The local Catholic Church in Doue la Fontaine has some beautiful shrines to the side of the main altar, as the picture above indicates. A candle was lit before the image of Our Lady and the children chose to pray here for their own mother.
Tomorrow we leave the Loire and head for the coast of Brittany. Because we will be busy packing up and erecting the tent tomorrow we will hold a mass in our tent this evening.
My little home communion set is packed and I have even packed an Alb and stole. We will offer the mass for all in the parish back home in Pembury. See you soon…
Hello Father Ed,
Have you been able to say any private Masses in any of the local churches that you have visited. I have heard that at St Peters many visiting clergy book the side chapels for this purpose?
God Bless,
Patrick.
What I find in France is difficulty of getting in touch with local clergy, esp in the rural areas, as they have very many churches under their care (once was in a parish in Brittany with one elderly priest and 12 churches). If you can, I’m sure permission will be readily granted but you will probably have to provide everything as local help (e.g. a sacristan) is unlikely to be available.
At St Peter’s Rome, you can try booking a Mass slot through the sacristy (by phone or fax), or if you turn up most days at 7 am, they can usually allocate an altar for you (but without a server). They will require a priest’s ID, such as a celebret. Everything else including alb, chasuble, linens, vessels etc will be provided.