Rituals- The Cathedral of St. Paul at Birmingham

Since I was a small child my father has raised me in a very protestant fashion. I was reared in the traditional teaching of black protestants in the United States of America. This upbringing is an extension of the white protestant values inherited through slavery. With that being said, I was raised very anti-catholic. The first place I thought I should visit for rituals should be a catholic church. Therefore, I chose to attend The Cathedral of St. Paul. When I first awoke and got ready to attend church I put on my traditional Sunday dress. I wore a button down shirt, cardigan sweater, black dress pants, and Sunday shoes. I didn't want to over dress or under dress. I found myself feeling a bit nervous about entering this worship service. The thoughts of people staring at me because I was not following ritual made me a little uneasy.


I arrived and was welcomed by a short man who looked very clean cut and straight. His posture at the door made him seem like a guard almost. The cathedral was very beautiful and impressed me on a large scale architecturally. The church had a very gothic look to me. I would later be told by the church father it was built in 1872. This was different from any church I'd ever attended. The building itself was somewhat intimidating to me when I entered. I found the stained glass and Roman looking statues to be quite eerie. The priest prayed in latin and waved around what looked like a jar on string. The father told me when we spoke after service this was incense burning. Throughout the service I found myself confuse by many things. I was confused about how Eucharist was performed, the incense, the symbolism of the cross and other things. This is the main reason I sought out the priest afterward for clarity. He spoke to me with a sort of condescending tone about how others criticize the Catholic Church but claimed it to be the father of all organized Christianity. He and I spoke for quite some time and he told me about the light of Christ. I told him I was attending the service for a class only and he politely told me to return sometime. Overall I didnt feel to uncomfortable. I felt mild discomfort ,but only because I didn't understand everything happening around me.