A altar server carries a candle at the start of Mass at St. Mary's Parish in the informal settlement of Mukuru Kwa Njenga in Nairobi Feb. 13. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)
CNS international editor Barb Fraze, who blogged on Saturday about her arrival in Kenya, shares with us the sounds of a typical Sunday Mass at a parish in the slums of Nairobi. (Listen above.) She notes in this podcast that the liturgy can last three hours and is punctuated with the sounds of bongos, keyboards, shakers and the spontaneous shouts of congregants. The choir practices three times a week to ensure that the liturgy is a true celebration.
Fraze and CNS visual media manager Nancy Wiechec are visiting Kenya with 10 members of U.S. diocesan mission offices. Their trip is being funded by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.
i am so excited to read about your time in kenya…our daughter is with you from the harrisburg pa diocese…we are following your trip closely and send many blessings your way…thank you for all you are doing
Joy! Surely very pleasing to the Holy Trinity that creatures not only feel joy but show it while re-presenting Calvary’s victory.
I can’t stand it and I have to say it is not what Vatican II ever authorised or envisioned. I was told once by an old priest of how beautifully Kenyans had sung chant Gregorian before the guff started..
We Europeans have such a romantic and indulgent way of viewing “rhythmic” Africa.
It is music….but is it fitting for the temple? NO
Beautiful! this is what UNIVERSAL is all about, and yes it’s fitting for the temple.