Erik Veker - Church Visit #2

Church name: Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church

Church address: 180 South Russell Ave, Aurora, IL 60506

Date attended: March 20th, 2016

Church category: Tridentine Mass

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

           

Upon approaching Holy Angels Catholic Church, the structure of the building was vey different from what I am accustomed to. The sanctuary was massive and esthetically beautiful. Images were overwhelmed by the large stain glass windows that depicted all four gospel writers, Jesus at the resurrection, the incarnation of Christ and many others. The worship service was much different from mine primarily in that it was almost entirely in Latin. Provided that they issued a bulletin, I was able to somewhat follow along with the flow of the service. The sermon was short and the service lasted only 50 minutes or so. I am used to the sermon reaching nearly 50 minutes at my church. I also noticed that about half the women at the church wore head coverings during worship. In front of us sat a family with six young kids. The eldest girl had to have been no older than 10, and she and hone of her little sisters were wearing a head covering as well. Yet the age difference between the youngest that was wearing one and the next girl that wasn’t didn’t appear to be significant. It made me curious if there was as age when they are instructed to wear the coverings.

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

           

Anytime I participate in worship in a different language, I am blown away by the goodness of God that revealed salvation to all nations, tongues and people groups. I noticed two things that we have talked about substantially in class. First, in their creed, which was translated into English in the bulletin, they had the Filioque clause. This was a reminder of the roots of this branch of Christianity. Second, they prayed a liturgical list of prayers to Mary, mother of God. The theotokos was something I wasn’t even familiar with until this semester, and to see it used in a worship service was illuminating for me to understand different forms of worship and prayer. Furthermore, it is so amazing to see different languages used in worship within our proximate community. All over the west Chicago area exists people groups who do not know English yet need the gospel proclaimed and established in their communities.

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

           

            The Mass service that I got to participate in forced me to come to terms with the lack of reverence that I show both to God and to the people that he has created. There was a spirit of awe and submission throughout the congregation and liturgy that we frankly do no find very often within protestant denominations. With the physical gestures such as bowing and kneeling during prayer, we really force our minds and hearts to realize our finite and fallen nature before an infinite and perfect God. As a believer in Christ, this experience has helped me to view Catholic and Orthodox believers as brothers and sisters, instead of like distant relatives who are not similar in a lot of ways. The communion of saints is something that we must talk about more openly and more thoroughly as we try to grow closer to one another and to the God of our ancestors in Christ.