiful Mass experience in that grand structure.  When the notes of the monumental brass organ at one end combine with the soaring voices of the choir at the other, we folks in the middle are quite simply transported to a higher, lighter plane of worship and awe. 

Most of the Mass is sung or chanted, often employing the Latin versions of the usual prayers. As I listened and mouthed along to the Kyrie and others, I felt myself smiling with both my face and my heart. These sounds resonate back to my childhood at morning Mass at St. Euphrasia Church, and beyond that, to my Nonna.