Mass at Porto Sé (Cathedral)

They broke ground on the Porto Sé in 1110 and completed it in 1737 — and we thought it took a long time to complete these blog posts. The Sé (“Sé” is how they say Cathedral in Portuguese, it has the same roots as “See”, like in the Holy See) is on a hill overlooking the river and much of the old section of Porto. We started our Camino from the Sé.

Starting our Camino with a Mass at Porto Sé seemed like a pretty good idea. Mass began at 11:00, so we arrived at the main Cathedral at 10:50 to get good seats. We must have been early because there didn’t seem to be any preparations going on. Tourists kept coming through and taking photos. Then, 11:00 approached and no Mass had begun. I ran out to go ask about Mass and confirm its time and saw a security guard standing by a set of double doors.

I asked about Mass (“Massa” in Portuguese), and he pointed to the doors behind him with his thumb. Mass was being held in Saint Vincent Chapel. He was standing there during Mass to keep the tourists out.

The chapel was pretty small, with a pew on the back, benches on the left and right sides, and a pew on either side as well. The back pew had three older women sitting there, and Mass had begun. The lector was already reading when we arrived, so we sprinted to the back bench along the right side. A priest and a deacon were celebrating the Mass. That was it. Just eight people in total, including Laura and me.

The lector was a small woman with thinning dark hair, wearing a dark skirt, white blouse, and a burgundy sweater over her blouse. It turns out she was also the cantor, and her singing voice did not match her body frame. Then, she belted out the Psalms, filling the whole room with her beautiful voice. It was pretty magical and made the Mass special, even though I didn’t understand any of it.

As we were sitting on the back bench, we noticed that the deacon was also sitting there, on the other end. It felt like we were intruding in his space, so we quietly moved to the pew in the front.

Resting Place

If you look closely at the photo above, you will see the calla lilies and two gray slabs on the floor. On even closer inspection, you can see a candle. This little area was roped off to demark the burial place of three bishops whose names are inscribed on the stones. While it is a Catholic tradition to bury the dead on church grounds, even in a church, having their memorials actually in a chapel where they were remembered unceasingly by flowers, candles and prayer was unusual and moving.

After the Mass

After Mass, the same security guard opened the doors and tourists started coming in and taking pictures. So, I broke out my camera and did the same.

This celebration of the Eucharist was one of our highlights of the Camino. The intimate setting along with the cantor’s booming voice made this the Mass at Porto Sé one to remember.