# Catholic Church with mass in English Language in Charente



## kelfish

Hi,

I am living in Ruffec, Charente for a while and would like to know if there are any Catholic churches in the area or reasonably close where there is a Catholic mass in English. 

Many thanks for your anticipated assistance


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## Bevdeforges

I don't believe I've heard of a Catholic Church in France with mass in English. How many churches back in the UK have services in French? Or any other language, for that matter?

There do seem to be a couple churches in France that offer the mass in Latin. Latin Mass Directory - A Catholic directory of approved traditional Latin Masses
Cheers,
Bev


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## Leforgeron

kelfish said:


> I am living in Ruffec, Charente for a while and would like to know if there are any Catholic churches in the area or reasonably close where there is a Catholic mass in English.


Check out the english mass possiblities in this link:

Le moteur de recherche de l'Eglise catholique

Search and you will find as they say.

But I find the mass to be much more beautiful in french than in english. So you might want to get yourself a french missel and give it a go. Two birds with one stone since it is also a language lesson.

La Paix avec vous.


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## 95995

Bevdeforges said:


> I don't believe I've heard of a Catholic Church in France with mass in English. How many churches back in the UK have services in French? Or any other language, for that matter?
> 
> There do seem to be a couple churches in France that offer the mass in Latin. Latin Mass Directory - A Catholic directory of approved traditional Latin Masses
> Cheers,
> Bev


There are indeed Catholic churches in France that conduct Mass in English, including Paris and here in Pau. I haven't been able to find one close to where the OP is living, though. I believe it's possible to get a Missal that has the French and English versions of the Mass alongside each other.


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## DejW

An interesting post, and the poster has received some useful replies.

There are some activities in French in France that are easier than one might think. For example doctor / dentist visits, car repair and the Messe..... they use a limited vocabulary that you can look up beforehand and take a Eng / Fr dictionary with you. In church services there is a lot of repetition, so you get several attempts!

I agree with LF above that the Messe in French is beautiful and moving - and I say that as an atheist. I admit to enjoying the Messe with my French wife - good words for all to note and you cannot ignore the effect of Christianity on Western culture, politics, language...and a lot more!

Just to be pedantic (where are you EH?) the original poster asked about a "Catholic Mass".....and generally understood to be "Roman Catholic". However there are several Churches that claim to be "catholic"....including the Church of England.....funny old world?

I sincerely hope the original poster finds a good English speaking Mass, or is brave enough to try it in French. I've known 2 expats who were Roman Catholic and the local church made them feel very welcome - even with their limited French skills.

Amen....DejW



kelfish said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am living in Ruffec, Charente for a while and would like to know if there are any Catholic churches in the area or reasonably close where there is a Catholic mass in English.
> 
> Many thanks for your anticipated assistance


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## kelfish

Thanks for the replies. I did not think I would find anything but it was worth a try. 

I hoped that there may be the odd one with so many expats living in the area.

If anybody has anything to add please feel free.


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## 95995

DejW said:


> An interesting post, and the poster has received some useful replies.
> 
> There are some activities in French in France that are easier than one might think. For example doctor / dentist visits, car repair and the Messe..... they use a limited vocabulary that you can look up beforehand and take a Eng / Fr dictionary with you. In church services there is a lot of repetition, so you get several attempts!
> 
> I agree with LF above that the Messe in French is beautiful and moving - and I say that as an atheist. I admit to enjoying the Messe with my French wife - good words for all to note and you cannot ignore the effect of Christianity on Western culture, politics, language...and a lot more!
> 
> *Just to be pedantic (where are you EH?) the original poster asked about a "Catholic Mass".....and generally understood to be "Roman Catholic". However there are several Churches that claim to be "catholic"....including the Church of England.....funny old world?
> *
> I sincerely hope the original poster finds a good English speaking Mass, or is brave enough to try it in French. I've known 2 expats who were Roman Catholic and the local church made them feel very welcome - even with their limited French skills.
> 
> Amen....DejW


I'm in Pau, DejW (too far for the OP). There are Roman Catholic services here in English. There are, however, more Anglican services in English here than RC. Local historical reasons for both - Pau was once considered 'la ville anglaise'  There are also lots of RC services in English in Nice - but that's too far, too.

You can


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## Colburn

kelfish said:


> I am living in Ruffec, Charente for a while and would like to know if there are any Catholic churches in the area or reasonably close where there is a Catholic mass in English.


Does it really matter? As God understands all languages it surely doesn't matter to him. I am a former head altar boy (who knew the entire mass in Latin) and I can say that you should learn the mass in French and roll with it.

If understanding the homily is important to you you should record it with your phone and use Google Translate to find out what your priest has said.

Attending the mass is what's important.


