Every Sunday at 7 p.m., a mass like no other brings together 150 faithful on average at Saint-Ignace, the Jesuit church in Paris. Aimed at 18-35 year olds, the “mass that takes its time” (MT for regulars) lasts an hour and a half instead of the usual one hour. Created in October 1999, the MT has since been emulated in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille…
After the reading of the Gospel, instead of the homily, a twenty-minute silence is observed by the young people, who disperse throughout the church to meditate on the text of the day. Five minutes of discussion follow in small groups of two or three, and the celebration resumes its course with the universal prayer, written and read into the microphone by a few participants. When the Eucharist is being prepared, everyone gathers around the altar, placed in the center of the nave. A friendly provision “that changes everything”, according to one participant. Not to mention the quality of the “music team”, to which Blandine belongs: the singers are accompanied by two guitarists, a pianist, a violinist, a bassist…
Meditate on the Scriptures
“It is a completely classic mass except that there is a long pause around the Gospel, reserved for prayer. The latter is preceded by teaching on the text of the day, different from a homily,” explains Father Thierry Anne, Jesuit. “Pope Francis would like this Mass because he constantly calls us to meditate on the Scriptures,” he emphasizes. Coordinator of this service which always ends with a drink, Paul Rousselot, a theology student at the Loyola Paris faculties – the Jesuit university installed in the adjoining building -, observes: “The format of the MT is an adaptation of the vespers proposed by the Cardinal Martini, Saturday afternoon in Milan. Its vocation is to ensure a transition between the faith received from parents and a faith experienced personally. »
A doctoral student in physico-chemistry at the University of Paris-Saclay (Essonne), Blandine participates every two or three weeks. “We choose the songs. As I am also a member of the Word team, I sometimes read the texts in ambo and prepare the universal prayers,” she explains. And added: “I know that at Saint-Ignace, I will have twenty minutes to dedicate personally to the Lord. It’s like a date. I need this time to recharge my batteries.” Lawyer, Gabrielle, 24, concludes: “MT centers the liturgy on the essentials. It gives us the time to do it whereas in Paris, we live at a hundred miles an hour. »
