St. Birgitta

St. Birgitta Catholic Church
11820 NW Saint Helens Rd
Portland, OR 97231

 
St. Birgitta is probably best known for its Latin Mass. It is at 8 am on Sunday. There is also a Latin Mass at St. Birgitta's on first Fridays, first Saturdays and on holy days. There is a website dedicated to this Mass.

I attended the English Mass, which is at 10 am. The church is located on St. Helens Road just past the town of Linnton. It looks like a plain country church on the outside. The inside is quite beautiful though: unpainted wooden pews, walls and ceiling lend it warmth, charm and beauty as only wood can. The inside is very much like St. Thomas More's and I would not be surprised if the same architect and construction company built both churches. (St. Thomas More's website indicates it church as built in 1940 by Pietro Belluschi. I do not know who built St. Birgitta's, however.) The most remarkable thing about the service was the singing. Most Catholic churches do not do a good job of singing. In fact, a book on the subject has been written: Why Catholics Can't Sing. But this church sang pretty darn well. The key was a four-person choir accompanied by an electric piano. That choir sang loudly, clearly and beautifully and, most amazingly, most of the rest of the church joined in. If only more Catholics in Portland would actually sing instead of just listening to others sing.