Mass in the Crypt

Eleanor and I went to Mass today in the crypt of the Cathedral of San Salvador, the place of Monseñor Oscar Romero's tomb. This photo shows the tomb with the four evangelists at the corners, holding the Gospels, the Word for which Monseñor died. I've been to Mass in the Crypt many times now, and I'm always moved by the music of the Misa Salvadoreña, the offerings that come from the hearts of the people, the liturgy that is both passionate and intimate. Mass in the Crypt has some of the feeling of an underground church - which of course it is, literally. In the divisions which still, sadly, haunt El Salvador 15 years after the signing of the peace accords that ended the uncivil war, this is the people's church, or the left-wing church, depending on who would be looking and describing. There's always a rich combination of people, including pilgrims like me from other countries, people in from the countryside, city people, middle class and poor, old folk and young ones. Today's Mass was powerful and unconventionally inclusive and it left me longing for enough Spanish to understand every last word.