Dai Li- Church Visit #2

Church name: St. John Cantius Church

Church address: 825 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60642

Date attended: 10 April 2016

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

The major differences between the Latin mass at St. John Cantius and the new mass at St. Michael’s , in my opinion, are at least two. First, St. John Cantius is much more decorated than even the St. Michael’s, a church full of stained glasses, stations of the cross and many other architectural decorations. St. John Cantius looks very grand, with more sophisticated and probably expensive decorations. The altar looks just… crazy; and there is the relic of a saint I don’t know too much about on the side, and they even have a small museum for a bunch of other relics! Of course, the difference is not just appearance. The atmosphere of the mass is also very different. The new mass is full of call and response, or interactions between the priest and the people; the Latin mass, however, only minimally engages the audience. Most of the mass is spent in the inaudible prayers of the priest.

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

That the mass is a sacrifice. It is done through a intercessory who acts on Christ’s behalf between God and the people. The priests do not engage too much with the people, because the focus is to prepare himself and so he can be a better advocate that facilitates the union between God and people. Furthermore, that Latin plays a very important role in Catholic liturgy. Furthermore, the importance of Latin for learning Catholic theology. Throughout the service, I tried to use my beginning level Latin to follow what the priest was saying (when I could hear him). However, I was constantly frustrated because my Latin was not good enough to keep up with the priest. In my frustration, however, I was reminded that the mass was in Latin because Latin was, or even still is, the language of the Catholic Church. Numerous important figures of the Catholic Church spoke and wrote in this very language.

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

This might be ironic, but the general silence of the Latin mass was especially illuminating for me. I remember after my first visit to St. John Cantius, I went back home still confused by how few audible words are said during the whole mass. I found a blog post by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2015/01/the-silence-of-canon-speaks-more-loudly.html#.VxRvjJMrJE7), and in it he made three points I think are very helpful: 1) the silence emphasizes the infinity and transcendence of God, whose Being is beyond human verbal expressions; 2) the silence helps create a dramatic contrast for the Eucharist, especially when the bells rung as Christ is being lifted up by the priest; this dramatic contrast speaks to the grandeur of the person and work of Christ; and, 3) the silence makes sure that enough time is given to the second and essential part of the mass: the liturgy of the eucharist; the new mass tends to spend too much time in the calls and responses during the first part (the liturgy of the word), at the cost of cramming the second part within twenty minutes. My experience in St. John Cantius has consolidated my agreements with these three points.