Other places, different worship

[oopsorganist]

My young companion in crime, a guitarist of some talent and as a musician, very easy and pleasant to work with, has been on the trip of lifetime to Africa.
This morning I asked him if he had enjoyed himself. He replied that he had. He went on to say that the celebration of the Mass was much better in Africa.
He went on to explain. Apparently they have 3 hours of music - very good music. And then the priest gives a blessing and they go home.
(He does not usually talk this much).
Which does leave me wondering rather. In a cosmic sense of course.

[Southern Comfort]

What he would have noticed is the much more inculturated style of liturgy in Africa, as compared with here. He'd also have picked up the fact that the gathering rites — singing, prayer, dance, making holy the space, etc — typically take an hour and often more, before the Mass proper actually begins. People often have to walk considerable distances to be there, so it takes a while for the assembly to assemble. That, coupled with a much more expansive way of celebrating, means that most Masses would last three hours without difficulty, from beginning of gathering rites to final blessing and dismissal. And of course Masses in Africa are real celebrations, rather than "the perfunctory discharge of an obligation" as one of our distinguished English liturgists once described it (I think it may have been Fr Christopher Walsh).