A sacrament and a song

A cradleCatholic experiences Mennonites.

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Twenty-five years ago, this Roman Catholic musician, completely unfamiliar with Mennonites, walked into a Mennonite church, heard the singing, and in a stunned split second of sound decided this was where she would stay. I heard difficult choral anthems sung well by an untrained congregation and led by an untrained leader with no accompaniment. It seemed like a musical miracle to me. Congregational singing is a weak area for Catholics, and as a musician I recognized the wonders of this musical treasure.

Throughout the years I was a member of a Mennonite church, I served as music director, choir director, accompanist and worship commission chair. In recent years, however, I have returned to my childhood faith tradition and am able to claim the influences of both traditions on my spirituality. My worship experiences in Roman Catholicism and in the Free Church tradition give me a unique perspective on common misunderstandings among Mennonites about Catholics, particularly in the areas of ritual and the use of the sensory in worship.

I was born and raised Roman Catholic, while my husband grew up in a small, rural Wesleyan church. When our oldest was a baby, we moved to the Shenandoah Valley and looked for a church home. Attending church as a family was important to me. I knew I could make the leap to a non-Catholic tradition more easily than my husband could embrace Catholicism. When we discovered the local Mennonite church, we found incredible music, close friends and a nurturing place for our three children. So we stayed, eventually becoming members and raising our children as Mennonites. When asked about our family’s faith background, my husband would laugh, “My wife’s Catholic, I’m Protestant, and our kids are mixed-up little Mennonites.”

Roots: Some years ago, when the children were in high school and college, I went through a period of personal crisis. At the same time I was hearing many fine sermons on Anabaptist roots. It occurred to me that I had my own roots and needed them to sustain me. During this time I attended the weekday liturgy, or worship service, at the local Catholic community. I felt the need to make an official return to my childhood faith tradition. With the kids almost grown and the blessing of my family, I withdrew my Mennonite membership and rejoined the Catholic faith. I saw this not as a rejection of Mennonites but as a way to put back inside me something important I had given up.

Now I only worship with the Catholics occasionally and most Sundays attend my Mennonite community. Although I consider myself officially Roman Catholic, I also see myself as an adopted Mennonite sister. I am fortunate to draw from two streams of religious heritage, finding advantages to being a person of hybrid faith. My cross-cultural faith experience has given me a broader base from which to understand varied faith traditions.

Ritual: Over the years that I have worshiped with Mennonites, I have discovered two important areas of misunderstanding about Catholic worship. The first is ritual. The Roman Catholic worship service, in earlier years known as the Mass, is now called the liturgy of the Eucharist. Eucharist is a more formal term for Communion. Sometimes I’ve heard the liturgy of the Eucharist referred to as “dry ritual” and therefore inferior to the Free Church style of worship. Webster’s dictionary defines ritual as “the observance of set forms or rites, as in public worship.” Zion Mennonite Church near Broadway, Va., has a ritual, but we don’t use that terminology when speaking of our services. On most Sundays worshipers can expect hymns, prayers, sharing, an offering and a sermon. That’s a “set form in public worship.”

The Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist is a different sort of ritual, but it is layered with meaning, and appreciation of it grows with experience. For Catholics, the liturgy is an ancient ritual that forms the core of their worship experience. The liturgy flows from the joyful processional hymn, to the penitential “Lord, have mercy” to the jubilant “Glory to God in the highest.” The worshipers then hear substantial portions of Scripture read every Sunday, since all the lectionary readings are included in full—Old Testament, a sung Psalm, New Testament and the Gospel. The Gospel reading is considered so important that worshipers stand during its reading. A 15-minute homily is followed by the recitation of the Nicene Creed, the offertory, the magnificent “Holy, holy, holy,” the Lord’s Prayer, the reflective “Lamb of God” and the reception of the Eucharist. Following a brief silent period after Communion, the liturgy ends with a joyful recessional hymn. All this usually fits into one hour. The parts of the liturgy, along with other responses, are often sung. The reception of the Eucharist is the primary act of worship and is so important as to be part of every service, including weddings and funerals.

The liturgy of the Eucharist as a worship form has a natural feeling to its flow, rising and falling until it peaks at Communion. Worshipers are so familiar with the text and tunes of the liturgy that they are able to participate from memory. The participants use hymnals only for the four variable hymns—processional, offertory, Communion and recessional. As with any church, worship can be done well or be poorly planned and executed. When the liturgy of the Eucharist is carried out by a committed faith community, it can be profoundly worshipful. The flow, richness and depth are unlike any other experience.

Symbol and the sensory: A second area of Catholicism that is misunderstood by Mennonites is the role of symbol and the use of the sensory in Roman Catholic worship. Catholic worship is sacramental, that is, it uses outward signs to convey inner realities. Things that are important aids to worship in the Roman Catholic tradition are candles, crucifixes, rosaries, stained glass, special garments for the priest, holy water, statues of holy people and incense. These things, along with the Eucharist, involve our senses of touch, sight, smell and taste. Catholics don’t worship these things; we worship through these things. This allows us to experience the presence of the holy in ways other than the spoken or sung word.

The rosary—not part of the Mass and most often a private form of devotion—is a mysterious and misunderstood form of prayer to Mennonites. These traditional Catholic prayer beads are similar to the prayer beads that have been used in other traditions since ancient times. The rosary is a form of contemplative prayer or meditation. Involving the sense of touch through the fingers, the user repeats set prayers. The prayers are the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, the “Hail, Mary” and the “Glory be to the Father.” The mind is then free to meditate on a set pattern of events from the life of Jesus, including the birth events, his life, crucifixion and resurrection. Devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, is an important feature of the rosary, but at deeper levels the devotee enters into the Gospel stories.

Another seemingly mysterious symbol to Mennonites is the crucifix—the cross depicting the crucified body of Jesus. The crucifix does not deny the resurrection but serves as a reminder of the place of suffering in the Christian life.

Gesture and movement, relating to the sensory, form an important part of Catholic worship. The believer signs himself or herself “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Traditional Catholic liturgy incorporated standing, sitting and kneeling at various times during the service as well as the sign of the cross and genuflecting upon entering and exiting the pew. Such posture changes enhance the worship experience by incorporating the whole person.

Mutual understanding: There are important theological differences between Mennonites and Catholics in these areas. However, I find that developing mutual understanding and respect enhances personal and communal faith. The sacramental approach to Roman Catholic worship and the strength of Mennonite song do not have to be mutually exclusive. Broadening our spiritual horizons through interdenominational worship experiences does not weaken our own roots. Rather, these experiences help us appreciate our own heritage while at the same time giving us much-needed openness, flexibility and depth in our faith.

I had a senior friend at church some time ago, Elizabeth A. Showalter. Great-aunt to dozens of nieces and nephews, Elizabeth went blind in her later years and was confined to a nursing-home bed. On one of my visits she shared her difficulties with insomnia. Thinking of my own great aunt in a similar situation, I tried to explain the benefits of the rosary as a prayerful yet practical aid in wakeful night hours. Either my explanation was inadequate or Elizabeth’s staunch Mennonite training impaired her openness, but the rosary was not an option for her.

Great-aunt Elizabeth Showalter needed a rosary. I need Mennonite singing. Why can’t we have both?

Katherine Donnelly lives in Harrisonburg, Va.

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Katherine Donnelly lives in Harrisonburg, Va.