Dec 31, 2010

St. Josemaría Escrivá Chapel at Catholic Information Center

Where: St. Josemaría Escrivá Chapel at Catholic Information Center, 1501 K St NW, Washington DC, 20005.

When: December 31st, 2010.

Web: The CIC website is located here.

We attended the regular 12:05pm weekday Mass at the CIC.  The CIC is located in the heart of downtown Washington; it has a bookstore and chapel, and serves as a base for various Catholic groups and meetings. 

The core of the CIC is its 84-seat chapel, named in honor of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opes Dei, the group that currently operates the CIC.  Given that it was a holiday today, only a dozen or so people were in the congregation.  A single priest celebrated Mass with one assistant who served as lector and alter server.  The Mass followed the standard rite, though had only one reading before the Gospel.  Only the host was offered for Holy Communion.  The priest gave a homily on the appropriateness of reviewing God's blessings in 2010 at the end of the year.  We sang hymns at the opening and closing of the Mass.  Mass was preceded by a recitation of the Angelus and followed by a recitation of the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.