Catholic Churches of Manhattan

Happy Immaculate Conception!

2011-12-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

(photo of St. Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary as a child taken at Holy Name of Jesus Church, 207 W. 96th St. @ Amsterdam)

Catholics like myself often forget that the Immaculate Conception is not a Holy Day about the virgin birth of Christ, but rather the belief, thrust upon us believers in the Church through papal infallibility, that Mary too was conceived immaculately without sin. May she continue to be a model to us all about following the Divine Will of God.

Welcome to Catholic Churches of Manhattan

2011-10-17T12:52:00.000-04:00

This blog comprises a 2 1/2 year journey where I visited each of the 96 Roman Catholic churches of Manhattan for a single Mass each. I have taken photos, gathered church contact info, collected Mass, confession, and prayer times. Oh, and written some thoughts down that were going through my head at the time. Here are those journeys and that info for you, the casual church goer, devout Catholic, pilgrim, atheist, priest, nun, drunk, coward, hero or whatever you may be to use for the benefit of also finding and discovering these very holy places, these houses of God, these Catholic churches of Manhattan...

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A note from the author.

*Happy Padre Pio Day!!!

2011-09-23T00:00:00.002-04:00

(photo taken at Church of the Most Precious Blood, 109 Mulberry St.)

Go have some beer and fun.

Wait, that's St. Patrick's Day.

Go to a crowded street festival with good food and expensive drinks.

Wait, that's San Gennaro Day.

What is it we do on St. Pio Day?

*Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington D.C.)

2011-05-09T12:08:00.001-04:00

Was in D.C. this past weekend. This place is amazing. It's a little much, kinda overwhelming, almost a Disneyland or Vegas of Catholicism, but still pretty cool. There's something futuristic about it too. Take a look...

*Abbey of Gethsemani (Trappist, KY)

2011-02-19T15:35:00.004-05:00

Images of a recent trip I took to Tom Merton's old place, The Abbey of Gethsemani.

I just heard that one of his old pals, Fr. Matthew Kelty, passed away yesterday.

Fr. Matthew was the guest chaplain for a number of years for Gethsemani retreats, and I was fortunate enough to hear him give a number of nightly talks where he included art, poetry and literature references in discussing the human endeavor and interaction with the divine. He also used to do an early morning 4am Mass. He was brief and direct saying this Mass and it would last all of 20 minutes.

Here is Fr. Matthew reciting (nearly) everyone's favorite Merton prayer (and then my pics below that...)

*QUEENS: St. Mary Gate of Heaven (Ozone Park)

2011-02-06T12:31:00.008-05:00

Address: 101-18 104th St.
Phone: 718.847.5957
Email: information@smghparish.org
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5pm
Sun: 8am, 9:30am, 11am, 12:30pm (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Sat: 8:45am (in Chapel)
Confession:
Sat: 12:30pm-1:30pm
First Fridays: 6:15pm-7:15pm (Spanish)
First Friday Devotions (Spanish):
6pm: Exposition
7pm: Rosary
7:30pm: Mass
About the Organ

"Do you know what it's like to fall on the floor,
and cry your guts out 'til you got no more?
Hey man, now you're really living.
Have you ever made love to a beautiful girl,
made you feel like it's not such a bad world?
Hey man, now you're really living.
Now you're really giving everything and you're really getting all you gave.
Now you're really living what this life is all about...

Have you ever sat down in the fresh cut grass,
and thought about the moment and when it will pass?
Hey man now you're really living...
Now what would you say if I told you that everyone thinks you're a crazy old cat?
Hey man now you're really living...
Just saw the sun rise over the hill, never used to give me much of a thrill,
But hey man, now I'm really living."
- The Eels

God never lets us down; the cross never fails.

But everyone else down here besides us on this miserable planet always will.

I use "miserable" affectionately, often loving this place, especially during the winter: barren, dark, frigid, snow falling. The night forever cold and lonely, yet the falling snow brings hope, as if it's very manna from heaven. It's only on those hot summer nights when I truly despair; perhaps the winter's cold keeps me from going completely rotten, like some bad fruit forgotten in the back of the fridge.

I've begun snapping out of whatever fog, or hiding, or hole I had actually climbed down into after that last relationship ended, that whopper, that doozy.

A few weeks ago I dated the sister of a friend. It's an understatement to say I was disappointed with my friends' reactions, in fact I was goddammed angry. The brother felt it would all end badly for him. Three of my closest friends told me pretty much the same thing: it was reckless and I was being lazy for dating within my friend circle as opposed to... (What? Fucking internet dating? Having such and such dot com tell me who to sleep with?) I was in complete shock at the lack of sympathy and support. What had been feeling like excitement quickly turned into a thick sickly ball right in the pit of my stomach. Sadness and fear ensued (as they always do,) and then just general pissed-off-ness.

And so my melancholia sets in, or perhaps it's madness, which gets me thinking about another thing. Much how the craziest person in the room often turns out to be the psychologist, having felt drawn to the study of psychology to figure their out their own crazy shit, I realized recently that the Church, too, is full of a different sort of crazies. I know this because I now work for the Church and I know I am one of those crazies. We are drawn to it, those of us who know we need God the most, seek Him more than anything else on the planet, even that calming manna that falls when we most need a sign. It's true that everyone down here needs God the most, but those of us actually drawn to it in the day-to-day were fortunate (or unfortunate, not yet sure,) enough to catch a glimpse of something somewhere in our past that pushed us a little harder than most. Or maybe we're just weaker.

I love the Church. At least I thought I did. Recently I attended a Lutheran service at a Brooklyn church with friends. It was Reconciling in Christ Sunday, and there was a wonderful girl preaching, an openly gay female friend of mine. It got me to thinking about how backwards the Church is, and how discriminating. Against gays. Against women. Against married men. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before in this blog, but if priests were allowed to marry I would sign up in a heartbeart.

