Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows 5239 SE Woodstock Boulevard

This small church, built in 1917, is on the corner of southeast 52nd and Woodstock.  The outside is  simple, wooden and painted white.  The inside is nicely painted, appointed and decorated.  The parish's website states, "May no one who comes to our community to join us in worship ever leave us a stranger."  It's a nice sentiment and although no one introduced themselves to me nor I to them, I do not feel that I left a stranger either.  From the Vietnamese woman who smiled and asked if she should get out of my way while I took a picture of a statue to Fr. Ron Millikan's looking me warmly in the eye after Mass and saying, "God bless you sir," I felt welcomed in this small parish.

Speaking of statues, there are many interesting statues and icons in this church.  There is even a "Pilgrim Virgin Statue" you can bring to your home that looks just like the statue here.  Catholics are accused of worshiping graven images with our use of statues.  The reader should understand that the Catholic Church teaches that it is wrong to worship statues and denies that that is what statues in its churches are for.  Catholic Answers has a good defense of the practice of using statues in religious contexts. 

The parishioners at the 11 am Mass were a nice mix.  There were Whites, Hispanics, Vietnamese and a family of Eastern Europeans who I guessed were Czech but could have been Ukrainian or Russian or ?  There was also a nice mix of ages.

Our Lady of Sorrows made a favorable impression on me.  The setting, the interior and the friendliness of its parishioners all recommend it.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary 4112 SW Sixth Ave Dr.

You might think, based on a quick look at the address, that this church is located in downtown  Portland.  But, it is actually located on Marquam Hill, just south of OHSU Hospital.   The next thing you might think is that the parish is well to-do, as it is located in the West Hills.  On this account you would be correct.  Finally, being a small parish in the West Hills, you might think the parishioners would be snooty or stand-offish.  On that, I am happy to report, you would be mistaken.


As you can see from the photo (which just shows the entrance - the main part of the church is hidden to the left), the church is small and could pass for a residence if not for the cross atop it.  The inside is neat and attractive, with natural wood in the mode of St. Birgitta and St. Thomas More. 

I felt as if I were in a country church.  Perhaps it was the small size of the church or perhaps it was the acoustical guitarist with a somewhat country style of playing that caused this feeling.  The parishioners were nearly all white and were uniformly friendly.  I think the small size of the church contributes to this. 

A pianist and a bass guitarist accompanied the guitarist.  The guitarist said they were looking for a clarinet player.  There were 6 others in the choir today for a total of 9.  The guitarist was much better than average and I especially enjoyed his use of runs.

At the end of Mass Fr. Jim (Rev. James Kolb, O.S.P. -- a Paulist rather than a diocesan priest), asked if there were any visitors.  I raised my hand with at least one other.  Then he asked the other visitor to introduce herself.  Afterwards, he asked if there were another visitor.  This time I did not raise my hand, as I did not want to introduce myself or tell people I was doing a blog and thereby put them on the defensive.  I know it was intended to be friendly, however, and by by not exposing myself in that small way, I lost a chance to meet members of the church, which was one of my goals starting this project.