Catholic Mass: The Difference Between Mass in Pisaq and Mass in the States

On the first Sunday of the Maymester, we attended a mass in the city of Pisac, a small city about an hour away from Cusco. As a Catholic myself, I was excited to be able to attend mass and to see the differences between catholic mass in my church at home and catholic mass in an indigenous city with a separate culture. 

I genuflected before I entered the pew as I always do. However, as I was seated in the pew waiting for mass to begin, I observed that all of the locals would genuflect in the middle of the church, before the altar, and then would walk into the pews. This is one of the small differences I noticed. In both cases, genuflecting is occurring, but just at different points. I think it is just a community norm that has been passed down.  

Another small difference was that there was no opening or closing procession for the priest during the Pisaq mass. Instead, the priest started at the altar and told everyone to rise. Furthermore, I believe that the priest told the congregation when to sit and stand whereas in my church, we follow what the priest does. For example, if the priest stands, the congregation stands. Going off on a little tangent, the constant standing, sitting, and kneeling in mass was normal to me as I had been raised catholic. However, other peers in the group were shocked by the amount of standing and sitting (something that I had always seen as normal).

In addition, the way communion was done shocked me. In the United States, we all line up in an organized manner to receive communion. However, in Pisac, only about half the church went up for communion. It was also more of a gathering, than an organized line. I believe it is because of an important catholic rule that is not practiced in the states as often. It is said that one should not receive communion if they are not to be in a “state of grace”. This occurs when one has committed a serious sin and has not gone to confession. Without having the pressure of an organized line, I believe more people are inclined to choose not to receive communion. Another hypothesis is that the individuals who did not go up for communion were simply not baptized Catholics. However, I believe that catholicism has a large presence in Pisac so I am not entirely sure. Another difference is that communion was taken orally. In the states, it is possible to take communion orally, but most individuals choose to take communion by hand. I think this is a cultural difference in the sense that many individuals in states may find it unhygienic to take communion orally. 

Finally, the first thing I noticed when I walked into the church was the altar. There was one large statue in the middle with 4 smaller surrounding statues at the 4 corners of the altar. It shocked me to see that Jesus was only represented on one of the 4 smaller statues. The largest statue was an individual in religious attire similar to a pope; I believe it represented an important religious figure of the time. However, in the states, the altar is reflected around Jesus or the cross and sometimes with smaller statues such as Mary, Joseph, or other saints. The church in Pisac was most likely founded and built by the Spanish conquistadors and that is why the altar is centered around a religious figure rather than Jesus. This is because churches were built as triumphs and victories of the Spanish conquistadors.

It was so interesting to be able to attend a mass of the same religion but with different cultural aspects and in a different language. Although I was not able to understand the readings and the homilies, I was able to observe the passion in the voice of the priest and the importance of catholicism in Pisac. I would like the opportunity to attend mass to see if there are any more differences or similarities between my church in the United States. I wonder how simple aspects of the church change between cities and why they do.