And so like my friends sometimes do, I realized that the Church, too, has let me down. And I have to wonder in that scenario of the afterlife when we reach the pearly gates and St. Peter stands greeting us, won't he ask, (us Catholics,) "how could you be part of an institution that so openly and adamantly persecuted your brothers and sisters?" And what will we be able to say?

Don't I, as a Catholic, let down those as a Church we persecute? And in my own personal scenario where I feel my friends have let me down, haven't I possibly let them down by jumping recklessly into relationship after relationship, sinning from the heart, awkward consequences and fallings out that ensue? All of us, other men and women, my friends, those I admire most, and the Church will always let me down, let us down, but God shall never. That being said, when all of us let each other down and seem to forsake one another, isn't this is all part of the Divine Will anyway; an intricate part of the works; all in God's plan? Should we seek to find God in the hardships as well as the happy?

'The king's taken back the throne. The useless seed is sown.
When they say they're cutting off the phone, I'll tell 'em you're not home.
No place to hide. You were fighting as a soldier on their side.
You're still a soldier in your mind, though nothing's on the line.
You say it's money that we need. as if we're only mouths to feed.
I know no matter what you say, there are some debts you'll never pay.

Working for the church while your family dies.
You take what they give you and you keep it inside.
Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.
Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone."

I can taste the fear. Gonna lift me up and take me out of here.
Don't wanna fight, don't wanna die, just wanna hear you cry.
Who's gonna throw the very first stone? Oh! Who's gonna reset the bone?
Walking with your head in a sling, wanna hear the soldier sing.

Working for the Church while my family dies.
Your little baby sister's gonna lose her mind.
Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.
Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone."

I can taste your fear. It's gonna lift you up and take you out of here.
And the bone shall never heal, I care not if you kneel.
We can't find you now. But they're gonna get their money back somehow.
And when you finally disappear, we'll just say that you were never here.

Been working for the church while your life falls apart.
Singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart.
Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.
Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone."
Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone."'
- The Arcade Fire

Updated Photos

2011-02-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Annunciation
Incarnation
Our Lady of Victory
St. Jean Baptiste
Grotto Church of Notre Dame
Holy Name of Jesus
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Holy Cross
Blessed Sacrament
Sacred Heart of Jesus
St. Peter
St. Andrew
St. Francis Xavier
Most Precious Blood
St. Agnes
Mother Cabrini Chapel and Shrine
St. Paul the Apostle
St. Joseph (Chinatown)

As I mentioned previously, I am going to go back and take some new photos of some of the churches I visited near the beginning of this venture when I was armed only with a Blackberry camera (such a terrible camera and device all rolled into one, except for email use that is. FYI - the new iPhone 4 camera is terrific!) Or churches that I revisit and feel moved to shoot and upload different kinds of images. I've seen my site listed on other blogs as a "photo site" which made me laugh as that was never the intention, and at the beginning taking pictures of these churches was just an afterthought. However, over the past 3 years I did manage to take a nice shot or two and wanted to try to do justice to those churches that I originally posted only fuzzy, pixelated and blurred art. Anyways, here is a rolling list of my posts that have new images that were not part of the original posts. All new images appear at the bottom of posts, as I feel a need to preserve the original images in the original posts for posterity.

The Other Boroughs

2011-02-04T13:14:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn
Williamsburg
Queens
The Bronx
Staten Island

*WILLIAMSBURG: St. Stanislaus Kostka (Greenpoint in Brooklyn)

2010-11-14T11:50:00.000-05:00

Address: 607 Humboldt St.
Phone: 718.388.0170
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm (English), 7pm (Polish)
Sun: Polish - 7:30am, 10:15am, 11:30am, 1pm, 8pm
Sun: English - 9am, 11am

Weekday Mass Times (all Polish except where noted):

Mon: 6:30am, 7am, 8am (English), 9am, 7pm (English)
Tue-Sat: 6:30am, 7am, 8am (English), 7pm
Miraculous Medal Novena: Monday 7pm
Matki Bozej od Cudownego Medalika: Monday 9am
Matki Bozej Nieustajacej Pomocy: Wednesday 7pm
Koronka do Milosierdzia Bozego: Friday 7:30pm
Confession:
Mon-Sat: 7am-8am
Sat: 4pm-5:25pm, 6:30pm-7:30pm
First Friday: 6pm-8pm

St. Stanislaus
NY Times article about the neighborhood
Solemn Mass for President Kaczyński

I know, I know, I already did a Brooklyn church and Williamsburg certainly isn't it's own borough, and this church isn't even in Williamsburg, it's in Greenpoint. To me, Williamsburg is it's own distinct destination, different from mainland Brooklyn, kind of a magical, easy to get to, always sweet bars and music venues, it is a strange land, hipsterville, Brooklyn improper— Billyburg. And thus my reasoning to include it in these final posts.

St. Stanislaus Kostka in Greenpoint is a very pretty church and an experience to go to Mass there. The only unfortunate thing is I believe all the Polish Masses are held in the main (beautiful gorgeous) church, and all English Masses are celebrated down below in the (not nearly so nice) basement chapel. When I arrived for the 11am English service I noticed a Mass already in progress upstairs and what looked like English speakers headed downstairs. So I went downstairs too. Having trouble paying attention, I kept trying to figure out how I was going to get pictures of the main church upstairs without interrupting Mass in progress.

As soon as the English Liturgy of the Word concluded, I left my pew and headed upstairs. Polish Mass was over, the 11:30am yet to begin so I quickly walked around snapping photos, journeying up to the balcony, trying to capture the intensity of the decor as best I could. The rosary was being said in Polish which added to the exoticness of the experience.

