St. Stanislaus

ststanislauspdx.com/
3916 N. Interstate Avenue

St. Stanislaus, named after a Bishop of Krakow, Poland, in the 11th century, is another hidden gem. Although located on Interstate Avenue in north Portland (just north of Kaiser Hospital), you would likely drive past without giving it a second thought. The outside of the church, though well kept, is modest.
The inside, however, shows beautiful attention to detail from the brass and glass light fixtures to the dark wooden pews. The statuary and walls are clean and freshly painted.

I went to the 11 am Mass, which is a Polish Mass. Rev. Tadeusz Rusnak, the pastor, conducted the Mass in his native language. After the Mass I heard some speaking English, but I believe many could speak only Polish. The Mass closely paralleled an English Mass, with a few songs thrown into the liturgy that are apparently part of the Polish tradition.

St. Stanislaus also has an English Mass and a Croatian Mass. Every year the church has a Polish festival, selling trademark Polish foods such as pierogi and kielbasa.

St. Rose of Lima

2727 Ne 54th Ave


St. Rose of Lima was a 16th century saint from Lima, Peru, known for her ascetism. She is said to have slept on boards covered with shards of glass. Opposing her parents' desire for her to marry, she cut her hair short and disfigured her face to discourage suitors. When young, she brought the sick and hungry to her parents' home to minister to them.

The church is in northeast Portland across the street from the Southeast Asian Vicariate and there were a scattering of parishioners who appeared to be Southeast Asian immigrants -- likely from Vietnam. The exterior is reminiscent of the Spanish-inspired church architecture of California. Perhaps this is why it is named after a South American saint. Overall, the church felt very much like Holy Redeemer church, also in northeast Portland, with plenty of young families from the surrounding neighborhoods of Hollywood and Rose City.

The most memorable thing about this church was the sermon given by its pastor, Fr. Peter Smith. Father Smith begins at an advantage having a South African accent. His sermon was at the same time academic and folksy. The readings contained admonitions to be prepared, especially concerning the end times. He began sharing historical information about the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem in approx. 70 AD by the Romans. Next he told a story of driving in the country in South Africa when a herd of elands came unusually close to his car. By the time he had activated his camera he had missed the rare chance to photograph these retiring animals, the largest of all antelope. He then told a second story about his being ready to seize an opportunity (this time to pick up a check from friends who never allow him to do so). The moral of these stories was to be prepared to take advantage of spiritual opportunities God may bring our way. His sermon was really excellent on many levels.

St. Charles Borromeo

www.stcharlespdx.org/


St. Charles Borromeo, like St. Philip Neri church, is named after an Italian saint. Charles Borromeo was a 16th century bishop of Milan - a reformer with a heart for the poor.

The present church structure at St. Charles was built in 1954 "in the style of California mission churches" according to the parish website. The exterior is brick and although adorned with multiple brick crosses, I could not see a cross on a steeple. The interior walls are made of cinder blocks and yet it is a handsome interior. The stainglass windows are made with large divisions of glass, which cause the images to appear abstract.

The church was remodelled in 1995 "in a style to draw the people together as a family around the Table of the Lord's Word and Sacrament." What this means is that the pews no longer face the crucifix at the end of the church. Instead, the pews face across the the short side of the church and the alter has been moved to where the pews face. The area where the alter is almost the entire length of the church and fit a piano, three song leaders and the altar with plenty of spare room.

The most striking thing about St. Charles Borromeo is the diversity of the parishioners. Like a mini-UN, there are Latinos, Whites, Blacks, Asians and Pacific Islanders. As the parish bulletin puts it: "Saint Charles Borromeo is a Catholic parish for people who enjoy the celebration of the Eucharist in a culturally rich and diverse community."

The people were friendly and seemed actively involved. Looked like a fine place to go to church.

St. Philip Neri Church

http://www.stphilipneripdx.org/


St. Philip Neri Church is located near SE 18th and Division. It was once a predominantly Italian-American parish. The present church building was built in 1950. The interior is a cavernous space with a ceiling that must be 60 feet high. The interior is spare and the acoustics are supposedly excellent. Today, however, the PA system was intermittent, with the right-hand speakers going on and off.

A man I assumed to be the pastor, Father Gerald Tully, CSP, (Congregation of St. Paul -- The Paulists) asked visitors to raise their hands and then asked everyone to introduce themselves. My pew neighbors were quite friendly. Dress was generally informal, with lots of jeans. On the conservative-liberal spectrum, I would say this church tends toward the liberal side.

The St. Philp Neri parish emphasizes faith-building, outreach and social justice. Next to the church there are buildings dedicated to these goals called the Paulist Center. It has its own website explaining its works.

