Christ the King Catholic Church

On November 29, 2009 I attended a Sunday Mass at Christ the King, a Catholic church located on Pleasant Street in Worcester. I arrived early and found a handful of people were involved in personal prayer. I could hear the church choir singing hymns in a distant room.

Christ the King Church was less ornate than other Catholic chuches that I have seen, due to being a fairly modern structure (built in 1958). It reflects the architecture that was common of that era. The outside of the church has a beautiful mosaic representing Christ's rising. Upon entering the large vestibule I noticed a circular space where there was cushioned seating and a statue of the blessed virgin with the Christ child. There was a door to the right where personal confessions were heard by the parish priest on Saturday afternoons. To the left side of the vestibule was a small soundproofed room where people with small children can participate in the Mass without the cries of the children disrupting the Mass. There were two holy water dishes in the vestibule. Before entering the church, the churchgoers blessed themselves with the water.

The center of the church was a large rectangular space. This space was filled with oak bench seating and cushioned kneelers. The church felt very spacious with its wood slat cathedral ceiling. At the front of the church was the altar which was elevated from the pews by a few marble steps. On the altar was a large marble table from which the priest prayed and changed the host and wine into the body and blood of Christ. On the altar were two candles and an open Bible. To the right of the altar was a small ornate gold box with a key which is where the hosts were kept until the consecration (the consecration being when the host is transformed by the prayers of the priest into the body of Christ, according to Catholic beliefs). To the left of the altar was a large baptismal pool where infants are baptized. To the left of the altar was seating for the church choir. Over the altar hung a large copper cross of the crucified Jesus. At the back of the altar were seats for the Priest and Deacons. Two young girls dressed in white robes participated in the Mass by bringing water and a towel to the priest for him to wash his hands before the consecration. They also held the Bible open so that the priest could recite the prayers of the Mass from his seat. To the right of the altar were a few seats for parishoners who read the readings from the Bible for that particular Mass. The priest was dressed in a long ornate robe. The choir also wore plain blue robes which fell to the ankle. The sides of the church were decorated with large stained glass windows depicting the stories of the Bible. Along the walls were the stations of the cross which tell the story of Christ's crucifixion.

At the start of the Mass the choir, altar servers, deacons and priest proceed up the side aisle singing a hymn. They walked down the central aisle and took their places on the altar. The people of the church sang along as well. The priest and parishoners stood and asked the Lord to forgive their sins. A reader then came to the lecturn and read the first and second reading of the Mass. The priest then gave the gospel reading. He gave a homily based on the gospel reading. He came down to the people and attempted to make sense of the gospel reading. By giving present-day examples he applied the gospel to the parishoner's lives. Then an offering was taken in order to pay the expenses of the parish. The choir and parishoners sang an offertory hymn. The priest then asked for peace to the congregation. The parishoners then offered peace to each other with a smile or a nod of the head. The priest then took the host from the gold box and consecrated the bread and wine through a series of prayers. He then asked the parishoners to come forward and receive the body and blood of Christ. They received the host either by the tongue or hand. People returned to their seats for a time of silence and prayer. The priest then gave a blessing to the congregation. A hymn was sung by the choir and parishoners. The priest, deacons and altar servers then proceeded down the center of the aisle and out to the street. The priest and deacons posted themselves outside the door in order to speak and greet the congregation as they left the church.