Church of the Annunciation

Where: Church of the Annunciation, 3810 Massechusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016

When: Wednesday, March 9th, 2011.

Web: The parish's ADW listing is here; its own website is here.


We attended the 7:30pm Ash Wednesday Mass at the church in the Cathedral Heights/Cleveland Park area of DC.  The church was packed with congregants for this Mass at which ashes are blessed and administered to people.  Though not a Holy Day of Obligation, many Catholics attend Ash Wednesday Mass to receive the ashes and, perhaps in some cases, from a mistaken belief that it is a Holy Day.  In any case, it was wonderful to have the church full.  The congregation was largely white, though with many minorities.

A single priest celebrated Mass with the assistance of a cantor, organist, two readers, and altar server.  The Mass followed the standard rite, with the addition of the blessing and administration of the Ashes.  In his homily, the priest asked us not to make Lent solely an internal spiritual journey, but to share it with others.  In particular, he called us to invite someone back to church during the next 40 days.  This was a challenging but worthy note on which to begin the Lenten season.

Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University

Where: Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, 2365 6th St NW, Washington DC


When: Sunday, March 6th, 2011.


Web: Howard University's campus ministry website is located here.

We attended the weekly 10am Mass at the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel on the Howard University campus.  The college's chapter of the Newman Society organizes the weekly mass for the (seemingly small) Catholic community on campus.

There were about 18 people at this particular mass, including a sister and a six-member choir/band.  Because of the small number, the sister directed us all to sit on stage near the altar.  We were all very close together!  The mass followed the conventional rite.  We sang many parts of the mass, including the Profession of Faith and the Our Father.  The priest gave a homily about Jesus' command to act out our faith in all aspects of our life, be it at college, work, or elsewhere.