Missa Magpie
  • Hugh
    Posts: 198
    Last Monday week we sang a daily requiem mass for the dead (specifically for those who have died in war - it was Anzac Day the day before) during which a juvenile magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) strayed into Ss Peter and Paul Garran (Canberra, Australia).

    It was very distressed for a while, not being able to find its way out, despite our best efforts. Eventually, having given up, it settled down and, perching quietly on a pew, seemed to develop an interest in our proceedings (see photo attached).

    Immediately after the consecration, it started singing away lustily, ... it was a glorious elevation motet!

    After mass, we managed to coax it safely out an open window.

    Note that it came dressed in the appropriate liturgical colors for a requiem. How thoughtful!

    "Bless the Lord all ye works of the Lord."
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    Thanked by 7M. Jackson Osborn ServiamScores tandrews Lars Chris Garton-Zavesky CHGiffen GregoryWeber
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    How really nice an experience for you. No doubt that day will be remembered as special. Such things should happen more often because we are far from the only inhabitants of this world. To the mediaevals this would seem quite normal. I have a few times seen a bird fluttering around the rafters trying in vain to find a way out.
    Thanked by 1Hugh
  • CatherineS
    Posts: 690
    Lovely!!!
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    I was once doing the Via Crucis in Fatima and a very friendly wild dog accompanied us for a good chunk of it. He clearly was a wild shepherding dog of some variety that had been living alone up in the hills; he was quite rugged (and wounded, bless his doggy heart). But I swear this dog smiled at us. I have a picture on an old hard drive somewhere. He was just content to be nearby while we prayed.
    Thanked by 1GregoryWeber
  • CatherineS
    Posts: 690
    A stray dog participated in a Via Crucis I was following once. He took a spot right in the first row of folks and walked at our pace, keeping his place neatly. He seemed pleased to be part of the procession.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Anzac = Australia, New Zealand......?
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    ANZAC: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

    Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918). Now it is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served".
    Thanked by 3sdtalley3 Chris Garton-Zavesky Hugh
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    We once had a stray bird that had gotten into the building. During mass, it would start flying when the organ started. During the processional for a rather unpopular priest the bird flew back and forth over the reverend priest. Many concluded it definitely was not the Holy Spirit descending.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen GregoryWeber
  • Hugh
    Posts: 198
    MJO, "To the mediaevals this would seem quite normal."

    Indeed.

    I don't have my source in front of me but there's an entry in a letter of Fr Robert Hugh Benson in the early years of last century. It went something like this: "I went to mass at St Peter's (Rome) this morning. During Communion, there was a cat sitting quietly on the altar rail. Nobody seemed surprised."

    Love it!

    God bless.
    Thanked by 3M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen ServiamScores
  • Hugh
    Posts: 198
    Actually, MJO, I've unwittingly come up with a new argument (pat. pend.) against the Novus Ordo: how would a postlapsarian cat and magpie, actively participating, negotiate the Sign of Peace? :-)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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