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.