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## DejW

Hi Coburn! I agree with you to some extent....but to participate in the Mass you need to feel comfortable with the language and proceedings around you. I understand why a non French speaking person would want the Mass in an understandable language. It is something very personal and very deep inside. 

I'm sure that as an Altar boy you have seen the theatrical and repetitive nature of the Mass. I'm not trying to be negative here.....if you want to take the people with you need both theatre and repetition. This has been well understood by great leaders over several thousands of years.

I'm an atheist, but I also understand that Man does not live by bread alone.

A simple question posed by the original poster that has some interesting consequences?

DejW



Colburn said:


> Does it really matter? As God understands all languages it surely doesn't matter to him. I am a former head altar boy (who knew the entire mass in Latin) and I can say that you should learn the mass in French and roll with it.
> 
> If understanding the homily is important to you you should record it with your phone and use Google Translate to find out what your priest has said.
> 
> Attending the mass is what's important.


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## 512346

Colburn said:


> Does it really matter? As God understands all languages it surely doesn't matter to him. I am a former head altar boy (who knew the entire mass in Latin) and I can say that you should learn the mass in French and roll with it.
> 
> If understanding the homily is important to you you should record it with your phone and use Google Translate to find out what your priest has said.
> 
> Attending the mass is what's important.


I have attended mass (not by choice I might add) many times and I like think I can pick up most French when spoken but in Mass....nope. They mumble. 


There is a very famous old Church in Paris where mass is only is conducted in English.

I can' imagine any church out side of a large major city in France having the mass in English.


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## Bevdeforges

Being an existential agnostic, I've just been more or less skimming this thread - but it does remind me of my Dad's displeasure with the Church when they changed to the vernacular. Part of the idea of the mass being in Latin was supposed to be (according to Dad) that no matter where in the world you were, you could understand and participate in the mass. That kind of makes sense if you think about it long enough.

But I leave the philosophical question to the believers.
Cheers,
Bev


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## DejW

....exactly, Bev, which is why the word "catholic" ( Greek...universal) is used....you could go anywhere in the world and understand the Mass or at least if you did not understand the Latin, the sounds, rythyms, responses would be familiar to you.

It was such a good idea that the same ideas are adopted by international marketeers.

DejW





Bevdeforges said:


> Being an existential agnostic, I've just been more or less skimming this thread - but it does remind me of my Dad's displeasure with the Church when they changed to the vernacular. Part of the idea of the mass being in Latin was supposed to be (according to Dad) that no matter where in the world you were, you could understand and participate in the mass. That kind of makes sense if you think about it long enough.
> 
> But I leave the philosophical question to the believers.
> Cheers,
> Bev


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## 95995

Colburn said:


> Does it really matter? As God understands all languages it surely doesn't matter to him. I am a former head altar boy (who knew the entire mass in Latin) and I can say that you should learn the mass in French and roll with it.
> 
> If understanding the homily is important to you you should record it with your phone and use Google Translate to find out what your priest has said.
> 
> Attending the mass is what's important.


Doesn't solve the confession issue, though.


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## ccm47

Yes I sometimes wonder where life would have taken me if Mass had not been in Latin and with it, its concept of universality. Mass on Sundays and one school day per week plus choir music, all in Latin. I loved it even before I started to learn it and French formally in secondary school. If I was abroad travelling and feeling homesick I found I could alleviate it just by attending a local service. It was like touching base since there was no Facetime then! 
Even now if ever I need to think about grammatical structures I still refer to Latin as everything made sense. Given that I went on to teach modern languages.......


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## Bevdeforges

And when you think about it, the Catholic Church isn't (wasn't) the only church to stick to their original language either. I assume Jewish kids still go to Hebrew School so they can learn to read the sources in the original, and Muslims have the Qoran in Arabic. (Not sure, but I think the Romanian Orthodox church in the area still does most things in Romanian. Possibly also true for the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## SoleilCouchant

Smeg, just curious, what church in Paris only does the masses in English? (Is it the American Church in Paris? Lol no clue but seems like a good guess  )

I went to various Catholic masses while in Paris and all were done in French, for the most part. The main church I frequented was La Madeleine in the 8eme. The priest there...he might even be American? I don't know. Either that or he has flawless, accent-less English. The mass was done in French, but during the homily...he would switch between both French and English. It was kind of funny. He'd make a point in French, and then summarize it in English. I liked practicing my listening skills with that! I suspect he did it to try to capture non-Francophones in the congregation, and English seems to be the secondary language of choice (well...and like I said, I get the impression the priest was a native English speaker anyway? Or bilingual, at the least).

Kelfish...All that just to say...I think in big city areas with lots of nationalities, like Paris, there is a chance you'll find some English. But I feel like it'd be hard to find outside of that. Have you tried a Google search for it? Or looking at the churches near you and/or asking them if they offer any masses in English? To make another point...I know some Catholic Churches in America will offer a Spanish mass. They don't all do this....and it's only 1 mass out of what, 10 that they give each weekend...but still... it might be worth asking around the churches themselves.

