The setting was, however, quite intimate. There was nothing fancy, no singing (or not much, anyway). The congregation amounted to a handful. It was quiet. I felt more like God was trying to get my attention rather than we trying to get His.
The second two times I went to Mass were at the Basilica. The first time only had a cantor; the second, a full-blown choir. They were the Saturday evening and Sunday Pentecost Masses. I love the beauty of the Basilica; it is breathtaking. On the other hand, the liturgy itself just seems overblown. Too loud, too showy, too contrived. More like "look at us, God," rather than "look at God, us." The self-congratulatory spirit that is Notre Dame's Achilles' heel affects its liturgies as well.
But even if it weren't Notre Dame with its pretensions, I would find such a blustery liturgy spiritually distracting. It seems to me the more grandiose the liturgy is, the less spiritually enriching it is. Give me that ol' Roman noble simplicity any day.