Nate Heeren - Church Visit #2

Church name: Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Church address: 36 North Ellsworth St, Naperville, IL 60540

Date attended: 4/17/2016

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

I attended the evening Tridentine Mass, and the differences from my ordinary context were certainly very pronounced. Walking up to the church itself, I was floored by the massive bell tower and ornate facade. The inside was also very impressive, featuring large decorated windows and ribbed vaulting to name just a few features. It makes my own church seem very humble and plain by comparison.

The service was, of course, conducted in Latin, although not entirely--the homily and its accompanying Scripture reading was given in English. While my church spurns contemporary music in favor of hymns, I was a bit surprised that the Ss Peter & Paul service did not even feature the latter, so that there was no joint singing of worship songs. There was a great deal of chanting, however, though mostly by a priest in the rear of the sanctuary.

As for the similarities, the attendees were fairly diverse in age, mostly white, and by my estimation mostly middle class. It's interesting that in terms of demographics, my church and Ss Peter & Paul were incredibly similar.

What aspects of Roman Catholic theology did you notice expressed in the service?

Roman Catholic theology emphasizes its desire for the laity to understand the messages being communicated and symbolism underlying its homilies and rituals, rather than simply participating by showing up and going through the motions. This was likely one of the reasons that Latin was made non-mandatory by Vatican II, since it is a problem when the service becomes more rote memorization and recitation than internalizing. I think Ss Peter & Paul was trying to uphold that understanding by providing booklets featuring both the Latin and the English translations as well as accompanying explanations to help the attendee follow what is going on in the service and know what it means.

One example of the booklet's explanations: “☩ indicates that the priest makes the Sign of the Cross. During the Mass he makes the Sign of the Cross 52 times, the emblem of the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, which the Mass represents and renews.” Because of this special provision for understanding, I think the Tridentine Mass has equivalent potential to non-Latin services for spiritual edification.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

The service made liberal use of incense, which made me think about how it was trying to convey not just mental knowledge but a spiritual experience. This is something of an ironic twist in my case, as my normal context can often feel like it focuses solely on the head knowledge aspect, even though (as I understand it) part of what has long defined Protestantism, sometimes even against Catholicism, is the search for authentic spiritual experience. Thus the service reminded me that this experiential quest is not exclusive to Protestantism, and that it is worth pursuing, though in a qualified way.

When the congregation was going forward to receive the Eucharist, the variety in ages and walks of life was especially striking to me due to the formal and “high church” nature of the service. Though this diversity was certainly limited, it was nevertheless an encouraging reminder to me of the heterogeneity of the Church, extending across both cultures and time.