Kristyal Anderson
February 22, 2014
SOCY Religion
Research Assignment #1

Most people on the planet have some kind of believe that they hold dear. Even if the person who believes that god does not exist, he has a religion of his own. All the religions differ from each other; the beliefs, the rituals, the holidays. On Sunday February 16, 2014 I attended my first Mass at St Patrick Catholic Church on 134 St. Philip Street, in downtown Charleston. As I walked up to the doors of the church I realized it was the largest church building I had ever been in. Upon entering the church doors I was greeted by man who held the door open as I walked in. I arrived exactly 10 minutes before the 10:00 Mass began. This was my first time attending so I a little apprehensive. Before I got to the pews I could not help but notice a small basin of water in the front of the church. I saw some people dipping their finger in it and making a cross motion on their bodies. As approached my seat I saw people kneeling down on their right knee facing the altar; so I followed suit. I was surprised at the mixture of races worshiping at the church. I was expecting to see a majority of White and Spanish people; however I was surprised to see a fair amount of African Americans members of the church were in attendance. As I sat down I noticed that there were two books in the rack on the back of the pew in front of me. As the mass began two men walked in, one in front of the other, as the congregation sang a song from one of the books one. The first male was much younger and dressed in an all-white robe. The priest who followed was dressed in a much more colorful bright green robe with a gold cross on the front.
As the they walked up to the altar they both bowed but the younger male kneelt down with his right knee as the Priest continued to the alter. Upon reaching the alter, the priest bowed down to kiss it. The members of the congregation stood through the entire precession. The priest did a prayer and the other members repeated “lord have mercy” after every verse. Then there was another prayer where everyone joined in. A third prayer was said and then the priest sat down. Another person approached the alter and began to read a scripture. I noticed that whenever anyone move toward the alter they had their hands together as if they were praying. After reading a scripter, the reader reads a psalm and the congregation repeats another phrase.
Someone begins to sing, and the priest approached the podium and says “the lord be with you.” He traced a cross across his face before reading a scripter. Then two more people come from the back of the church bringing wine and bread as offering. The priest blesses the bread, and pours the wine into a gold goblet, and then blesses it. He then washes his hands, and beings to pray again while the congregation repeats another phrase. He prays over the bread and wine again, bows and prays again. The Our Father prayer is said, and then the congregation started to shake each other’s hands and say “peace be with you.”
The communion begins and again people approached the alter with their hands clasped in prayer. The priest gives some of the people the wafer in their hands, others he placed on their tongues. After everyone has received communion, he cleans goblet and plate and it is taken away. The priest begins to pray again, and then comes from behind the alter, kneels at it and leaves. The entire mass lasted about thirty minutes. This is one of the major differences