11. Church of the Blessed Sacrament

(mass times & church info last updated 03/08/2016)
Address: 152 W. 71st. St.
Phone: 212.877.3111
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm
Sun: 8:30am (English), 10am (Family Mass), 11:15am (Spanish),
12:30pm (Choir), 5:30pm (English)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Fri: 7:30am, 12:10pm, 5:30pm (All English)
Sat: 7:30am, 12:10pm (All English)
Confession: Sat: 4:30pm-5:15pm
Special Needs Mass:
1st & 3rd Sundays of the Month at 4pm
Rosary: Daily after 12:10pm Mass
Holy Hour: Fri: 6pm-7pm
Benediction:
First Friday: Exposition: 12:35pm; Adoration: all day; Benediction: 5:15pm
Miraculous Medal Novena:
Mondays: before 12:10pm Mass, after 5:30pm Mass
Links:
Official Website
About the Organ
Catholic Encyclopedia: The Blessed Eucharist as a Sacrament
Catholic Encyclopedia: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament
Wikipedia: The Blessed Sacrament
Wikipedia: Eucharistic Adoration
Spanish Programs Website

I was completely ill for this church visit and I wish I hadn't been. Living on the West side, and feeling like complete s@#% due to flu remnants or bronchitis or something viral, and not wishing to travel far this Sunday, I decided to drop down to 71st street and see what was there in the way of Catholic churches. I can't stop being amazed by all the beautiful churches plopped on just about every street corner in this city - it really is amazing. Okay, it's sad that most of them lay empty, or at least void of the multitudes, each Sunday these days, but the simple fact that they stand there, holding solmenity over this city is fantastic. So I wandered into this church, feeling ill, head fuzzy (due to congestion this week - not alcohol,) chest wheezing with phlegm, body aching and I realized immediately I needed to come back here someday when I felt well so I could truly appreciate it.

I noticed first off that the sound system was pretty swell, Some of these old churches have the worst acoustics and you can never understand - or have a fancy audio system worse than the bad acoustics in these old churches - this one has great speakers that put out good, and somehow, peaceful sound.

Stone architecture greets you from 71st street and as you enter you immediately see that the nave leads to an overwhelming huge apse, towering above you.


I sat in this church and tried concentrating, and prayed for healing and, later, walking out, trying to brace myself for the cold and going home to lay down and get better, I realized I was all the better for going here this evening.


(09/24/2010)
additional photos...
*Note: I stopped by today for the 12:10pm Mass, happy to be inside this church and NOT sick like last time. I've actually stopped in a few times since then for a quick prayer or two. It's a nice, quiet, cool, solemn place. There was a homeless man right inside the entry way and he asked me for something when I entered. Right away I responded that I didn't have anything. He told me he needed a new pair of shorts because he wanted to wash the pair he had on. He seemed distressed. I went inside the church offering him nothing. Throughout Mass the man was on my thoughts. I could not remove him from my mind and the fact that I had done nothing for him. What does it mean to attend Mass weekly or daily and listen to the Gospel and pray about it but not to LIVE the gospel? What is any of the sacraments, blessings, prayers, holy water, offerings? What is the meaning of any of it? After Mass, he was still there right inside the entry way. I asked him again what he needed. Shorts, he replied, so he could wash the ones he was wearing. I asked him what size. Triple X, he said. I went outside, looking for a store, a Modells or something. I couldn't find anything. I walked back to the church, catching the man on his way out (I think someone from the church had asked him to leave.) I handed him $10. He was grateful and said thank you. I went on my way. Unsure whether the man was going to use the money for clothing or something else, unable to know if he was truly in need or just begging - I realized it didn't matter. Someone very wise recently told me, in regards to this week's upcoming Gospel, The Rich Man and Lazarus, that to be a Christian means to give to those in need without fear of being "taken in." It is not our duty to judge but to give. In fact, it's our job to give WITHOUT judging. And yet I get this wrong every single day.