4:30 Saturday afternoon mass, St. Ignatius. My nostagic-to-a-fault daughter wanted to visit the ol' stomping grounds before returning to college on Sunday. There's only so much one can say about a church you've been to hundreds of time, so let's focus on this instead: the second anniversary of The Church Tour.
I remember, two years ago, compiling my first list of local Catholic churches. I think I had maybe thirty-some churches listed. I figured I would make the rounds for the same number of weeks, and the tour would be history. Such a noob.
Since then, I've added churches in Northern Kentucky and Indiana. I've discovered countless churches I never even knew existed and found a few that existed but are now closed. Just last week, I added another church to the list that I recently became aware of! It's been a fascinating two years. Let's go to the stats:
Since August 22nd of 2009, I have visited a total of 77 different Catholic churches, including 7 in Northern Kentucky and 1 in Indiana. Two have been deemed "cathedrals" and one a "basilica," although I will argue that several more deserve either of those designations. I have been to one "chapel," one "friary," and have attended mass in one "undercroft." Of course, who can forget mass in The Gym. I have visited two deconsecrated churches.
Of the 77 churches featured in blog entries, 55 are "saint" churches, i.e., Saint Ignatius, Saint James, etc. For the record, I counted All Saints as just one, although, technically, by virtue of its name, I guess I could have really maxed out on the number of saints with that one. As far as repetition, there were 5 "Our Lady" churches, 3 Sacred Hearts, 2 St. Als, 2 St. Bernards, 2 St. James, 4 St. Johns, and 2 St. Marys. Pretty sure that among those duplicates, however, we weren't always talking about the same people.
I've been to new churches - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - and old churches - Old St. Mary's. I've been to modern churches - Good Shepherd - and traditional churches - St. Boniface. I've seen the elaborate - Covington Cathedral - and the simple - St. Matthias, the big - St. Maximillian - and the small - St. Jerome. I've seen beauty - Mother of God - and those, well, not quite as beautiful - we won't name names. I've seen churches with a seeming abundance of resources - St. Susanna - and the struggling underdogs - St. Margaret of Cortona.
Of the 77 masses on The Tour, 52 were on Saturday - still not a morning person. I have been to one non-English mass. Some masses were packed - St. Louis's Saturday afternoon mass - and others were empty - All Saints' Sunday afternoon. I've traveled through blinding snow to Christ the King, torrential rain to Guardian Angels, and scorching heat to St. Bernard in Kentucky.
The current list of churches I have yet to visit should take me through another year, if not longer. Of course, things aren't as easy as they were at the beginning. Attending mass at a church located 45 minutes away is a little more complicated than visiting a church ten minutes away, "complicated" meaning, not only is Mapquest research involved, but a bit of planning and often the harsh reality of "there goes a big chunk of my day."
Has the novelty worn off? In all honesty, at times, yes. Although finding the "hidden gems" is still exhilirating, I've definitely come to the conclusion that there's only so many ways one can build a church, be it old or new. Frankly, it's becoming harder and harder to write about a church that looks just like last week's church . . . that looks like last week's church . . . or was it the week before?
Fortunately, what's become more fascinating than the physical churches is the human church within them. I'm continually amazed at the noticable differences in the personalities of the parishes, the subtle nuances between the numerous congregations I've been a part of. There have been the touch-feely parishes, like Bellarmine Chapel, versus parishes with little or no emotion - who shall also remain nameless. I don't know if the differences are a result of locale, demographics (age, economic stability, etc.) or the spirit generated within the parish, but the differences are visible and palpable. I'm not a big touchy-feely fan, but I've now realized that when the emotion isn't there, I find myself missing it. Go figure.
Take away all the differences, however, and you're still left with the one constant which trumps everything else - our faith. So many churches . . . so many Catholics . . . all coming together week after week to celebrate the same mass in the same way. Kills me every time. Looking forward to the next 52 weeks.
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