Worshiping Outdoors in Alabama

This past week was the first time I’ve been on the road for an extended period, venturing across the south over the course of nine days. I’m just now playing catch up.

My visit started in Alabama, in the river town of Tallassee. The parish there is St. Vincent de Paul, though that’s not where I spent the Vigil Mass.

Each Saturday in the summer, SVdP moves its Vigil Mass to the Church in the Pines, a nondenominational outdoor structure located just a few feet from Lake Martin. Vacationers, boaters and other summer sorts take a break from their leisurely activities to worship.

My experience featured virtually all of the elements of the outdoor Mass setting, beginning in the sweltering heat of an August day in Alabama, watching the darkening clouds behind Father Mateusz Rudzik while thunder rumbled in the distance, feeling the spray of the blowing rain when it finally broke through, then watching the skies clear again for a beautiful sunset.