Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Life in a tourist town...

oh, how well I remember it...

Maybe we should get someone to stand in front of the basilica of St. Benedict and Scholastica here with a big sign saying, "Hic domus Dei est et porta cœli, so shut the hell up!"

Srsly people! Who told you it's OK to stomp into a church and talk in your normal outside-voice?

American tourists. Oh, che gioia...



~

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm hearing you Hilary - We have Eucharistic Adoration at a local NO church and the level of talking prompted me to put several signs around the church:

SILENCE PLEASE

You are entering into Our Blessed Lord’s presence

If you wish to speak, speak to Him only

Needless to say they were removed, so I put them up again and were removed a second time. It's a disgrace.

Therese
Australia

thetimman said...

I'm American, and I've travelled in Europe. I know about Americans. Certainly there is a reason for the stereotype.

But, you know, it's more than Americans. I've seen it in countless churches.

And I say it with some trepidation-- I've never heard so much vocalized aghast-ness at my family of ten as I did in Canada. 😉

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

Tim,

those people weren't there for Sext. They were just tourists. The kind of tourists I remember only too well from Victoria, stomping around, pointing at things and shouting to each other across the nave. They all stomped down to the Crypt church, which is the birthplace of Benedict and Scholastica, and you could hear them stomping and shouting and pointing at things down there too. When they came back up the stairs, you could hear them talking about their next stop (Cascia). You could almost hear the shock on their faces when they got up to the top of the stairs and saw monks praying the Office.

Yes! It's a real church, not a Disneyland ride. And those are real monks really praying, you boors.

thetimman said...

Birthplace of Benedict and Scholastica? Now that's cool.

But I probably would have pointed that out outside.

A blessed Advent to you.

If you think of it, can you offer up a prayer to Benedict and Scholastica for us in St. Louis on the eve of riots?