Ella Knowlton--Church Visit #2

Church name: Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 36 N. Ellsworth St., 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?

At the beginning of the service, the clergy came up the center aisle with incense, candles, and a cross, and throughout the service, the different clergy would have different parts in the service. Although the service was completely in Latin, except for the sermon and church announcements, the bulletins provided helped me to follow along because I was able to see both the Latin and English side-by-side. The priests and servers would say all the liturgy, responding to one another, and the congregation did not participate in it at all. After the sermon, the people took the Eucharist, going up to the front of the church to receive it. It was very different from my own context because, first of all, it was in Latin! But I think more importantly, this mass was more about the liturgy, whereas my church is more about the worship music and sermon.

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

This service was really quite beautiful, and it helped me to see the history and contours of global Christianity especially by the fact that almost the whole service took place in Latin. This being a language that is no longer spoken by a people group, it is very important that the service was in this language, as the Latin still matters to people.  In addition, the beautiful liturgy, which included the Kyrie Eleison, the Lord’s Prayer, the Nicene Creed, the Agnus Dei, and many other parts, made me wonder how long the liturgy of the Latin mass has been around. And just like in the Orthodox Church, the building itself helped me to appreciate more the global aspect of Christianity. Although there were not as many images, I still noticed images of the crucifixion on the wall, and I wonder how many years ago these were painted and began to be used in the church.

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

As I stepped into the large sanctuary, my eyes were immediately drawn upward as I looked to the vast ceiling and beautiful architecture. I think this design may have been intentional, as I began to feel reverence for God in that very moment, and the service had not even started yet. I was humbled by not only the architecture, but also by the fact that I was not a main part of the service. In some church contexts, the service seems centered around the people, but I felt drawn to think about God in this mass, as the words spoken by the clergy focused on him. In addition, my mom had grown up Catholic and had a very bad experience, and so I have always viewed Catholicism in this light. By experiencing this service for myself, I was able to appreciate the Catholic Church as I never had before.