Think about the life of monks at La verna Monastery. It is natural that they might sometimes feel loneliness and miss people although they voluntarily chose isolation of their life for spiritual growth. For them, Sunday might give a chance to see people and feel mood of world outside.
See his smile and read his facial expression, enjoyable? or tired?
A group of visit from Japanese high school seemed to be made. Standing in line of school girls to look around the monastery reminded me of high school days. After some time, there was another guide tour of the abbey explained by monks. I also followed them.
While traveling in Europe, I attended Mass as much as possible, whether in a cathedral or a small church. The situation in Europe here seemed to be no different from ours. People have already lost interest in religion. Regarding spirituality, institutionalized religions already failed in appealing to modern mankind not any more. There were only a few old people in Mass. Easy to see the vacant seat.
There were quite a few people in the Mass not like other churches located in the middle of town. Here on Sunday was crowded with people because of retreats or visit for sightseeing. I was in memory of Mass at my high school days, over 30 years ago.