Church name: St John
Cantius Church
Church address: 825 N
Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60642
Date attended: 10/30/16
Church category: Tridentine
Mass
1. Describe the
worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your
regular context?
The Tridentine High (singing) Mass
was altogether different from my regular context in that it felt very formal,
if not imperial. The garb of both the clergy and the congregants were formal. The
grandeur of the sanctuary made me feel very small. This small feeling in
combination with a strictly Latin liturgy made me feel distant from God and His
saints. This feeling was immediately offensive, but arguably to my benefit. I
was challenged to encounter God in His love and
in His fierce holiness. In my home church I also get a sense of God’s
holiness – evoking love, gratitude, and fear as my response – as my pastor does
not sugar coat the gospel and tends to preach unapologetically. However, there
is no decorum which embodies the reality of God’s transcendence in the
protestant Churches which I have attended, not like the imperial decorum of the
Roman Catholic Church.
2. How did the worship
service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?
The legacies of the Holy Roman Empire
were embodied in this beautiful sanctuary where the priest and his company
approached the altar in a very formal procession, underwent a very specific
liturgy, and led the congregation out the sanctuary in another formal
procession. I sensed the legacies of hierarchy, of God’s ultimate authority and
that of Church offices over the congregants, embodied in the architecture and
the liturgy. Everything about the Eastern Orthodox service which I previously attended
embodied the mystery of a holy God coming to humankind, inviting humankind to
dwell in Him. At Mass, on the other hand, I felt as though I was looking upon
God from afar, that I was fortunate that God forgave my debt that I may
even glimpse His presence. The service clearly reflects the schism between
Western legacies of individualism, hierarchy, and rationality, versus Eastern legacies
of community, equality, and mystery.
3. How did the worship service
illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?
As previously stated, elements of the service made me feel small, or distant; here I add that I felt cold. This was not a constant during the service, nor was it a very strong feeling. In fact, there were clergy and congregants who were very warm and welcoming to me after the service. I also worshiped through the beautiful music, the excellent sermon, and with thanksgiving that God was meeting my Catholic brothers and sisters, especially in the Eucharist. However, there was a dull coldness which I could not shake. For that I must acknowledge my Protestant biases, empathy for the Eastern Church, and the stories of loved relatives who were wounded by consequences of growing up Catholic. These relatives have either abandoned the faith, or have returned though struggling to trust in God’s love. I was indeed challenged to forgive, embrace, and trust God to move among Roman Catholicism.
As previously stated, elements of the service made me feel small, or distant; here I add that I felt cold. This was not a constant during the service, nor was it a very strong feeling. In fact, there were clergy and congregants who were very warm and welcoming to me after the service. I also worshiped through the beautiful music, the excellent sermon, and with thanksgiving that God was meeting my Catholic brothers and sisters, especially in the Eucharist. However, there was a dull coldness which I could not shake. For that I must acknowledge my Protestant biases, empathy for the Eastern Church, and the stories of loved relatives who were wounded by consequences of growing up Catholic. These relatives have either abandoned the faith, or have returned though struggling to trust in God’s love. I was indeed challenged to forgive, embrace, and trust God to move among Roman Catholicism.
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