Comparing St. Marys Catholic Church and St. Peter's Catholic Church
Who would think that two Catholic churches would be so different from one another? I attend two churches of the same religion; it is a very diverse experience at each one. I am a member of St. Mary’s Bryantown Catholic Church, but I also attend St. Peter’s Catholic Church. I attend both churches because there are features at both that I like and at times one is more convenient. However, there is also one feature that I do not like about St. Mary’s Bryantown Catholic Church.
St. Mary’s Bryantown Catholic Church is medium size. The church’s capacity is approximately five hundred and fifty people. Each pew fits about ten people. On each side of the main aisle are twenty rows of pews, and on the two sides are four rows. In the balcony area is six rows of pews. The size of the church also adds to its pleasing look.
The old-fashioned architectural design of St. Mary’s is appealing to me. The light brown brick building with the crucifix placed atop the roof is an eye-catching site from the road. The inside of the church is incredibly stunning. It is always decorated with flowers and banners that depict religious themes. The atmosphere at St. Mary’s is exceptionally serene. The stained glass windows, which portray religious symbols, help create the peaceful feeling. The smell of incense makes the church spiritually comforting. Despite the fact that the church is beautiful, a drawback of the church is the length of the mass, which is exceptionally long.
At St. Mary’s the four o’clock mass on Saturday is generally an hour and a half long. The priest at St. Mary’s makes the mass longer by repeating himself continually during the homily, which makes it difficult for people to understand the point he is trying to make. Because of the length of the four o’clock mass at St. Mary’s, many people choose to go to the shorter mass at St. Peter’s Catholic Church.
The five o’clock mass on Saturday at St. Peter’s Catholic Church is generally forty-five minutes long. The officiating priest of the Saturday mass makes his homily comprehensible to all. The homily reflects on the readings, but the priest also tells stories that people can relate to. Because of the size of St. Peter’s, it allows many people from St.
Currently, the outside of the church stands with bricks that originated from Huntingburg, Indiana and then shipped to Mentor, Indiana (Welp 1; Striegel 13). The second church laid its cornerstone on June 21, 1914. The church appointed Louis Wessbecher as the architect. The church assigned Bernard Tonnies, from eastern St. Louis, to become the contractor. For all the materials and labor, the grand total cost of the church would come out of twenty-five thousand dollars. (Striegel 14) The height and length of the church measured sixty feet wide and one hundred and twenty-six feet long. At the top of a one hundred and twenty- five feet tower, a seventeen foot gilded cross stood. The capacity of the church can hold up to seven hundred fifty people. (“Schnellville 1” 13) Sacred Heart secured its completion in October of 1916 (“Schnellville 2” 15). The original frame structure stood until replaced by the present brick and limestone in 1916. Acclaimed on Easter Sunday of 1916, the first mass began. (“Schnellville 3” 12) From 1950 to 1952 Reverend Lawrence Moll became the pastor of Schnellville and the youth honestly adored him. After Reverend Lawrence Moll retired, immediately, Reverend Francis Mellen, ordained on June 10, 1919, became pastor from 1952 to 1953. (“Schnellville 1” 17-18) Sacred Heart took a new interior by redecorating in 1955 (“Schnellville 2” 14). Messenger Othmar
highlights the importance of the sacraments and the clergy, can be seen as a response on
The sanctuary was bare, and the pews hard. I mentally tallied a comparison between my own church's sanctuary and this. The two, I found, were similarly austere, but with theirs tending toward items of religious kitsch and our own tending instead towards polished brass. Both lacked stained glass in the windows. I suspected, however, that where our sanctuary was plain in token tribute to the long-dead strict streak of our Calvinist tradition, theirs was bare because it could not economically be otherwise. And the lack of air conditioning ! Memphis' summer heat is unbearable and pervasive, and a roof overhead does nothing against the big blanket of humid air.
