I went to a Catholic school
But it was really one of those nominally Catholic schools that took on the RC prefix sometime in the 60s, probably as an attempt to keep brown people out.

By my time it was hard to tell the difference between us and any other non-denominational, bog-standard comprehensive. There were a few masses, a little more overtly religious stuff in the assemblies than most schools, but by-and-large the staff and pupils were Godless heathens, or at least, pretty secular.

In fact, it was my RE teacher who turned me on to atheism. He was a self-professed Catholic himself, but his various answers to Life's Big Questions (I could never decide if they were egregiously stupid or ingeniously subversive) made it clear to me that nobody with a faith could possibly be described as a rational person.

Here's an example- one day he was discussing baptism in other cultures, and he got talking about those who criticise Catholics for baptizing infants (freedom of choice etc.). His defence of the Catholic way was to suggest that people who don't raise their children to share their faith are like "the idiots who let their kids pick their own football team to support". As I say, I could never work out if he was trying to point out the arbitrary and superficial nature of organised religion, or if he was actually just an idiot.

Anyway.

One day a Bishop arrived. He had an Italian accent and turned up in full costume with an entourage. I had no idea who he was, and from the sheepish reactions of the staff, neither did they. The pupils had had no warning of this, and I suspect that it had been sprung on the school. So the headmaster summons the whole school into the hall for an epic, sprawling, endless mass that seemed to go on for fucking ever.

By an hour or two in, most pupils were so bored that we had lost all sense of fake-civility and were beginning to chatter, giggle, pass notes, and generally pushed our luck to stave off boredom. Suddenly, the Bishop stopped the sermon, banged his fist on the table, and began ranting about how we were the worst, most awful people he had ever encountered. He was livid with rage, shouting, hurling insults, with us stunned into silence. The teachers looked like they wanted the ground to swallow them up - the headmaster just sat there with his head in his hands.

But we weren't even half way through - and unfortunately, the rigorous bollocking we had all just received had heightened the tension in the room, to the point where not giggling at the slightest thing had become a herculean effort. So there were 2000 odd children, all trying their darnedest not to laugh, with a ridiculously dressed, red-faced old man, with this crazy accent, condemning us all to a hell that hardly any of us actually believed in.

To make matters worse, some of us were carbuncular teenagers of the male variety, and nearly every phrase we heard was to our ears crammed full of the most lurid unintentional double entendres imaginable. It was unbearable. I remember at one point during a hymn I was actually lying on the floor underneath my seat, rolling with laughter, tears streaming from my eyes, hoping that I could let out all the giggles before the hymn stopped. And it just went on and on and on, the Bishop getting more and more disillusioned as time wore on, until finally, the eucharist.

Knowing that the end was finally in sight, we had all settled down a bit. People were lining up for their bit of cheap wine and crackers that some believe actually transformed into the flesh and blood of their Lord Jesus Christ. All was going fine. You could tell the Bishop just wanted out by this point, so for the first time that day we were all singing from the same hymn sheet, so to speak.

And then Michael Langford spat out his wafer. Into his hand. To look at. And the Bishop saw him do it. I have literally (*literally*) never seen anybody go so fucking bat-shit mental in my life. It was like we'd broken his mind and he'd finally snapped any remaining tether with the real world. First, he started pumping his fists in the air, and did a little spinning jump. His face seemed to contain every drop of blood in his body, but he was just too angry to yell, and started making these bizarre 'eep eep' noises. And the room erupted into uncontrollable laughter.

We laughed and laughed. The sound completely drowned out the raging, ranting, red-faced Bishop. The worse we felt about it, the funnier it got, and by the time the laughter subsided - the Bishop and his entourage were gone, leaving us with a sad, broken headmaster who barely could summon the spirit to tell us off.

As far as I can remember, there were absolutely no consequences for this, and the staff never spoke of it again. Although from that point onwards, for some reason, I have always found masses really, really funny.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 2 Sep 2011, 16:36, 8 replies)

That was fantastic
"Eep! Eep!"
heh.

I remember at one school mass a mate of mine pretended to put the wafer into his mouth but instead attempted to palm it. The priest spotted him, and chased him down the hall until he ate it. That went down well with the teachers.
(richardm, Fri 2 Sep 2011, 16:41, closed)

This has to win, really, doesn't it?

( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Fri 2 Sep 2011, 16:51, closed)

Can't
Since the topic is "Churches, temples and other holy places" and not "schools". Bloody good story, though. Is that when the RCC started collectively taking it out of the planet's entire child population?
(ubergeekian, Fri 2 Sep 2011, 19:59, closed)

Given that it was Mass in a Catholic School though...
I think that counts. I know it's not technically consecrated ground (at least least the one I work in isn't to the best of my knowledge) but it's still a holy place is it not?
( Sonic James Doom forgetting the date since... umm..., Sat 3 Sep 2011, 0:00, closed)

WAFER!?!?!?
IT WAS THE FLESH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS!!!!!
How dare the despicable little heathen not fulfil his canabalistic duty?!
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 2 Sep 2011, 20:15, closed)

It's only wafer thin...

( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Sat 3 Sep 2011, 10:33, closed)

Fuck off I'm full.

(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Sun 4 Sep 2011, 4:38, closed)

How are you feeling?
Better?
( snee held his breath since, Mon 5 Sep 2011, 12:22, closed)