Southeast Asian Vicariate

Southeast Asian Vicariate Church of Our Lady of Lavang 5404 NE Alameda Dr., Portland, OR 97213

You can see this pink structure on the north side of NE Sandy Boulevard near NE 54th Street. It used to be a convent. I believe the present site dates to 1999, while the vicariate itself was founded in 1981. It supports the Portland Vietnamese who began to arrive here in large numbers after the fall of Saigon in 1975. You can read more about the vicariate in this article from the Catholic Sentinel.

The grounds are very large, taking up at least a square block and consisting of many buildings in addition to a large church.

The grounds are landscaped with palm trees, giving the impression that you might actually be in southeast Asia or some other tropical clime.

The service was packed with nicely dressed parishioners predominately wearing black, with a smattering of white and to a much lesser extent prints and colors. On the patio west of the church a fiesta of some sort was taking place. Five priests con-celebrated the Mass. Of the 200-300 people filling the church and another 100-200 outside participating in the fiesta, I was the only person not of Asian descent.

Mass was entirely in Vietnamese, the only words of which I know are chan muối, which is a salty lime drink. I thought I even heard the word muối during the sermon, but it may have been my imagination.

Although I clearly stood out, no one stared at me. I stood in the back the entire service so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. My fellow wall-standers to my right and left shook my hand during the handshake of peace. Other than that, I was left alone during the service. As I was leaving two little girls in the parking lot said hello and giggled.

To me the most amazing thing was to see all these immigrants, speaking a foreign language and living thousands of miles from their homeland,
who clearly have been able to make a living in their new country and to form a vibrant community.

St. Sharbel

1804 SE 16th http://www.saintsharbel.com/           

                                                                           

I arrived a few minutes late, having had a little difficulty finding this church tucked in the leafy Ladd's Edition neighborhood. After a two-hour service I had to leave a few minutes early to make it to a Mother's Day brunch; consequently I only was able to snap two quick photographs. Next time -- and St. Sharbel deserves a next time -- I will make sure to experience the Mass from beginning to end.

St. Sharbel is a Maronite church. It is an Eastern Rite church, with rituals somewhat similar to to an Orthodox church (a friend calls them "bells and smells"), except unlike the Greek or Russian Orthodox churches, the Maronite church is in full communion with the Holy See. The service was conducted half in English and half in Arabic except for the consecration, which was in Aramaic, the language Jesus is said to have spoken.

The Maronite church began in Syria in the 5th century with St. Maron, but soon spread to Lebanon.  Many, but certainly not all, in the congregation today were Lebanese and could speak Arabic. The family behind my friend and me helped us when we got lost in the hymnal, one of which was entitled "The Cedars of Lebanon Hymnal."

The church is a handsome stone edifice but cannot be seen well because of a large tree in front of it. The inside is a cozy medium-sized space, roughly square. The altar is in a corner rather than against a wall, and the altar rail is a curved semi-circle. There are many statues and paintings in and near the altar area. The pews are made of oak and curved as well. The floor slopes down toward the corner where the altar is, giving the room a theater-like feel.

The service is quite a bit different than the Roman Rite, but not as different as St. Irene Byzantine Church's. Maronites cross themselves in the same manner as Romans -- touching their left shoulder and then their right at the end of the sign of the cross. During the handshake of peace a charming gesture was introduced to me. The alter boys went into the congregation and offered their hands with their fingers pressed together as if in prayer but pointed toward persons at the end of the pews such as me. The parishioner then put their hands around the alter boy's hands also with fingers pointed forward and then pulled their hands toward themselves, wiping their hands against the other's as they separated. Then the congregation did this with each other. I saw variations of this such as a person extending just one hand and the other clasping it with both hands while gently pulling away. It was unclear to me who should be the one offering their hands and who should be the one clasping and pulling away.

(This gesture reminding me of another gesture from a foreign culture that the reader is probably equally unfamiliar with: Filipino children will take an adult's hand and press the back of the hand to their forehead in greeting. Both are touching (no pun intended) gestures.)

