David Harris #2

Saint John Cantius Church

825 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60642 

11/1/16

Roman Catholic Tridentine Mass 

I went to this Mass on tuesday morning.  When we walked in, the beauty of the church was immediately evident.  The high arches and intricate ceelings were a sight to behold.  The grandour of the altar as well as the number of statues and icons of christ predominantly were also beautiful to look at.  This whole aspect of the church is very different than my chrch.  Where the only things on the walls are banners of sermon series that my church has gone through over the last few years.  This is also an interesting comment on what is most important in the worship context of my own church.  Another thing that was immediately evident was that all the people were kneeling on padded platforms that came from the botom of the pews.  This reverance of God and the worship of him is something that i feel is sometimes lacking in my church experience.  

The actual Mass and especially what the priest did was the aspect that i was most uncomfortable with.  For the majority of the time, his back was to the congregation.  The readings and anything else he said were very quiet and almost impossible to hear even if you were able to understand latin.  Because i could not hear or really see what the preist was doing except for a vauge idea that he would read and kneel occaisonally, made the rituals he was engaging in seems very distant and totally disconnected from the congregation.  I felt very seperated from the entire expereince.  The one involvement the people did have was communion.  When it was time to take it, the people walked up to the front of the sanctuary and kneeled in front of the priest as he administered it to them.  This was very different from my church where we pass around the elements in containers.  I do appreciate a higher view of the elements and a greater reverance.  But i am not sure that i would choose to go as far in the other direction as the Catholic church does.  

After this, a homily was recited that the congregants did as well, and this time the priest was facing everyone.  At the conclusion of this the mass was over.  During the mass there was also confession occuring in the back.  Confession is also not something that my church engages in at the level of formality that it did at Saint John's.  

This experience was very enlightening for me in regaurds to the history of the church at large.  While this type of mass is sometimes practiced now, it was the only type practiced pre-vatican 2.  Because of this, it felt like entering into a history of the church as opposed to entering into a mass that someone i know would engage in.  The differemces i highlighted made me very thankful for the ability to worship in my own language and in a way that involves myself and the other people in the congregation.  But this did also highlight some aspects of my own experience that i am not comfortable with.  Such as the greater reverance i see in the catholic tradition that i sometimes wish was closer to my own experience.