Byzantine Church Experience Paper

For my experience project, I chose to attend a Byzantine mass at St. Joseph in Brecksville. I have been to very few non-Catholic masses, so I knew that the experience would be interesting. I was surprised by how many differences there between the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Catholic masses. I found that by the end of the experience I would obtain a greater appreciation for what I have learned in my Catholic education. Before attending the Byzantine mass, I had little to no expectations about how the experience would go. Honestly, I did not even know that there was such a sect of the Catholic religion and I don't know any Byzantine Catholics. Once I decided to go, I was slightly nervous, but very intrigued and interested by what I would experience. I was a little worried that I …show more content…
However, at the same time I also wondered what it would be like to be out my regular routine of seeing the same people in the same environment and listening to the same perspective every mass. The few expectations and impressions I had allowed me to experience this mass with an open mind. I chose to attend a regular Sunday mass at St. Joseph’s Byzantine Church in Brecksville, Ohio. My initial impression of the church was that although the building was fairly large, the church itself was very small. It had maybe twenty rows of pews which were mostly filled. Immediately when the mass started I noticed many differences. First of all, the priest used a lot of incense, especially in the beginning. Also, pretty much the entire mass was sung, except the homily. Although the church was catholic, their responses and prayers were different as well. In