Finishing photographing, I descended again into the English basement and continued participating in the Eucharist, trying to pray and be silent. But this was, once again, one of those church exploits where I had distracted myself too much and couldn't get into my holy groove.

An insight a friend has given to me recently: we go to church, pray daily, obey the commandments, pray rosaries, celebrate church feasts, and etc. not to be holier than thou or thou or thou, or to be able to say we are obedient, or because these activities are what we will be judged on, but to keep God as a front and center focus of our lives, to not let the world distract us from God, to not go or be away from God.

Some images from the basement...

BROOKLYN: St. Francis Xavier (Park Slope)

2010-10-09T23:36:00.201-04:00

Address: 225 6th Ave. (Brooklyn - Park Slope)
Phone: 718.638.1880
Email: franxrc@gmail.com
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5pm
Sun: 9:30am (Children's Liturgy), 12:15pm
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Thurs: 9am
Fri: 9am (Communion Service)
Sat: 9am
Confession: Sat: 4:30-4:45pm
Constructed: 1886

Brooklyn Catholic Entry
Wikipedia: St. Francis Xavier
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Francis Xavier

Well she drug me down, Tossed me 'round,
Slammed my name all over town,
My good gal ain't no good to me, She makes true love more like misery
Now I'm walkin' hunched, I get drunk a bunch,
So would you sucker up and take a punch
My good gal ain't no good to me, And I think I've acted reasonably
Ah, but I miss her, And all that I wish from her

- Old Crow Medicine Show

Its been awhile since my last post and I've been intending to visit the other boroughs all summer long, but now it's fall and I'm only just finally getting around to it. Choosing just one church per borough is tough, because I don't know the neighborhoods as well as Manhattan, and so have begun choosing churches at random or based solely on having walked by buildings of interest.

Back at the tail end of last year I walked by Park Slope's St. Francis Xavier on my way to a party. Keen to places of worship, as soon as I noticed the stone exterior in the cold of a December snow storm, I looked up, immediately overwhelmed by this behemoth. Towering and intimidating it stood, and yet was intriguing and inviting all at once. And so I headed there this evening, intending to hit the 4:30pm confession (something I'm in overwhelming need of at the moment) and stumbled in (due to irritating weekend train traffic and my own procrastination) a half hour late to Mass, wondering what I would come up with to write, in the first of these final, supplemental posts of this blog.

It's a beautiful church, and though does not rival any of the masterpieces I discovered in Manhattan, is very pretty all the same, a classic late 19th century cruciform church. The congregation (not coming close to filling up the pews during this Saturday Vigil Mass,) was what one might expect to find on a Saturday in a church in Park Slope: older people and young couples and families, strollers, etc.

It's been a nice break since my last church post last Easter, in which I had time to organize these pages to allow visitors ease of search and had the chance to take better photos of some of the destinations visited early on. I suppose my life ain't too bad right now - my job continues to go well, I am much happier in that department than I was a ye ar ago. My romantic life, though, is in the toilet. My girlfriend, now ex, the only person in the world I have shared the secrecy of this blog with (besides those friends of mine who I become paranoid from time to time may have discovered it through other means,) though I do not believe she has actually ever read it, nor intends to, fearing what I may have said about her or others in this online diary (diarrhea,) and I broke up over the summer. Truly the worst break-up I've ever been through (and still going through.) I did the breaking, at least officially, realizing our 9 months together had subjected me to daily rejection on scales both minimum and max. I really couldn't take the pain of that relationship any longer. It was so dark there. Painful. The trauma of which I am still getting over.

Someone asked me the other day if I was still in the process of licking my wounds, or starting to look again. I responded, neither, that I was somewhere in between. I would no sooner hurry into something so agonizing again than I would throw myself off a steep cliff or onto a bed of daggers. But I am lonely. It sinks in deeper each day, days I don't know what to do with myself. But as I see girls out on the streets, or in subways, or restaurants and bars, my first reaction, after being initially attracted to them, is to wonder if down below their pretty looks or sweet eyes, down deep somewhere, lurks more pain. My trust in others and in my own judgment of them dwindles, evaporating with my feelings of mistrust toward those in my past and phantoms of my future, and I wonder and fear if some day a ways away it will have died out completely.

I use this blog to pour out my thoughts feelings and fears into the websphere (hopefully) anonymously, always somewhat over-exaggerating my mindset and woes. In life I am not so depressed or melancholy, though am prone to what a good friend recently described as artistic brooding. The trick, he said, is to be able to find God in this brooding, or more appropriately labeled, contemplation. So recently in my sadness, I look for a quiet place in which to seek the Almighty.

winter comes and snow, i can't marry you, you know
without you the winter grows, i can't marry you, you know
love me the way i love you, love me the way i love you
take a year in your hands, you can find another man
let your unloved parts get loved, i will be your man
love me the way i love you, love me the way i love you
places you should be afraid, into the river we will wade
love me the way i love you, love me the way i love you

-Bonnie "Prince" Billy

* C.S. Lewis slams me

2010-10-08T21:09:00.000-04:00

A friend pointed out this passage to me recently from C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters in which a demon from hell is writing to another demon, explaining ways in which it is possible to tempt humans towards sin, and direct them to activities that lead to sin, including even, it seems, church hopping (from chapter 16):

Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that 'suits' him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches...

The search for a 'suitable' church makes the man a critic where the Enemy [GOD] wants him to be a pupil. What He wants of the layman in church is an attitude which may, indeed, be critical in the sense of rejecting what is false or unhelpful, but which is wholly uncritical in the sense that it does not appraise—does not waste time in thinking about what it rejects, but lays itself open in uncommenting, humble receptivity to any nourishment that is going...So pray bestir yourself and send this fool the round of the neighbouring churches as soon as possible.