My final point...I guess I know enough French and Catholic masses well enough that it was easy for me to follow along in French, even 10 years ago when my French wasn't as good. It was actually funny/comforting in some odd way to see how alike they were between the two countries. A kind of universal structure and phrasing. (It might even be a good way to learn some French!) I guess the main part you'd miss out on is the homily. You basically know the rest already! So...go ahead and ask around if any local churches offer English. And if not, it is still cool to go in French, too ....


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## Bevdeforges

Soleil, I think the American Church in Paris is Protestant. There is, however, the American Cathedral in Paris. The American Cathedral in Paris which is Episcopal as I see from the website.
Cheers,
Bev


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## 512346

SoleilCouchant said:


> Smeg, just curious, what church in Paris only does the masses in English? (Is it the American Church in Paris? Lol no clue but seems like a good guess  )


I don't know to be honest. I was on a bateaux moche a month or so ago and they said it on the commentary as we passed it. 

I guess it is the one Bev said. It was American, that is for sure.


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## 95995

In Paris:

St Joseph's Church, 50 Ave Hoche
Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre
Notre Dame de Paris (of course!)


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## SoleilCouchant

Oh okay, American Church is Protestant...shows how much I know. I never went to it, but it was nearish where I lived.

And Everhopeful, okay maybe the St. Joseph's Church is the one Smeg heard about on the boat tour...their website says "English-speaking parish" so that must be it!

As far as the Basillica (Sacré-Coeur) in Montmarte and the famous Notre Dame de Paris...while they might offer _ some_ masses in English, they're not ALL in English, like what Smeg was referencing. I went to one mass at each randomly and they both were in French. But St. Joseph's might be the winner for the "everything done in English" mystery.


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## 95995

SoleilCouchant said:


> Oh okay, American Church is Protestant...shows how much I know. I never went to it, but it was nearish where I lived.
> 
> And Everhopeful, okay maybe the St. Joseph's Church is the one Smeg heard about on the boat tour...their website says "English-speaking parish" so that must be it!
> 
> As far as the Basillica (Sacré-Coeur) in Montmarte and the famous Notre Dame de Paris...while they might offer _ some_ masses in English, *they're not ALL in English, like what Smeg was referencing*. I went to one mass at each randomly and they both were in French. But St. Joseph's might be the winner for the "everything done in English" mystery.


Was he? Must have been a way back on this thread. However AFAIK there isn't one that does *all *their masses in English - they're on French soil and I believe the Vatican would expect them to at least offer some masses in the local language. I'm pretty sure that St Joseph's doesn't do all its masses in English. If someone is looking for all masses in English in France, I think it's wishful thinking. But that's just my opinion.

(I'm no longer a practising Catholic (and arguably no longer a believer) and haven't been for a very, very long time. I was invited to a Catholic mass in English shortly after I moved here, but declined).

Edit: Just checked - St Joseph's promotes itself as an English-speaking RC parish - so maybe it does do all its masses in English - not sure


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## SoleilCouchant

Everhopeful....



Smeg said:


> There is a very famous old Church in Paris where mass is only is conducted in English.
> 
> .


In my post last night, I asked Smeg which church that was and then Bev and I were throwing out some guesses. And Smeg answered that he wasn't sure, he just heard it on a boat tour. I thought you were responding to that, but maybe I was wrong.

If you read my post, you'll see that I like masses being in French and actually...that's why I asked Smeg which church that was, because it struck me as odd to think a church in France does them ALL in English, as I myself had never encountered that.


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## 95995

SoleilCouchant said:


> Everhopeful....
> 
> 
> 
> In my post last night, I asked Smeg which church that was and then Bev and I were throwing out some guesses. And Smeg answered that he wasn't sure, he just heard it on a boat tour. I thought you were responding to that, but maybe I was wrong.
> 
> If you read my post, you'll see that I like masses being in French and actually...that's why I asked Smeg which church that was, because it struck me as odd to think a church in France does them ALL in English, as I myself had never encountered that.


Actually, I edited my post because I checked their website. It may well be that St Joseph's does them all in English (I don't know).

For anyone interested, they also do confessions and everything else in English. But for weddings, you need to contact them at least 6 months in advance (and, of course, a wedding there wouldn't be considered legal in France unless you also get married at the relevant Mairie).


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## cristiaanamariesaint

kelfish said:


> Hi, I am living in Ruffec, Charente for a while and would like to know if there are any Catholic churches in the area or reasonably close where there is a Catholic mass in English. Many thanks for your anticipated assistance


 Did you find a Christmas mass in Ruffec?? I’m interested if so!


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