An Unexpected Mass

Sunday 24 August was an amazing day.
As background, I have been in Switzerland, staying with Karin and Min. My first two days have been summarised as photo albums in Facebook, and eventually I’ll get round to a fuller report, but I’m writing backwards first. So I start with Sunday.
It goes in four parts: The Russian Orthodox Church, A Vietnamese Lunch, A walk with Aston (borrowed dog) and Paragliding from France to Switzerland, which I took as the title of this entry.

The Russian Orthodox Church
I was supposed to go to Les Collections Baur on Sunday for a quick tour around the museum, which is famous for its Chinese collection. It was closed when we got there, but I was able to attend mass at the Russian Orthodox Church instead. I was thrilled. I have long wanted to see an Orthodox church, and it was even more of a privilege to have been able to attend mass.

What's different? No pews. More women wearing scarves. More beautiful children. Lots and lots of babies. Lots of old people too, who sat on chairs placed along the walls of the church. Meanwhile, everyone else gathered in the main part of the church, which was the size of a very large living room. People went to confession at the front of the church, in a corner. A priest dressed in blue and silver embroidered robes would then cover your head with his robe when giving absolution. Behind a partition, a group of young ladies led by an old man sang exquisite plainchant like what I expect to hear when I get to the gates of heaven.
Then suddenly Head Priest appeared. He wore a dome on his head. Also had heavily embroidered robes on. He was there to feed the congregation, while another priest recited a prayer in French. Pretty fast. Even Karin couldn't quite make out what he was saying, and she is French. In an orthodox church, the babies get fed first, with a spoon. Yes a communal spoon. No fear of H1N1 here boys and girls. Then the older kids are fed. No spoon. Finally the adults. There’s a lot happening during a Russian mass. At the side, there was also bread and wine for the kiddies. It’s very sweet scene. Karin noticed and commented that the kiddies were downing the wine like juice. On reflection, perhaps it was juice but one can't be sure. I did ask about the pieces of unleavened bread wrapped in white muslin, with identifying labels laid out on a table at the back of the church. A very kind Russian lady tried to explain to me in English, but realised the limit of her linguistic abilities and found someone who could explain in French for us. From what I understand, the bread is paid for beforehand, and when the priest bakes the bread he then sets portions aside for collection. It worked out really well for me, because I had thought I wouldn’t be able to go to mass but ended up with a wonderful experience at a different church instead. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of Mass, because I thought it would be disrespectful.