*Art Show at Church of St. Paul the Apostle

2010-10-07T06:20:00.000-04:00

There is currently an art exhibit through the rest of the month at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, near Columbus Circle. This video was originally posted on bustedhalo.com. There are some really beautiful shots of the church here.

*The Church Sex Abuse Scandal

2010-04-17T15:46:00.002-04:00

Looks like BustedHalo.com has done it again with a great video piece interviewing young Catholics (roughly my age) from Ascension Church about their thoughts and feelings on the scandal. You can view the article page here, below is the embedded video:

Trouble at St. Joseph School (Chinatown)

2010-04-12T22:46:00.001-04:00

I've just learned there are some major things happening at St. Joseph school in Chinatown regarding the dismissal of Sr. Deborah Lopez as principal. Admittedly, I do not really know or understand the entire story but if you know these parishes or want to learn more, check out the comments and additional entry here.

*Happy Easter

2010-04-08T00:00:00.002-04:00

As a kind of closeout to this blog, I decided to make this little video montage using all the great images I've seen over the past 2 1/2 years. Happy Easter. Enjoy.

Finished!

2010-04-07T00:00:00.001-04:00

It's done.

I breathe a sigh of relief and offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for allowing me to selfishly spend two to three years on such an amazing task. For giving me the idea, the time here in New York, and the resources to follow through.

I realize that, unlike the post where I mentioned visiting these churches was "my quest," that what I have indeed been doing here is some kind of crazy two and a half year pilgrimage. A quest is an adventure where you go specifically seeking something, a goal, a treasure, something you know about before setting off. What I have accomplished here is so very very short of a quest, merely wandering about the city (nearly) blindly visiting houses of worship. And I have enjoyed it. Immensely.

I hope that post about "my quest" gets lost out there on the internet (amidst all the other trash, dirt and porn,) along with a few other self-indulgent posts I am guilty of writing. I intend, in the next few weeks to organize these postings, to make it easier for the church-goer, tourist or pilgrim to locate these churches easier by location, name and neighborhood. I plan on highlighting the facts about each church, and (hopefully) downplaying my often tedious whining and musings. I may even go back and add better photographs to some of the posts of churches I visited earlier on, as I've done with St. Paul the Apostle and St. Joseph (Chinatown).

If you attend any of these churches, or are privy to info about them and find that any of my information listed about them (Mass times, websites, phone numbers, etc.) are out of date, please let me know the new, true information so I can update.

Additionally, if there are any churches or chapels in Manhattan that I have missed, please let me know and I will make every effort to visit.

I'm certainly not done posting, I'm going to tool around with some organizational formats for awhile, and of course, there is always the reopening of St. Brigid Church to look forward to (I intend to visit there and hopefully post about it, #97!) Also, because this blog has dealt mainly with only Manhattan churches, I am making plans to visit one church from each of the other boroughs sometime soon.

So, my posting is not yet fully complete, but it is close, and eventually will wind down to a slow (if not altogether immobile) crawl.

Thank you for reading this, these posts, my shenanigans.

God bless you.

96. St. James

2010-04-04T12:00:00.024-04:00

Address: 32 James St. (Rectory at 23 Oliver St.)
Phone: 212.233.0161
Email: info@stjamesnyc.org
Weekend Mass Times:
Sun: 10:30am (Spanish), 12pm English
Weekday Mass Times:
Thursday 7pm
Constructed: 1835-1837
About the Organ
Sacrilege at St. James in NYC
St. James
St. Joseph (Sister Church)

EASTER SUNDAY

From nycago.org...

"In 1835, Father Varela purchased property for a new church on James Street, and the name was changed to St. James Church. Built from 1835-37 and dedicated by Bishop Dubois in 1836, St. James Church has the distinction of having the second oldest Roman Catholic church building extant in Manhattan. No one is certain who designed the noble Greek Revival edifice, although its pedimented facade is similar to designs published by architect Minard Lafever. As originally built, the fieldstone building had a domed cupola above the roof, and the facade included the inscription "D.O.M. S. JACOBO DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO" (To God, the Best and Greatest). In 1966, the church was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Since its founding, the church has been home to many notables, including Alfred E. Smith, who served as an altar boy before becoming Governor of New York State and the first Roman Catholic candidate for the presidency. In the 1880s, Smith described the church as the "leading Catholic parish in New York, not excepting the cathedral itself."

The Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish fraternal organization, is also associated with St. James Church, as their first chapter in the United States was established in 1836 at this church. The Hibernians organized in response to the burning of St. Mary's Church on Grand Street, and other acts of violence against Irish clergy and property. In 1983, the Hibernians financed the restoration of St. James Church after city officials ordered it closed when the roof was in danger of collapsing."

I was told a few weeks ago by Tali, the organist of St. James, that I should make sure to include this church on my journey. Of course, it was always on my list, but she intrigued me further by saying, St. James is "the oldest surviving Catholic structure in the city and state of New York in original condition (Old St. Patrick's and St. Joseph on 6th Ave that had disastrous fires that gutted them, being officially older.)"

Something else that recently interests me about St. James is a pilgrimage I have followed via the website, BustedHalo.com. It is the journey of the Camino, or "Way of St. James," that follows a path through Northern Spain to the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostello, where St. James the Apostle is apparently buried. Even though www.catholic.org states "Legends have sprung up that James evangelized Spain before he died but these stories have no basis in historical fact," the Camino has captured my attention and imagination, and I think, realizing that my pilgrimage (because, that is in fact, what it is) of New York Churches is at an end, someday I'd very much like to do something like this. Perhaps the last 60 kilometers that many thousands of pilgrims travel each year, or even, if I'm feeling exceptionally ambitious, the 480 kilometers from France.

