Skipping Mass

Skipping Mass

Our Lady of Lourdes Church

Philadelphia, PA

1966

I don't know how I got the nerve to skip church.  I was only 12 at the time. I was in 6th grade and attending the Catholic school.  We were all expected to attend the Children's Mass at 9 AM every Sunday.  Attendance was taken by the nuns and the kids who did not attend were questioned and interrogated on Monday.  They had to have a good excuse or they and their parents paid a price.

So Rosemary, Kathy and I would check in and somehow sneak out when the opportunity presented itself.  We wandered over to the Haddington Diner where we pooled our money designated for the church collection.  We each had a quarter which allowed us to buy a coke and an order of fries and three songs on the jukebox. Each week we listen to Silence is Golden by the Tremeloes. I don't remember any other favorite songs. 

We had to pay attention to our time as we had to greet the nuns on the way out of Mass. When we finished up, we snuck back in the church during communion and mingled in the crowd and miraculously never got caught.

When I was in 7th grade, Kathy and I went to a different school so we didn't have to go to the children's mass anymore.   I don't know who Rosemary corrupted that year to follow her to the diner.