A Monstrous Monastic Malapropism

Monstrous Monastic Malapropism
- By Vaughan Jones - ONE Scribe

At the green young age of 8, in 1961,
My family attended a Catholic Monastery.
In those olden days Bible scripture were read,
and the mass was still said, in Latin.
With no catechism lesson on this Sunday
I had to attend the mass with the adults.
Blah-de-blah; yawn.

Surprisingly, the sermon triggered an
alarm bell in my mind, unsettling me,
covering the evil practice of idol worship.
The priest expounded on Old Testament scripts
about worshiping Bahl and any idols,
plus some New Testament scriptures
reminding us of this very evil sin.

I scanned the interior of the monastery,
grimacing and in awe at what I saw.
Above the main altar, a huge crucifix,
At the head of the altar to my left were
statues of Mary and Joseph, and a crucifix.
To my right, another altar, this to the saints,
with a statue of Peter and some archangels.
Along the length of the left and right walls
were the Stations Of The Cross,
depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, where
one would give special devotion in prayer.

After mass, outside the huge double doors,
people gathered, thanking the priest
for his hard-hitting, wonderful sermon.
In all innocence, as a child, I asked the priest,
“Aren't the statues and the crucifixes
in the monastery also just idols?”
My step-dad chastised me severely
for asking of the holy father such
an insolent and silly question.

Slinking away and feeling grossly wronged,
I heard the priest say to my folks,
“This was actually a valid question, but
be rest assured that, in the Catholic church,
they are not idols but blessed by the Pope
and placed there to remind us to pay homage
to God, Jesus, Mary, and the saints”.

That day birthed my revulsion at religion.

- Amen -

© Copyright 2016 Vaughan Jones - ONE Scribe (vaughanjones at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.

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