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| Old St. Patrick's Church, Chicago |
Church name: Old St. Patrick’s Church
Church address: 700 W Adams
St, Chicago, IL 60661
Date attended: 3/24/16
Describe the worship
service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular
context?
The
Holy Thursday service was far more liturgical than what I am used to in the
nondenominational church that I attend. Prior to the service, everyone received
an extensive program that outlined all of the evening’s prayers, hymns, and
other motions. The priest welcomed us at the beginning of the service dressed in
a full robe indicated his status as presider over the congregation. There were
clear times in which the church body was to stand, sit, and kneel (I have
rarely kneeled in a protestant church). Much of the service’s events channeled
themselves towards the Eucharist. Both the words spoken, and the body language
of the priest and laity indicated the central meaning of communion to the mass.
The kind of reverence that was given towards the Eucharist is a key difference
between this church service and others that I am used to (we only have
communion ~12 times a year in my protestant church!).
What aspects of Roman
Catholic theology did you notice expressed in the service?
Throughout
the service I was able to make clear connections to what we read in Vatican II’s
Lumen Gentium. There was a group of
special guests composed of Jews and Muslims who attended the service. The
priest welcomed the guests and called them “our brothers and sisters.” This
reminded me of Lumen Gentium’s
respectful view of Muslims, non-believers, and non-Catholic Christians. Later,
we prayed for all of the many social justice efforts of Old St. Patrick’s
church. These included two dozen ministries including literacy programs, blood
drives, interfaith dialogues, overseas missions, youth programs, etc. I believe these ministries’ and our prayers
for them reflect Lumen Gentium’s
emphasis on the laity’s mission to bring God’s presence to the world. Finally, the
focus that was placed on communion was obvious. The words and actions of the
priest with regard to the body and blood were reflective of the belief that
these elements were Christ’s literal body and blood and that taking them was
how we receive life.
What aspects of Scripture
or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not
perceived as clearly in your regular context?
At
the end of the service, the Eucharist was placed at the Altar of Repose for the
night. Before this, there was a procession of the Eucharist around the church.
The lights were dimmed and all was quiet. It was like we were trying to return
to the Garden of Gethsemane and to be with Jesus. Though this time we would not
be like the apostles who fell asleep. Rather, we were told to “pray to stay
awake to the presence of the Lord’s love and healing in our lives.” This entire
process brought to life the passage of the Garden of Gethsemane for me because
I was taking part in a kind of ritual where we as a church body recounted
together (and even acted out together) the night in the Garden and then prayed
together that we would not also fall asleep.
