Preston Teuscher - Church Visit #2

Church Name: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chapel
Church Address: 205 Fulton Street, Elgin, IL
Date Attended: 3/20/16
Church Category: Tridentine Mass

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

The service was very different for me. The chapel was in a small room with small statues in the front that were covered with purple cloth (we assumed because of lent and/or Holy Week). There was no talking or hand shaking allowed in the chapel. Most of the service was in Latin and the congregation even had some memorized a few Latin prayers. Luckily there was a handout with Latin and English translations so we could understand what was being said. Being Palm Sunday, there was this whole ceremony where the priest blessed palm leaves and handed them to the congregation as they kissed the leaf and his hand. The priest did not seem happy that the group of Wheaton students declined the invitation to partake in what they called this “sacrament”. The congregation was then led in a procession outside and partway down the block and back inside with palms in hand. None of these things I usually experience in my regular context.

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

This Catholic church was highly conservative. Their website spoke explicitly of how non-Catholics and less-conservative Catholics are not in right standing with God and are not going to heaven. This came out strongly in the priest’s short homily, which included a call to works as essential to being Catholic and how Catholicism is essential to being saved. It was abundantly clear that this conservative branch of Catholicism considered all other Christians to be wrong by explicit and pointed comments in the homily about how it is not enough to have faith and say that Jesus saves you. It is also clear that they take great pride in their Latin service and traditions not having changed “since the days of our Savior”. Because after all, “If it was good enough for the saints, it’s good enough for me.” This helps give a picture of how highly the Catholic church prizes tradition and how they view those outside their denomination.

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

This service more than anything else in my life made me realize just how protestant I am. Much of what I experienced was very contrastive to my regular context and beliefs that it reinforced how different I am from them. It made me realize how much more emphasis I tend to put on faith than works. I realized that while Catholics take pride in connecting what they do every mass to what Christians have done for the past 2000 years, evangelicals like me may have some same sacraments but find no unity in traditions otherwise. I find it almost ironic that the Catholic church finds unity with the Catholic Church through tradition while also finding disunity with other Christians in its belief that Catholicism is the only way. Whereas protestant evangelicalism may not find unity in traditions but maintains unity through common faith in Christ.