The pastor, Abouna ("Father" in Arabic) Jonathan Decker, S.J.M.J., has a New York accent, wore a skull cap, had a long beard and wielded a silver cross with a long blue tassel in his right hand nearly the entire service. He spoke English and Arabic and blessed us with the the cross throughout the service. There was also a cantor and a violinist who were in an adjacent room, separated by a screen from the congregation. Fr. Decker greeted all the visitors, singling out each one, including me. The congregation was also quite friendly.

All Saints Parish

3847 NE Glisan

All Saints Parish is located in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. The church is a modern design that I can see being preserved someday as an example of modernism. The parishioners were mostly white -- okay, they were 100% white.  The parishioners for the most part fell into two camps: those of retirement age and those with young children. At this Mass at least, there was not too much in between.

The pastor, Father Richard Thompson, gave the homily. The Gospel reading was about Jesus' post-resurrection appearance to the disciples while they were fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. (You may ask yourself, "what is this Sea of Tiberias? I thought the disciples always fished in the Sea of Galilee? Well, it turns out the two are the same, and are also known as the Lake of Gennesaret.) Father Thompson raised the interesting question of why the disciples were back fishing after spending so much time with Jesus, knowing he had been resurrected and knowing he had already asked them to become fishers of men. To my disappointment, however, Fr. Thompson did not answer the question.

After Mass I grabbed a bulletin. Interestingly, it contained a short hagiography of Saint Adalbert of Prague. I wonder if, being named All Saints, each week there is a biography of a different Saint in the bulletin? St. Adalbert's day in April 23, so maybe the pastor picks a saint from the upcoming week to write about. In any case, I like reading about Saints, as long as the story doesn't seem too much like a legend.

St. Clare Parish

St. Clare Church

St. Clare is located in the suburbs of southwest Portland just a block off Barbur Blvd. It appears to have been built in the 1960s. It has beautiful blond woodwork in the interior and an abstract metal crucifix sculpture behind the alter with the organ's pipes as part of the work of art. My camera's battery was dead so I could not get a picture of the interior. Maybe I will make it back for a quick photograph.

Father Tom Farley gave an interesting sermon about today's Gospel reading -- the story of the prodigal son. He compared the prodigal son story to the movie Ulee's Gold, where Peter Fonda plays the part of Ulee, a beekeeper father of two trying to keep his highly dysfunctional family together. Despite his grown children's transgressions and against all odds, Ulee patches his family back together again.

St. Michael the Archangel

http://www.stmichaelportland.org/

St. Michael the Archangel is located in downtown Portland on the southwest side, not too far from Portland State University. It is kitty-corner from St. Mary's Academy. It's location is important to its character. Before Urban Renewal changed the face of this part of Portland in the 1960's, southwest Portland was home to large Italian and Jewish populations. That St. Michael's was predominantly an Italian parish can be seen from the names of Italian families that sponsored the stain-glass windows of the church.

Although tucked into downtown Portland onto a crowded half-block, the church contains a special surprise for garden-lovers. Someone has planted and maintained fruit trees, bushes and plants of all sorts along the edges of the property. There are many types of fruits: espaliered pears and apples, kiwis, raspberries and more. On a early summer day, the garden is a delight and it alone is worth a visit.

Father James Mayo is the current pastor of St. Michael's. Fr. Mayo is a friendly and caring pastor and his sermons reflect his love of learning.

St. Michael's ministries include reaching out to the poor by providing sack lunches from 10 to 11 am each weekday. Confessions are heard six days a week.

St. Ignatius

St. Ignatius Catholic Church

St. Ignatius is run by the Society of Jesus (the "Jesuits") and is located on SE Powell Blvd., just east of SE 39th Avenue.

The St. Ignatius church building is fairly plain on the outside and even more humble on the inside. However, I found the service (10:30 am) to be warm and family-friendly. Perhaps because the priest conducted three baptisms today, there were many families with young children.

The parishioners are ethnically mixed, interestingly with a some African parishioners.

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.