The most unique part of the Mass was that the homily was given by a woman, not by the presiding priest. This, to say the least, is not a common practice in Catholic churches. I am not sure I have ever heard a woman preach the sermon in a Catholic church before. I do not know whether she was a lay person or a religious. She was not wearing a habit but not all nuns do. She gave an informative and rather academic exposition mainly concerning the Old Testament reading, which was from the book of Daniel. Should you think that everyone believes women should be preachers, however, just do a web search on "should women preach" and read what you find. There are plenty of bible versus that can be used to argue that women should not preach. The opposing arguments are likely to be that those verses were written in a time and in a culture very different to our own, and should not apply today. I leave it to others to decide this question.

St. Philip Neri made an impression on me as a friendly church and with the Paulist Center, like an excellent place to get involved in church activities outside of Mass.

Saint Patrick Catholic Church

http://sites.google.com/site/stpatrickpdx/


St. Patrick Catholic Church is another beautiful Catholic church. Unfortunately, progress has left it positioned almost directly under the Highway 30 exit from Interstate 405 in northwest Portland. Ignoring that unfortunate fact, it is a handsome historic stone edifice in what was once a working class neighborhood. Built in 1889, it is the oldest Catholic church in Portland.

There are only two Masses: an 8:30 a.m. Mass in Spanish and a 10:30 a.m. Mass in English. I went to the 10:30 Mass on a cool and rainy November day. The sun came out intermittently during Mass, though, highlighting the stained glass windows.

Monsignor Timothy Murphy presided. Father Murphy is as dry as the Sahara. At first his delivery was so clipped and monotone I thought he might be angry or depressed. He could give Ben Stein a run for his money.

Not recognizing me as one of their own, the parishioners treated me like the dangerous unknown entity that I have come to expect to be treated like at these unfamiliar Catholic churches. Northwest Portland is now home to the fairly well-to-do. I am curious to see if when I visit some poorer churches on the east side the natives are any friendlier.

Holy Rosary Church

holyrosarypdx.org

(I didn't really go to church twice today. I am just a little late in getting around to posting this visit.)

I go to Holy Rosary quite often - almost as much as I go to St. Mary's Cathedral. It has quite a few Masses so it's easy to find a convenient time. I like the 1 p.m. Mass. There is also a Gregorian chant Mass each Sunday and once a month a latin Mass in the Dominican rite.

Holy Rosary is old fashioned. First, you will see many women with their heads covered, just as in the old days. Second, you will see families with 5 or 6 children, all under the age of 10. Where else in Portland do you still see large families? Third, during most all the Masses there is no kiss of peace. After the congregation says to the priest, "and peace be with you," the priest just continues with the Mass. There is no pause for handshaking or greeting your neighbor.

Another thing that sets this church apart is lots of times for confession. A priest (or sometimes two) hears confession virtually every day of the week. I think this emphasis on confessions is very good and holy.

Holy Rosary, although part of the Archdiocese of Portland, is staffed entirely by the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers. They live together in community at the rectory. Holy Rosary was damaged by fire in the 1990's and has been remodeled. It was beautifully done.

Almost in keeping with the 1950s old-fashion style of the place, the parishioners are far from outgoing. It's really a flaw of American Catholic churches in general, but I think the parishioners at Holy Rosary are particularly distant. I have been there scores of times and only once did a parishioner speak with me - an usher asked if I would like to volunteer as an usher. Except for that one time, the parishioners are truly Catholic in their reserve.

As a stranger to a Baptist church, I have been greeted by three different people on a single visit asking about my status and inviting me to join this or that group or committee. I think it is perfectly possible to go to a Catholic church every Sunday for a year and not meet another parishioner. Catholics are not taught to be outgoing or even friendly, much less evangelical. The Catholic Church in the United States mostly grows through birth and immigration, not from the evangelical efforts of its members. But I will leave the remainder of that discussion for another day.

As I said earlier, though, I go to church here quite often. I think I do because of the atmosphere at Holy Rosary, and the word that best describes it is "holy."

St. Mary Magdalene Church

http://www.themadeleine.edu/church_new/welcome.html


This is another church with a nickname. In this case, it goes by the name of The Madeleine. Madeleine, my online sources tell me, means "woman from Magdala."

The first thing that struck me about the church is how nicely everyone was dressed. Many men had suits or sport coats and many women were wearing tasteful, dark dresses. The dress code in Catholic churches has become decidedly informal and in this respect the Madeleine is a throwback. Also, stuck between the Irvington, Alameda and Beaumont neighborhoods, this is not a poor parish.

The second thing I noticed was the large wooden carving and crucifix behind the alter. It is an impressive piece of work.

