41 :: Saint Ann Catholic Church

This morning I worshiped at St. Ann Catholic Church in South Charlotte. It ended up being a unique turn of events in a few ways. I enjoyed myself and found it to be my peak experience thus far in an aesthetic sense. Put simply, this was perhaps the most beautiful church I have visited on this spiritual pivot.

In the spirit of full candor, I think you have to be a Catholic and know "how to do it" before you can find a Catholic Mass really fulfilling. At the very least, that is appearing to be the case for me. 

I noted quickly that this seemed to be a bit of a different Catholic church. First, they offer a Latin Mass (this was not one), something that was largely discontinued around the world in the early 1960s. Secondly, they announced during the Mass that you could bring your candles by to be blessed during a special Mass to be held this week. Finally, they performed a unique ritual in front of me after the Mass was ended. More on that below.

In short, this was different than any Catholic church that I have visited during this spiritual pivot.

Since this is the case, I paused before I wrote the words "I worshiped at..." above. But I did bow my head and pray for everyone that was attending Mass, so we can count it was a worship experience.

How was this place a unique turn of events?

First, I have been driving past this church and school for twenty-seven years. I have also attended multiple festivals that the church hosted when they boys were little. Carnival type stuff. I always considered that its interior would likely be as non-descript as its exterior.

Boy, was I surprised.

Here's the exterior:

And - here is the interior (really click on these and zoom into them, there was stunning beauty in this place!):

I was slightly slack jawed for a moment when I walked in. What a beautiful church! The mural at the front is unlike anything I have experienced this far, perhaps only rivaled by St. Nektarios Church. It was simply stunning.

My favorite part of this stunning beauty? A small dose of Pentecostal imagery in this very Catholic church. There was a statue of an Apostle with a tongue of fire on his head, related to the events in Acts 2:1-4, in which the gift of tongues was first imparted to humanity.

Second unique turn of events is that this was the Mass where I got the idea clear in my head that Catholics primarily come to church to partake of the eucharist. Taking communion is the reason that Catholics go to church. Listening to the homily and seeing what the Priest has to say this week... it is definitely an important thing to them, but you quickly get the sense that a homily does not occupy the importance that a sermon might at a Protestant or evangelical church.

This is at least my impression at this time.

Here is a bit of the church during the homily, which also gives a great panorama of the church's interior:

Another nice thing that I saw was that this was a bit of a different church in terms of their overall traditional nature of the community. Many of the women were wearing a mantilla, the lace headcover that is often seen in Catholic churches. I watched one family in particular as they prayed with each other, participated in the responsive readings, as well as greeted each other during the section where you share the Peace of Christ with other attendees.

Here is that family:

Once the communion was over, the altar boys and two of the Priests departed.

I stayed around and intended to take some pictures. It was then that the third of final unique turn of events happened. Dozens of people stayed in the sanctuary and lined up to have the remaining Priest bless people's throats. Yes, I witnessed the Blessing of the Throats. Read more about that here [link], it relates to an Armenian Priest and is an interesting part of Catholic history.

During the Blessing of the Throats, the Priest takes two candles that are tied together at a ninety-degree angle by a red rope and places it on the throat of the Mass attendee. He then makes the sign of the cross on their forehead multiple times while saying something.

I watched this for a while.

It apparently happens all over the world around early February.

And it definitely happens in Saint Ann Church in Charlotte:

After a period of time passed during which I watched throats be blessed (simply fascinating!), I departed and took pictures of the stained-glass windows from outside of the church. The reflection of the trees made for an interesting glimpse of these beautiful windows.

I saw a small figurine as I exited the church, its picture is included below.

It's baby Jesus

Then I went home.

An engaging and unique experience at a church that is one of the most striking that I have experienced while on this journey. Thanks to Saint Ann Church for the great visit.