St Stephens Catholic Cathedral

On the 15th of February I visited a Tuesday Morning Mass at St Stephens Catholic Cathedral in the Brisbane city. The Church was old, made of stone and old wood. It was a little higher than the buildings around it, and it definitely stood out from them. Next to the church was the original St Stephens Catholic Church, which was a small chapel that could house around 60 people, which was too small. Inside it was decorated with pillars, arches, stained-glasswindows and religious artifacts. The Mass was very traditional, there were set things to say at set times, some of which you had to stand up and say it yourself. The priest's clothes were traditional green with a white cross down the middle. The most traditional thing about the Catholic Mass was Holy Communion. The priest would pour out a big gold goblet of wine and a plate of bread. Only Catholics were allowed it, so we didn't get any. The Priest blessed the people he gave the bread to and crossed them, which is touching their head, their sternum and then both shoulders one at a time, saying the Father (head), the Son (sternum) and the Holy Spirit (left and right shoulder). After eating the bread, they walked over to someone holding the gold goblet who held the goblet for the people to drink, and then that person wiped it with a cloth. From this I thought that the Catholic Church must be the Christian Religion that has the most diseases. We all got to go up to the priest and get a blessing with oil, who crossed them. The Catholic Church is run by the Pope, then the Patriarchs, then the Major Archbishops, Cardinals, Primates, Metropolitans, Archbishops, then the Priests. Overall, the Catholic Church was a new experience and I will remember it always. It was very different from my church, and the best part of it was the awesome stained-glass windows.
- Eden Gorry