Due to a miscommunication between the staff at St. James and their parish, nearly all the parishioners of St. James attended the 10:30am Easter Sunday Spanish Mass today or the vigil at St. Joseph last night, and almost no one was present for the 12pm service.

But I was there, and almost as soon as I entered the place and started snapping pictures an older guy named George pulled me aside and asked me if I liked the place. Sure, I said, hesitating a bit. Good, he responded, then I'll show you around. Before I knew it he was leading me in and out of doorways, through the stairwells and balcony and showing me this church. It's a very old place that requires a lot of renovating and George is the one in charge of most of the work.

Slowly, day by day, bit by bit, molding by molding, George and staff are working to replace glass that is broken, repaint fading walls, fix leaks and continue to make this church more and more beautiful. Not that it's not already a site and pretty to begin with, but George showed me all the work to be done. He's very devoted and intent on his work, but most of all, he loves his church.

Everyone I talked to here at St. James was so friendly and welcoming: George, the priest, I think I even met Tali, the organist. (By the way, the music sounded great, the organ was terrific and the cantor had a strong elegant voice - really great church song that brought the Liturgy alive for me.)

Because there were so few of us in attendance, the priest delivered a more intimate sermon than (what I assume) is usual. He interjected thoughts and reflections during the readings, tied in the words of Paul with today's social justice issues and immigration, and really brought the Good News.

I'd definitely consider coming here regularly if it wasn't so far away.

Later in the day, I celebrated Easter with friends: the brightness of the day and the newness of life.

Meanwhile, things with my girlfriend are not all right. We are both hard people to be with. I think I'm terrible at this. Maybe always have been, maybe always will be. It's anyone's guess whether we'll be together in the end. Or if we should be. But she knows how much this church journey has meant to me, knows what I have been doing and she handed me a card today, an Easter card, congratulating me on completing this journey. It meant a lot, more than can be imagined. As does she.

"Why does she sing
Her sad songs for me? I'm not the one
To tenderly bring
Her soft sympathy. I've just begun
To see my way clear and it's plain if I stop I will fall.
I can lay down a tear for her pain, just a tear and that's all.
What does she want me to do?
She says that she knows that moments are rare.
I suppose
That it's true.
Then on she goes to say I don't care and she knows
That I do.
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song.
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong?

She'd like to think that I'm cruel
But she knows that's a lie for I would be
No more than a tool
If I allowed her to cry all over me.
My sorrow is real even though I can't change my plans.
If she could see how I feel then I know that she'd understand.
Does she actually think I'm to blame?
Does she really believe
That some word of mine
Could relieve
All her pain?
Can't she see that she grieves just because she's been blindly deceived
By her shame?
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song.
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong?

Nothin's what it seems.
Maybe she'll start someday to realize
If she abandons her dreams,
Then all the words she can say are only lies.
When will she see that to gain
Is only to lose?
All that she offers me are her chains,
And I've got to refuse.
It's only to herself that she's lied.
She likes to pretend
there's something that she should defend
With her pride.
I don't intend to stand here and be the friend
From whom she must hide.
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song.
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong?
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song."
(Townes Van Zandt)

95. St. Teresa

2010-04-02T15:00:00.014-04:00

Address: 141 Henry St.
Phone: 212.233.0233
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5pm
Sun: 8am, 9am (Chinese-Cantonese), 10:15am, 11:30am (Spanish), 1:15pm (Chinese-Mandarin)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Thurs: 8:30am (Spanish)
Fri: 7:30pm (Spanish)
Sat: 12pm (Spanish)
Holy Days:
Vigil: 7:30pm (English)
Holy Day: 8:30am (Spanish), 7:30pm (Bilingual)
Exposition:
Fri: 12pm-7:15pm (Concluding w/ Solemn Benediction)
Constructed: 1841
About the Organ
St. Teresa of Avila
Rutger's Presbyterian Church (first church located at site)

HOLY WEEK: Good Friday

BILINGUAL ENGLISH/CANTONESE SERVICE

The church of St. Teresa in Chinatown is a neat, bright, clean and simple house of worship. It has an open airy feeling as one enters, and a nice gated area right out front that allows you to sit quietly on the church steps, praying or meditating, typing on your Blackberry, or just enjoying a beautiful day's sunshine and fresh cool breeze.

The priest, shaved head and all, was a good preacher. He delivered his sermon in a loud, attention-grabbing, boisterous manner. I could tell he is good at what he does and cares about the meaning behind his words, his church and the Church.

During the reading of the Passion, I looked up and stared at the painted mural that is the backdrop of the altar - it is a scene depicting the Crucifixion. It was wholly appropriate to fixate on this art as they sang/read the Gospel - the drama and the sadness of the story are very present in this work, as well as present in the church today.

Further up towards the ceiling I noticed the beautiful wood beams and pillars that hold this church up - renovated back in 1995 because the ceiling collapsed, dropping 60,000 pounds of plaster down, through the floor of the church, crashing into the parish hall below.

It is now a very nice looking and peaceful place. Perfect for this Good Friday service for me.

Easter is next...

94. St. Cyril

2010-04-01T19:30:00.003-04:00

Address: 62 St. Mark's Place
Phone: 212.674.3442
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 6pm
Sun: 10:30am (Slovenian)
Constructed: (est. 1916)
Slavs of New York
Sts. Cyril and Methodius and St. Raphael on W. 41st St.
St. Cyril
HOLY WEEK: Holy Thursday

SLOVENIAN MASS

"We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all."

(Isaiah 53:6)

The only information I had about St. Cyril church going in today was this one sentence from The Spiritual Traveler:

"Slovene Catholics have a small church - virtually a brownstone - St. Cyril, established in 1916..."