Having slept until almost 9:30 am I made it to the 11 am Mass. By all indications this is a lively, healthy parish, but the worshippers this morning were pretty scarce. The bulletin is thick as a small town telephone book and we had no less than three people address us at the end of Mass about their organizations. So, I am left thinking that because there is a school adjoining this church (The Madeleine School), many or most of the parishioners have children at the school and come to the 9:15 am Mass. In any case, there was plenty of pew space.

Father Mike Biewend, with his completely bald pate and energetic delivery, asked everyone to introduce themselves to their neighbors. I did so and was greeted by a blond woman about my age and a good looking family of three children all less than nine years. We shook hands and exchanged names. Later, before the kiss of peace, Father Mike asked us to bow or touch the shoulder of the other rather than shake hands so as to avoid spreading germs. (H1N1 precautions, you know.) Since we had already shaken hands at the beginning of Mass, I thought that train had left the station and even had the bad manners to say as much during the kiss of peace ceremony.

After meeting my neighbors, Father Mike asked who was a visitor, then he asked a little about the visitors. At my turn I mentioned that I was on my pilgrimage to visit all the Catholic churches in Portland and this was my fifth. He seemed a little worried he might get an unfavorable review and jokingly told the others to grab my camera.

Today was Priesthood Sunday, a new day in the Catholic calendar meant to recognize priests. For his homily, Father Mike gave us a "day in the life" vignette of his busy yesterday. He mentioned he started the day with a run at 4:30 am. What is it about these early risers that they always have to let you know just how early they rise? I am sadly deficient in this area and was not sure I enjoyed being reminded that I'd only been awake a bit more than an hour and that the day was almost half gone. Are there any famous and successful late risers in this world that aren't rock musicians? Please tell me that there are.

The best part of his Saturday was visiting an elderly woman with lung cancer and hearing that her first concern was her 21 year-old son not being alienated from his father, who had left them both when she was 59. It was a touching story. But I could not get past how busy his day was and how many things and people were pressing for his attention that day. Now I felt bad and selfish for how relatively empty my Saturdays (and even many workdays) are.

Afterward a couple of parishioners wished me well. One asked if her church was going to get a good grade or something like that. I assured her that my purpose was not to rank the churches but to simply experience and enjoy them. The other parishioner told me to come back if I got around to going to each church a second time.

St. Irene Byzantine Catholic Church

http://www.saintirene.org/

This is likely going to be the most different of the catholic churches I will visit during this process. It is not a Roman Catholic Church, it is a Byzantine one. Although I suppose in many ways it is similar to the Greek or Russian Orthodox churches, it is -- unlike the orthodox churches -- in communion with the Roman Church. That means its clerics answer to the Roman hierarchy at some point and they recognize the primacy of the Pope. It also means that as a Roman I can receive communion in a Byzantine church and a Byzantine can receive communion in a Roman church.

I arrived at the service at 10 am. It is relatively unattractive from the outside. The building was once a Roman church and dates to 1923. However, it was totally remodeled in 1958 and has cheap siding on its robin's egg blue exterior.

I went inside and was pleased that it is far more attractive inside. However, it was almost empty. The church seats about 250 and there were only about 20 people there. (After about 15 minutes the number of worshipers doubled to about 40.) The alter is screened off by see through fencing upon which are hung icons, written on wooden boards shaped like small surfboards. I took a liturgy book from the back of the church and I was glad I did. Using it I was able to follow along and participate in the service.

While the service is mostly in English, there were plenty of prayers and responses in a Slavic language I am told is called Old Church Slavonic. In fact, as best as I could tell, we sang the Our Father first in English and then a second time in a different melody in Old Church Slavonic. About half the parishioners looked as if they could speak a Slavic language and their pronunciation of Slavonic sounded good to me. I could not find any of the Slavonic parts written in the liturgy book, however.

Most of the service was sung rather than recited. Before the first reading began, a parishioner stood in the middle of the aisle facing the alter and chanted something in Old Church Slavonic for a minute or two. The first reading was done by another parishioner also standing in the middle of the aisle. Then the priest , who was visiting from Washington state, read the gospel.

The priest's sermon was about twice as long as I am used to in a Roman (Latin rite) church. It was interesting, however. It was about the tension between church and state, especially as to abortion and gay marriage. He mentioned how in Canada one can be accused of a hate crime for saying that homosexuality is wrong.

Following many unfamiliar prayers sung from the liturgy book, I decided to take communion. Before reaching the priest however, there was an icon of Mary (the Theotokos as they say in the eastern churches) that people venerated by kissing. I, not being fond of kissing icons (or crosses on Good Friday), failed to participate in that ritual. Not out of any theological reluctance -- it is just embarrassing for me to kiss inanimate objects. I quickly got enough embarrassment to last a week, however.

