Gigantic centipedes
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    I see that Fr. Z has a superlative article about intervals of silence at Mass. He also manages to work in a reference to gigantic centipedes which made me shudder since I had my own encounter with a gruesome centipede a few weeks ago.

    While I was playing the Credo III during Mass I noticed to my horror a 7-inch centipede suddenly emerge from a crack in the wall and ooze its way to a perch inches from my right hand. Somehow I managed to finish the Credo without screaming and running away but as soon as it was finished I alerted a man in the congregation who is a martial arts expert since I thought someone with stealth and aim was needed (neither of which I possess to any degree) and sure enough, he finished off that ghastly critter on the first blow. Sheesh.
    Thanked by 2irishtenor CHGiffen
  • Jani
    Posts: 441
    That is hilarious....haaiiii YAH!
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    You would not like working with us. We have an ancient and venerable order of spiders that has resided in the organ chambers for 50 years. They are harmless, and getting rid of them would expose all of us to toxic chemicals. Not worth it.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    LOL, Charles! How big are they? That's the critical question. Little spiders aren't so bad, but I've had a phobia about centipedes ever since my sister told me they will embed themselves in your skin. Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but I like to give them lots of room.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Centipedes can bite, but their toxin is largely harmless. However, those bites can be quite painful and cause an allergic reaction in some with those particular allergies. I wouldn't handle them, but I wouldn't be that afraid of them, either.

    Our church spiders are common house spiders, so I am not too worried about them. They are, after all, Catholic spiders. My sister, on the other hand, runs screaming from the room at the sight of a spider.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    Speaking of vermin, at our Easter Vigil last year, while the priest was saying the exorcism prayers over the water, a huge bat appeared from nowhere, and repeatedly aggressively dive-bombed the choir in the loft, and the priest in the sanctuary, making continuous circles. The choir members were ducking, and some of the women were making noises that I was afraid were about to turn into shrieks. Meanwhile, I was directing, and this being our first Latin Easter Vigil, had to keep alert as to where Father was in the text. I managed not to duck, but that thing was huge, and I was scared it was going to attach itself to my mantilla. When Father was done with the exorcism portion, the bat disappeared and bothered us no more.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Sounds a bit diabolical, doesn't it? Maybe you were under attack by principalities and powers of the air. It could happen.

    We haven't had bats, but birds get in through open doors and it is very difficult to get them back outside. The last time, one lodged on the loft rail, then would fly back and forth the half-block to the altar when music started. Sometimes they sit in the rafters 40 feet up, and is equally difficult to get them down. They usually die and fall.

    I did find a baby rat snake in a basement restroom once, which made me wonder where the mother was. The basement has been excavated and remodeled since, so I can't imagine that problem happening again.
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    Charles, your mention of the snake in the basement restroom just jogged a memory! During a children's Saturday rehearsal before the start of Holy Week, I went down to our basement restroom, without my glasses on. It appeared that the previous person to use the bathroom facilities had not exercised any social niceties, but as I turned to go to another stall, I looked a second time, and it was actually a bat in the toilet water - alive! One of the dads was present and dispatched the creature.

  • JPike1028
    Posts: 95
    We just recently had a chipmunk streak across the front of the altar during mass a couple of weeks ago. Pretty ridiculous to watch.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Sounds like you have bat problems. We have had them in the bell tower before, but never in the church.
  • rob
    Posts: 148
    Quis ignorat quod omnia hæc manus Domini fecerit?
    In cuius manu anima omnis viventis, et spiritus universæ carnis hominis.
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,394
    Dynamic equivalent translation =

    That's God's job
    and Job's God.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    We just recently had a chipmunk streak across the front of the altar during mass a couple of weeks ago. Pretty ridiculous to watch.


    Are you sure it wasn't a squirrel?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16fG1sDagU
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Love the squirrel song. I remember when that first came on the scene. Stevens was a funny fellow.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    The church where I had my first job had a choir loft that was infested with bats. As soon as you began playing the organ you'd see them flying around behind the facade.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    I guess this is why we need Fr. Z's Liturgical Beretta.
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