The entrance gate was open outside when I arrived and I ascended the steps of this "brownstone," entering the church. It was quiet and dark, no lights were turned on yet, only the light from the falling 7pm sun through the south facing windows and stained glass, and an open doorway near the altar provided any visibility at all to this small dark (nearly a) chapel. I heard voices upstairs. A few days ago I had called (an until very, very recently non-working number) and asked when Holy Week masses would be. I was told 7pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

After taking a few photos I sat down in the back, alone, Magnificat in hand, ready for the Slovenian language mass I knew was in store. Holy Thursday remains my very favorite Mass of the calendar - it's a special one, so mystical and holy.

Another man entered, heading toward the open doorway by the altar, and switched on the lights. Ten minutes later three others, his family, joined him and then a pretty girl, my age, in a leather jacket entered, sitting near the altar, followed by an older couple, followed by the priest, who saw me and shook my hand.

"Are you Slovenian?" he asked.

No, I said in a sad sort of tone, always feeling out of place in these non-English masses. Why go then, you ask? It removes me from my comfort zone and Mass is no longer some familar place I casually drop in on for an hour a week to hear the things I am expecting. This journey has, if nothing else, made going to church each week a difficult undertaking, something to be thought about proactively and planned, a task that is hard which places me in new intimidating situations constantly. It has vitalized me and strengthened my faith, turning the Mass into a living breathing and very real experience.

The priest made his way to the sacristy to prepare and a few other people trickled in until in all there were a dozen of us, as well as the priest - the teacher and his twelve, a very true last supper, but which of us was Judas, I wondered to myself. Me? All of us? No, me I supposed. I'm the outsider here. Filled with sin. There is no betrayal in my heart, however. But I do tend to fuck up so altogether largely all the time.

I followed along with the readings and order of the Mass with the Magnificat. During the homily, I sat and listened. Of course, I could not understand the language, but I was listening for something else. A quote I read online the other day (and I'm perhaps slightly misquoting it here) reads: "Praying is when we ask God for something, meditation is when we listen."

This journey of (thus far) 94 churches has been amazing in so many ways and opened me to elements of the Mass and the Catholic faith that I never knew, but I have recently noted my prayer life during Mass is not as good as it could be. I don't spend a lot of time "listening." When I go to these new places there is always so much that I am aware of, so much stimulation and input, so much I am looking for or thinking about - art on the walls, the angle of the church that will make the best photo, what to write about. As I proceed in the future and attend one place regularly I plan on listening quite a bit more.

Sadly, because I enjoy the Holy Thursday Mass so much, there was no washing of the feet here, nor was there the procession of the Blessed Sacrament at the end of Mass. Once Communion was finished, the priest did process down the small main aisle praying the stations of the cross, and then it ended. I was sad to have missed out on those parts of the Holy Thursday service I have come to love so much, as well as the singing of the Pange, lingua, and the Tantum ergo Sacramentum. But there is always next year.

Having taken all my photos beforehand, I headed out the doors before anyone had the chance to ask me why I was there.

Next, Good Friday service...

93. Church of the Most Precious Blood

2010-03-31T20:15:00.043-04:00

Address: 109 Mulberry St. (front entrance at 113 Baxter)
Phone: 212.226.6427
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm
Sun: 9am, 12pm, 2pm (Vietnamese)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Fri: 8am, 12:10pm
Sat: 12pm
Holy Days:
Vigil: 5:30pm
Holy Day: 8am, 12:10pm
Confession: Before Masses or by appointment
Devotion to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal: Monday

Devotion to St. Anthony of Padua: Tuesday

Devotion to San Gennaro: Wednesday

Devotion to St. Jude: Thursday

Devotion to Sacred Heart: First Fridays

Devotion to Padre Pio: First Saturdays

St. Anne Society: First Wednesdays at 8pm (Rectory)

St. Theresa Prayer Group: First Wednesdays at 7:30pm (Church)
Constructed: 1888 (renovated 1995)
About the Organ
San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy (2009)
Church Postage Stamps
Congegration of the Most Precious Blood
San Gennaro (St. Janarius)
The Relic of San Gennaro
Feast of San Gennaro (NYC Street Festival)

DAILY MASS

Okay, okay, one more daily mass before I go.

"During the Feast of San Gennaro, which is held yearly in September, a celebratory Mass is held at [Church of the Most Precious Blood] on the last Saturday of September. Following this, the statue of San Gennaro is taken from its home within the church on a procession through the streets of Little Italy."

(wikipedia)

It was another morning enchantment where I felt I was altogether somewhere else in some other life in some other land. The main church entrance, above, is located at 113 Baxter (though I don't believe it's open during the weekdays, maybe Sundays.) The other entrance is on Mulberry, the cusp of Chinatown and Little Italy - stuck between two almost fantasy worlds. When you arrive there, it looks like no other church in the city.

But you see the sign arching over the driveway entrance, so you know you're there, know everything is going to be okay.

Almost immediately you realize it's run by the Fanciscans.

And then signs begin pointing the way to the church.

Signs...

And statues...

It's a nice walk into the church.

It puts one at ease...

Gives one peace...

Relaxes and calms...

Hold on...

Almost there...

Wait for it...

Then...

You are there and it's a somewhat small, intimate place, good for morning prayer and reflection. It puts you in the best mood. You see another reminder of the Franciscans and remember what Jesus spoke to St. Francis, "Francis, repair My church..."

It's a Wednesday and there is a devotion after Mass to San Gennarro.

You never realized what a big deal San Gennarro is, but there is much devotion to him in this parish, for on this earth he accomplished a great deal. And you wonder to yourself how much you will ever accomplish in life. You make a note to remind yourself to come back to this parish in September for the San Gennarro festival and street procession. After Mass, you walk to the back of the church and pay a visit to the National Shrine...

You pray, you meditate, you hope.

