St. Mary of Vernon

@ Jennifer — while I take complete offense to the beginning of your review and find it completely unrelated to the actual church experience at St. Mary of Vernon I respect your freedom to believe in what you wish.
As far as this church goes during big holidays you need to get there early for a desirable seat — this applies for just about any religious institution on their big holidays. On holidays, St. Mary of Vernon offers extended Mass services which is very nice — as well as the additional seating as Jennifer stated and the projector screens. The choir is outstanding. During non holidays, the church community is welcoming and active. There is a group for just about any area you would want to get involved in (check out their bulletin online!). The setting for the church is absolutely gorgeous with a big picture window behind the alter. The grounds outside to walk through are nicely landscaped.
Jennifer one last word: you should feel like a fraud if you are trying to receive communion in a Catholic Church! And as far as the crying or rowdy children — really? Sounds like you need church more than you realize.

I’m agnostic. I need to see it in order to believe it. I don’t believe blindly and because someone told me to do so. And I swear, the priests and other religious leaders at the church know this about me. It’s like they can see that I don’t really believe. I feel like a freakin’ fraud every time I get communion.
But… that is another story for another day. I blame this on whatever Catholic guilt I may have.
Anyhoo, if you are going to mass on the big holidays (ie: Easter and Christmas) — get there EARLY. Otherwise, you will have to sit with the latecomers (and the crying babies and rowdy children) in the original section of the church. The church was renovated a few years ago and it looks really beautiful.
Thankfully, they do have two large projector screens so you can see what’s going on with the mass. You can hear alright back there too, but if you want the real experience, try to snag a seat in the actual church section.
On the plus side, the choir is really great. Sometimes, they play upbeat tunes, which gets me out of my sleeping with my eyes open daze.
Bottom line, nice church, good choir, get there early to snag a seat. 3 solid stars since I’m not religious, but I can spare the hour to go if requested by family.