IN PRAISE OF MY CHURCH

All politics is local, Tipp O'Neil used to say.

In some ways, all "Church" is local. Most of us, anyway, it seems to me, experience the Church most powerfully at and in our own parishes. (Here I am not speaking of our "being the Church and Body of Christ" in our everyday lives, which is most basic and perhaps most vital of all).

Today there's a good bit of "bad news" about the Church.

I'd like to say a few good words on behalf of the Church as I know best these days: my own parish - Saint Benedict on Wilkens Avenue in Baltimore MD.

As a rule I only get to my parish church once a week, for Sunday Mass (I am semi-"disabled" and thus can't get around too much). But the time I spend there are among the best hours of my week! There is a "feel" in the air as soon as I get out of the car at St Benedict's. The grounds are magnificent and especially in season are bursting with color and scents, already welcoming me in that area touched by beauty.

Upon entering the large, Romanesque church, the sights and smells continue the warm welcome. That special aroma of candles and incense. The lights are dimmed and focus for now on the large Tabernacle in the back center of the sanctuary. How warmed I am as I pass this Dwelling Place of the Lord (and I use my wheelchair here only because it is more comfortable than a pew; I could walk it actually).

The church is always decorated with great taste and loveliness for each and every season. These Paschal Days there are wonderful flowers everywhere (you can see pictures of much of what I describe on the parish website and I'll give the URL at the end of these rambling thoughts). There is a shrine of the Risen Christ to the side as well. And now with May there is a shrine to Our Lady in the sanctuary as well (the church and sanctuary are large and thus not crowded at all). I am amazed at how the appointments and decorations of each season are always so exquisite and match perfectly! Our pastor, the beloved Father Paschal Morlino, OSB, has a great eye for such things and seems able to bring back treasures for St Benedict's from his various trips to Italy especially.

Father Paschal, as I said, is much loved. He has done a fantastic job with a dying parish. The area, once a haven for blue collar workers, mostly Catholic, has changed a good bit and is rather "rough". Attendance plummeted. But Father Paschal, with lots of enthusiasm, zeal, and talent, and an ability to tap into the enthusiasm, zeal, and talents of many parishioners, has helped St B's become a stable community with new members from various sectors of town. Some are drawn by the beauty of the liturgical life of this special parish (and others like the social outreach and joyful spirit of the parish itself). Fr Paschal, by the way, tends the beautiful gardens around the property and assigns plots to over twenty parishioners as well. He rolls up his sleeves for all the many chores around the church and grounds. And he really is loved and reverenced in the best sense and when he's around there tends to be a lot of smiles and laughter.

He is no slouch or minimalist! I am utterly amazed at how much he offers us at St B's. He has daily Mass, of course; but also *daily* Noon Prayer and daily Vespers! Often there is sung Night Prayer as well. There are many concerts throughout the year. For Christmas and Easter and New Year's there are Vigils.... and we will be in church for almost three hours for any of these! He doesn't cut back! Even when there are things going on, like baptisms, first communions, RCIA events, etc. he will give the usual homily with its touches of home-spun wisdom and cut back nothing! So it is not unusual for Sunday Mass to go for almost an hour and a half!

But what a Mass it is! The music is superior. There is a fine choir with a talented choir director and organist and excellent cantors. The choice of music, too, is so perfect for the most part (I can't say how often it has brought tears to my eyes). The congregation can sing too! And wisely the choice of music for the congregation doesn't change every week so we get to know it real well and sing it for a long time. (And each season has its uniqueness here -- for example, for Lent we sing the Kyrie in Greek, and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei in Latin). For the *entire* Easter Season we have the bells ringing during the Gloria at the 11o'clock Mass -- that includes the bells in the bell tower, bells ring by acolytes, and even Father Paschal playing something like a zither from his place in the sanctuary. Simply beautiful. The bells.

And the smells. Oh, the sweet clouds of incense at St B's! I have never known a church (and this includes even Orthodox churches) that uses more incense than St B's. From the opening procession the sweet aroma begins to fill the spacious church and my sense of smell is caught up in the act of worship! There are wonderful incensations of the altar and of the people as well. How touching to be reminded of my dignity as a son of God by being incensed at every Mass I attend. I can't imagine anymore being in a church without that sweet fragrance and feel sort of sorry for those who hardly ever experience this lovely expression of prayer and worship from the Catholic tradition.

Speaking of Orthodox churches, St B's even has its own beautiful Byzantine chapel within its interior. Now how many churches can say that?

One thing I love about St B's is that its worship is so God-centered. I get the sense of really and truly "blending voices with the choirs of angels in heaven".... Holy! Holy! Holy!

Yet there is the human touch, the joy, the sense of family and familiarity. I love how Fr Paschal, in the prayers, will mention so and so who is so sick and so and so whose cousin just died, etc. And more personally than I say it. I love it that while there is such attention given to the beauty of worship yet on the communion rail there will be piles of gifts for the poor and needy! I recall, too, how when I was sick last year for a long time, Father Paschal and others from the parish visited me often and brought me Communion and made me feel very cared for by a praying community. Yeah, that's it: St B's is a praying parish!

I am so thankful that I have found such a home as St B's. Here I find the fullness of the Catholic tradition in ways I thought were no longer available on a parish level. St B's, with all its inevitable imperfections and foibles, is truly a holy place of both beauty and joy.

Because it is ultimately centered on the God of Love!

I know I speak inadequately and leave so much unsaid.....

Gerard Serafin, webservant of Saint Benedict Parish
5/5/02

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