The first reading sticks with you, and part of your prayer becomes asking the Lord to guide you to do the right thing with your life,

"The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.

The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?"

(Isaiah 50:4-9a)

This church and this Mass on this Wednesday of Holy Week has made you feel good, made you feel right, energized you. You chuckle to yourself quietly as you wander around this blessed place, someone has slipped Pio some money.

- - -
After Mass today, before jumping on the subway I stopped in the AT&T building on the Avenue of the Americas. If you've never been by there before, it's surely not to miss. Beautiful art deco decor in the lobby - another world altogether from what I had experienced but minutes before.

(09/18/2010)
additional photos...84th Annual San Gennaro Festival 2010...

92. Church of the Most Holy Redeemer

2010-03-26T09:17:00.032-04:00

Address: 173 E. 3rd St. (Between Avenues A & B)
Phone: 212.673.4224
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm
Sun: 9am, 10:30am (Spanish), 12pm
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Thur: 8am, 12pm
Wed: 12pm (Spanish)
Fri: 8am
Sat: 9am
Confession: Sat: 4:30pm-5:30pm
Our Lady of Perpetual Help:
Thur: 8am, 12pm (English)
Wed: 12pm (Spanish)
Constructed: 1851-1852
About the Organ
Golden Jubilee Article (NY Times, 1894)
Congegration of the Most Holy Redeemer

DAILY MASS

As I approach the end of this journey, I wanted to include one more daily Mass. My new job, thankfully, allows the time and proximity to attend daily Mass much more often than my old life. As always, I find daily Mass so much more calming, peaceful and devout than Sundays.

'The Roman Catholic Church of the Most Holy Redeemer was established in 1844 by the Redemptorist Fathers to serve German immigrants living in the city. St. Nicholas could no longer accomodate the numbers... Located on East Third Street in an area formerly known as Kleindeutschland ("Little Germany"), the convent & rectory school built first...the present cathedral-like church building was built in 1851-52 to designs by a Mr. Walsh, and dedicated on November 28, 1852.

In 1913, the church was renovated by Paul Schulz, who simplified the original Baroque facade and shortened the 250-foot tower. In the tower are eight bells: two by Meneely of Watervliet, N.Y., and six from Constance, Switzerland. With the advent of the elevated trains, the German population moved northward, often to the Yorkville. Today, the congregation is known as Santisimo Redentor, and is a shrine in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help."
-from NYCago (http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/MostHolyRedeemer.html)

Church of the Most Holy Redeemer had "the first bells in the world ever to be rung by means of electric switches [on Janauary 11, 1914]." (The Spiritual Traveler, 18)

In addition to this church holding the complete remains of St. Datian, a reliquary chapel also holds "relics of Jesus' manger, the pillar at which he was scourged, the true cross, the girdle of the Virgin Mary, the mantle of St. Joseph, and other relics of St. Ann, St. Lazarus, St. John the Baptist, and St. Anthony of Padua."(124)

It was strange this morning, for some reason, waking early and taking the train down to the Lower East Side. There is such newness each morning, so much potential, before the sun begins its journey across the sky, and the hours slip away, bringing us to night.

I walked into this church and became instantly entranced with its size and decor'. Being there at that hour carried me to a different place, another realm. I sat, I kneeled, I prayed and experienced a calm and an energy that exists in this space.

I prayed in front of St. Datian and the other relics. I can find no online resources telling me who St. Datian was. All I know is he was "the first saint and the only male saint whose complete set of relics were given to the Church in the United States..."(Adam's Ale) and only one of two saints whose complete remains are in New York City, (the other being Mother Cabrini at her shrine.)

I dreamt of Leviathan last evening.

I was with some family and friends at some kind of seaside park. There was a gaming area. Alone, I chose to play the pinball machine. This game though, was covered in thick hard black plastic surrounding the glass. I controlled the paddles, but could not see what they were doing, couldn't tell where the little metal balls were going, if I was winning. Tiring of this game I walked outside where I found an outdoor aquarium. I walked over to one area, where a woman stood watch over a tank, the caretaker. Just above the surface of the dark green water, I saw the thick white skin of some sea creature beneath. I reached to touch it, and it moved, broke the surface suddenly and sailed towards heaven.

Up and up it soared into the air, larger than I could have imagined it being. So immense and terrifying and amazing was this creature, I could do nothing but stare as it reached further to the sky, it's size ever increasing. And the beast came crashing down upon me, darkening the sun, ending me.

*Videos...

2010-03-19T09:13:00.004-04:00

Recent The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report clips regarding the Catholic Church...

91. Our Lady of Loreto

2010-03-14T23:28:00.024-04:00

Address: 18 Bleecker St. (2nd floor)
Phone: 212.431.9840
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 11am
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 8am
Constructed:
1892, (at an unknown time, the original church and school were replaced by an institutional-style building)
About the Organ
Our Lady of Loreto / Holy House of Loreto
NA Meeting info at the church

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

I finally found it. And it's the rarest of rarities.

Since my post last July, where I first attempted to visit this church, I've been wondering about Our Lady of Loreto. I could not locate it that day and stumbled luckily upon St. Michael's Russicum Church instead - on the perfect day, in the perfect mood at the perfect time (by the way, I wonder how they are all doing at St. Michael's: Ed, Augie and the rest...)

First, my thanks to Dave, who gave me a little info on this place prior to my visiting here.