...entrance door and archway, that had and overwhelming impact on me, these over exaggerated entrance doors, were built to awe and act as the gateway to salvation, they succeeded. Upon entering the church, the saints were lined up and down either side of the church and were lustrously painted and adorned, the cathedral with its stained glass also elumeminated the church with bright sunlight that gave the church a peaceful and serene atmosphere. While viewing the church from the outside, you tend to fixate on the towers, and you tend to divert your view skyway. The massive Gothic church, really humbles you, the enormity and size are truly overwhelming. The ornamental gargoyle sculptures placed around and throughout the rooftops of the church, really feel as if they were alive and guarding the church.
Worldwide, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church both fall under the three largest groups of Christianity, along with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church and the Protestant Church have a lot in common such as that they are both mono-theistic, they both believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he died for our sins, that he ascended into heaven, that he rose from the dead, and that there will be a second coming of Jesus. Some other things they have in common are that both Catholics and Protestants worship in churches, chapels, or cathedrals via prayer, praise, song, and/or reading of the scriptures. The two churches both follow the word of the bible as well as the Ten Commandments, they both believe that human souls are eternal, and they both teach that those who are believers and take the time to exemplify their faith will go to Heaven whereas those who are non-believers will go to Hell. It makes sense that these two churches share many of the same beliefs and follow many of the same things considering that Protestants were originally members of the Catholic Church up until about 500 years ago when they broke off into their own church in an attempt to return to the church’s origin. However, even with all their similarities they have some differences as well.
...urgical calendar the weekly estimated attendance of churchgoers can range from around 1,500-2,000. Out of those numbers there are currently about 1,200 registered parishioners.
· Hello – that is when the priest says welcome to the mass and tells
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
Once the service started, my friend showed me where the schedule for the service was and what each number meant. There were different colors of numbers in the book and those indicated what section the reading or song was coming from. This was different from the church that I attend because we have a choir and a band that plays the songs and if you wish to join in you can but for the Catholic Church there is, no choir and the members of the church are the ones who sing. After some singing, the priest came up to talk and this is very different from what I expected. I was used to flipping through the channels and seeing the catholic churches with the priest who were a ...
Thesis: Both St. John the Baptist Cathedral and Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres are constructed in French Gothic style which means that architecturally they have many similarities. However, the 700 year gap between their construction offers St. John the Baptist more flexibility in design and style. Still, their likeness and variations extend far beyond the realm of their design.
St Peter’s basilica which is built based on rational form of architecture is a Late Renaissance church located within Vatican City, designed by Donato Bramante. Its significant history is that according to the Catholic tradition this was the place that Saint Peter was buried. Not so far away...
Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ultimately had more differences which ended up causing their split, they once had quite a few a similarities. The churches shared “many of the same prayers and liturgies” (“Eastern Orthodox”, 2001 para.1). Both the Eastern and Western churches had a difference in opinion in defining and numbering sacraments but they did agree on what the seven major sacraments for their churches should be. They also agreed upon that the male clergy should consist of bishops, priests, and deacons.
...’s. Like Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man, Eilis in Brooklyn and Shawn Kelvin in “The Quiet Man”, mass is held every Sunday morning. The style of church is the same as the one shown in Ford’s movie The Quiet Man. Roman Catholic churches have a neo-gothic style with colorful stained glass windows and the inside is full of long, wooden pews on either side of an aisle with an alter at the front of the church, just as the church in John Ford’s movie. ¬
In the Western world, the schism within the Catholic Church has made its most significant impact due to rapid changes in social standards. Of greatest importance is the evolution of modern society and their response to the reverberated traditions of the Catholic Church as well as the evolving Protestant sects. In consequence of increases in technology and science, modern society has redefined its acceptable and moral behavioral standards within a social setting, whereas, the Catholic Church stands firm in its doctrines despite social and moral movements in the twentieth century. Except for the Second Vatican Council and the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church has not worked to revise its religious traditions in response to a changing society. As a consequence with this unparalleled development, many young adults and the population in general has swayed from the devout Catholic worship.1
As I was attending mass, I noticed, it was very organized. There was a lot of sitting and standing, where I found myself struggling to understand. I noticed that they read some passages from the bible and sang a lot of psalms and hymns. The only thing that was familiar to me was the Eucharist.