Mass at Mont St Michel

but the main tip I'm hearing is to just view MSM from a distance and
skip going in because of how busy, packed, and overpriced everything
is

Where are you hearing this ? To me it could be equally applied to any tourist site in the world. And is equally ridiculous. Would you also only look at the Louvre, the Tower of London, and the Coliseum from the outside because they are crowded inside? Why drive all the way there and then just stare at it from the mainland? BTW, I've never heard of any church charging to attend a mass, so I'm not sure why "overpriced" would be a factor. If you arrive for early mass, you'd likely beat most of the tour buses.

France is full of beautiful and historic churches. Paris itself has many, including Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, and Ste Sulpice. All of these have more than one mass per day. But Paris is busy, crowded, and (sometimes) overpriced, too.

elaurengray, we didn't attend a mass but we did attend morning vespers. This is where monks and some nuns chant the morning prayers. We had to be up early and in line at the right door waiting for a monk to open the door briefly. I think it was around 0600. I thought it was great to witness the actual purpose of the place, rather than just being a tourist attraction. I am not sure that there is a regularly scheduled mass service for the public, since it's not an actual parish church.

Of course its crowded and full of overpriced shops and restaurants. But as we were told by multiple people there, it has always been crowded and overpriced since its been a pilgrimage destination for centuries. Pilgrims have been buying cheap souvenirs and omelets for all those centuries. You don't have to shop and eat there anyway.

It is such a unique place that it is well worth the visit. A photo from a distance does not count.

Good point, Stan. In the medieval period people complained about the commercialization on MSM. Museums have plenty of 4th, 5th, 6th century Coptic oil lanps mass-produced in molds for the pilgrim masses to take home from their religious travels to Egypt. Religious commerce has been around for a while.

While I did not attend mass there I would have loved to. Interestingly, i was able to put aside the touristy stuff and focus on the mystical part. It is truely a sodciL,place 5o visit. Just like the poster u have seen of the island it drws u in to visit. I went thru the gauntlet of souvenir alley up to the cloisters and that is where the aura kicks in. Cannot describe it well but it is there. Do not rush the experience. I hope u can go.

Stan - that must have been Matins, not Vespers. Vespers (fr. Greek hesperos = evening) is said or sung at sundown, as its name suggests.
And Bets: oil lamps such as you describe are not necessarily Coptic.

cgichard—
I edited. I wrote it poorly the first time. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Indeed, it’s unlikely fragile, clay oil lamps on MSM were manufactured in Egypt.

Expect any monastrie with living communities still having masses. Google Benedictine and Cistercian monastries in France and learn more what they have to offer. France has still many communities I think you can find one somewhere on route.

Long time ago I visited a Gregorian mass in the abbey of Solesmes / Sablé-sur-Sarthe near Le Mans and was very special. Last September I was in the abbey of Saint-Odile in the Vosges still having a community but had the idea mass was more for the locals.

Stan - I would also love to attend morning prayers. Where can I find information and know what door to be at? How do you get toy he island at that hour?
Patty

I attended mass on Mont Saint Michel in June 2009. I am only a conversational French speaker (and a Southern Baptist), so I found the service fairly difficult to follow, but it is a life-long memory, and I found it worthwhile. I don't think you would regret it.

The way to escape the midday crowds is to sleep on the island so you can easily wander around in the off-peak hours, including attending that early matins or laudes service. Hotels and restaurants aren't cheap, but there are moderately priced options and you really only need to stay one night.

Regular mass is at noon Tues-Sat and 11:15 on Sundays. Laudes is at 6:50 Tues-Sat and 7:50 on weekends and in August. See also http://www.abbaye-montsaintmichel.com/fraternite-de-jerusalem/horaires-des-offices. The MSM chapter of Rick's France guidebook covers all these options, except for the morning service hours (and I don't know why not; our tour members often go before breakfast). Allow yourself time to walk up the hill.

schroederpatty, regarding the morning prayers (yes, I meant Matins - mea culpa) we inquired at the gift shop the day before about the time and more importantly the door at which we had to wait. At the appointed time, a monk opens the door, lets in whoever is waiting, and then closes the door, so it is not a wide open event. We stayed overnight on the mount, so it was just the early climb up the hill for us.

I didn't see mass or Matins. It didn't seem to be a working abbey to me, nice to find out it is. I was there in mid-September and arrived mid afternoon. Rather than walk up the crowded road, I asked at the TI for directions to the ramparts (stairs right across the street) and walked up the ramparts to the abbey. There was only a small line. I'm told many visitors never make it that far, they only shop on the main road. After the abbey closed I started working my way back down, stopping at planned sights along the way. By late afternoon, it was still crowded but not massive crowds like earlier in the day. I had planned to come back that evening to watch high tide from the ramparts but it was going to be a cloudy night so elected to stay in Cancale.