Kelly Bradley - Church Visit #2

Church name: St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 36 N. Ellsworth, Naperville, IL 60540

Date attended: October 30, 2016

Church category: Tridentine Mass

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

Like the Orthodox church that I visited a couple weeks ago, this worship service was much more formal than the church I usually attend. After we entered the sanctuary and sat down, the priest and deacons entered the sanctuary from the front, holding candles and walking up and down the aisle. They made their way to the front of the sanctuary, lit the incense, and came back down the center aisle sprinkling water on the congregation. For the remainder of the service, we alternated between standing and kneeling as the priest continued the mass. Since it was all in Latin, it was a little difficult to follow along, even with the prayer book, but even though I did not fully understand what was happening, there was a definite atmosphere of beauty and sacredness. The mass ended with communion, which I did not participate in.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

As a result of our class lecture on the 7th ecumenical council and the use of icons, I was much more aware of the images around me. While I have been in similar church buildings before, I have not been as attentive or aware of the significance of the icons, as well as the historical controversy that surrounds them. I thought it was especially interesting to think about them while trying to follow the mass in Latin, as it made me wonder if I was experiencing something similar to how uneducated Christians of old would have appreciated the communication through images. This experience helped me to understand the iconophilic position more fully. Even though I could not understand what was being said and prayed, I was surrounded with visual reminders of the life of Jesus, and that was a different way of encountering God than I have experienced before.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

This service was somewhat difficult for me to sit through, because I felt like very much an observer of the worship rather than a participant in it. I found myself making many comparisons between the Orthodox Church visit where, even though I was an outsider, I felt very welcome and drawn into the corporate worship experience. These comparisons have made me think about how interesting it is that throughout history, so many people have known and worshiped the same God in so many different ways. I think that this worship service, along with the previous church visit, has given me a greater sense of appreciation for the way that as each Christian knows God individually and differently, as a Church we are able to know God more fully through each other. I have also been appreciative of the fact that at both church visits, we recited the Nicene Creed. Even though different traditions may have different ways of knowing and thinking about God, we do have a common statement of beliefs to keep us from getting off track, so we have the freedom for diversity within our unity.