I watched closely as the others received communion. The priest was using tongs or a spoon to place the host in the mouth of the communicant. each communicant was lowering his or her head a little to make this easier. At one point the visiting priest stopped and brusquely admonished everyone not to kneel but to stand up and to not touch the spoon. When I got closer I saw that the host was in small cubes in a red liquid (consecrated wine) and I was unsure whether I was to take it on my tongue or mouth. I positioned my head at what I believe was the correct level and opened my mouth, leaving my tongue somewhere between forward and back. The priest told me to tilt my head back and the host fell from my mouth back into the chalice! Then, in a firmer and what was to me a harsh voice he again told me to tilt my head back. I tilted it back until I felt it was almost too far and feeling foolish and embarrassed I successfully received the wet host into my mouth this time. Filled with a sense of shame and embarrassment, I returned to my seat.

Afterwards, a parishioner invited me to join the others for coffee, but feeling like quite the outsider, I declined. If I had brought a friend perhaps it would have been fun. Another parishioner smiled warmly at me.

Overall, I found the parishioners friendly and welcoming. The service, being so different, would take some getting used to. It lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. I would definitely go back.

St. Mary's Cathedral

1716 NW Davis Street http://maryscathedral.com/

The full name is St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, but nobody calls it that. It's called either St. Mary's, The Cathedral or St. Mary's Cathedral.

I went to the 5:30 pm Mass on Sunday. This is a last chance Mass. The music is uptempo and -- for lack of a better descriptor -- contemporary. The Mass has a younger, single or newly married crowd, but not entirely so by any means.

This is the bishop's seat, so to speak, and it looks the part. The church was remodeled about ten years ago and the interior looks very nice -- at least to most people. A friend who is an interior decorator thinks it's gaudy and uses too much gold. But, it is clean, spacious and reasonably friendly. Drawing from the West Hills, it is undoubtedly one of the wealthier parishes in Portland.

I go here so often it is hard to comment on it; it's so familiar to me. Each Mass time is a little different: 5:30 pm vigil is middle of the road; 7:30 am is quiet; 9:00 am is for families with children and features donuts and coffee afterward; 11:00 am has a full choir and has the most pomp and circumstance; and 5:30 pm I spoke of above.

I imagine that this church gets more out-of-town visitors than all the others and I think it shows Portland well.

Holy Redeemer

25 N. Rosa Parks Way http://www.holyredeemerpdx.org/

My adventure of visiting every Catholic church in Portland continues. However, in a way it has not fully started since each church in this blog thus far I had been to before. When I start visiting churches I have never been to before, such as the Church of the Korean Martyrs or St. Irene Byzantine Church, it should get more interesting.

Today I went to the 10 am Mass. This is a mostly white parish located in a mixed race , lower middle class neighborhood . It has a school adjoining the church and consequently there are lots of families with young children who attend here. There is also a Spanish Mass said at 12 noon on Sundays. I have been to that before and while it is fun to experience Mass in a different language (my Spanish is so so), doing so exacerbates feelings of not belonging.

The church has a brick facade and two bell towers. There is also an attractive white rectory next to the church. The inside of the church was remodeled recently and looks wonderful. It has golden yellow walls, gold trim and a royal blue ceiling. Also the parish recently installed a large baptismal fount at the back of the church. (Father Joe, who has since moved on, used to delight in dunking the babies in the new fount.)

The church was first built in 1906 by the Redemptorists, a religious order. Hence the name Holy Redeemer. The present building dates from 1926. About 5 years ago, the Redemptorists were apparently downsizing and priests from the Congregation of Holy Cross took over the parish. They are the same order that runs University of Portland and Notre Dame University.

Immaculate Heart Catholic Church

2926 North Williams Avenue, Portland
This little church in North Portland is a gem. Its pink and white exterior is attractive but the inside is the best part. The ceiling is arched and painted sky blue. There are columns throughout like a miniature European cathedral. Behind the alter (in the apse perhaps?) is a statue with the Virgin Mary looking somewhat reminiscent of Superman with red, blue and what is almost yellow. The wall of the apse is painted gold.

But the heart of a church is its people and not its structures, as inspiring as they may be. The pastor is Father Nicolaus Marandu, ALCP. He is a member of the Apostolic Life Community of Priests – Holy Spirit Fathers and is from Tanzania. I had met Fr. Marandu before but I do not think he recognized me. The neighborhood is predominantly black and the congregation was about half black. We sang from the African American Catholic Hymnal. There are icons depicting saints of African descent.

Immaculate Heart also has a Vietnamese priest and Masses in Vietnamese. I would highly recommend visiting this comely church in the heart of North Portland.