Some comments left on my post that day revealed to me maybe that "...Our Lady of Loreto church is part of a school building on the corner of Elizabeth and Bleeker. Apparantly in 2003 it had the smallest Sunday Mass attendance in the Archdiocese with only 9 people attending..." and that "...OL of Loretto parish is not really a parish but is attached to Holy Name Center which has been a day and outreach program to the homeless for 70 years, so you may find information if you contact the Holy Name center....i think they kept it as a parish so that they could bury homeless me[n] from the bowery that we[re] catholic..." and "Fr. Ahern...has been there since being ordained in 1954. He knows the whole history of the church going back to 1926 there is still a chapel on site at 18 Bleecker St. The rest of the facility was torn down Fr. Ahern says Mass at 11:00am every Sunday."

This is, as stated by one of the parishioners today, the smallest parish in the archdiocese of New York. I was one of four other congegrates, the other three, Les, Teri, and Joan, being the regulars here. Since my previous (failed!) visit, I had learned the entrance was on Bleecker rather than Elizabeth and as I approached the doors at 18 Bleecker street, Fr. Ahern stood there on the steps, seemingly waiting for me, and any other passers or seekers looking for entrance.

I was told Fr. Ahern has been the pastor of this parish for the past 28 years. He has a calm, pleasant, dependable presence about him - a friendly, sharp, light of Christ sort of manner. I told him I'd tried to come once before but couldn't find the place. "We specialize in being hard to find," he laughed before Mass. He spoke with the three regulars right before and together they decided on an opening song: Blest Are They

We sang, the Mass was started, Les read both readings and the Responsorial Psalm, then Fr. Ahern read the Gospel, the parable of the Prodigal Son - all pretty uniform parts of Mass. But then something happened which made this parish stand out in my mind, made it far different than all the others churches I've visited, turning it instantly into a church that I will be sure to visit again in the future, will definitely come back to with visitors. Fr Ahern, instead of standing behind the pulpit and reciting some ten minute homily, walked a few steps, sat down in a chair, faced the four of us in the congregation and asked us what we thought of the Gospel. I was shy, reticent-but Les, Teri and Joan were all verbal and insightful. Along with the leadership and guidance of Fr. Ahern, a unique and valuable lesson formed amidst us and through us - the living Gospel. It was a religious teacher talking to us about a story of another religious teacher telling a parable. The literal and metaphorical. The father and the sons and the Father and the Son. Forgiveness. God doesn't just wait for us, but comes and gets us. Faith in our reality and the reality of our faith.

It was a refreshing way to partake of a homily - and not in one of those condescending ways I've experienced before where a priest will ask (basically rhetorical) questions to a congregation, waiting to receive the answers he is expecting. Today was an experience where we all truly reflected on the Word of God and the truth within.

Later, when it came time for the Our Father and the Eucharist, we all walked up to the altar (Les had forewarned me of this before Mass,) and we circled around it, the five of us saying the Lord's Prayer. Then, the Host was handed out, Ahern waiting himself, we all received at the same time - Communion.

It was a unique experience at Our Lady of Loreto this morning, and this goes immediately into my top ten churches in the city. I will definitely go back and definitely bring guests, and I highly highly highly suggest that if you live in the city or come for a visit, do not miss out on the experience of Sunday Mass here. So much simpler than one of those grand ornate churches I've written about previously and love so much, and yet so much more straightforward and to the point. I was really able to walk away from there with something today. And you will too.

If anyone is interested in attending Our Lady of Loreto's Easter Triduum this year, the times will be:

Holy Thursday: 7:30pm
Good Friday: 3pm
Easter Vigil: 7:30pm

Curiously, and pretty unrelated to anything else but I thought I'd include anyway, further research indicated Martin Scorcese might have attended Our Lady of Loreto when young...

The entrance on Bleecker...

90. Mary Help of Christians

2010-03-07T23:49:00.005-05:00

Address: 440 E. 12 St.
Phone: 212.254.0058; Immaculate Conception: 212.254.0200
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 10am, 11:30am (Spanish)
Nightly Rosary: 7pm(?)
"The Church Ladies" (New York Times)
Praying Outside Shuttered Doors
"Prayerful march to save what's left of East Village's churches" (The Villager)
About Mary Help of Christians

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Traveling slowly (so many missed/nearly made trains and the stupid weekend local!) today down to the East Village to Mary Help of Christians church, I wondered if I would find it shut down, having to add it to my growing list of "CLOSED" churches. There was no answer at the phone number I found listed, no website -- nothing.

I visited here a few weeks ago on Ash Wednesday and it appeared all but boarded up. It was dreary that day in front of the church as I wandered around looking for some sign of life - eerily similar to what I found at Our Lady of Vilnius.

The sign listing Mass times read that Sunday Mass was at 10am, and at 11:30am in Spanish so I decided to come back to see. My little bit of research yielded that this church is nearly shut down, operated now by Immaculate Conception church on 14th street. But I didn't know for sure, didn't know what to expect.

Arriving at 440 East 12th street this morning, I found one of the front doors slightly ajar and wandered in. There was life after all! I was a few minutes late (of course,) so I walked in during the tail end of the sermon.

There was about 15 parishioners gathered (such a small number, the church seemed so empty - as if it was every bit on its way to being closed.) But it was bright, the Mass was said, and I was happy to be in attendance, happy to find this church still open, and not shuttered to the world, to those of us seekers needing a house of solace and a place of prayer, especially those living in the neighborhood. I have a feeling if I had attended the 11:30am Spanish Mass I might have found a larger, livelier crowd, a true Celebration.

A parishioner walking out of the church the same time as me today told me, "this church is just barely being kept alive."

My girlfriend and I visited Lady Liberty yesterday, even went inside her head. It was fantastic. Before yesterday I had only ever seen the statue as close as the Staten Island Ferry would allow, and now have finally realized a childhood fantasy of ascending those 354 steps to the crown. Its an amazing place in there, and reaching the top we found, not an over-tourist-populated hell, but a calm, peaceful place above the New York Harbor in which we could take everything in. The National Park rangers that run the place were all incredibly kind and informative (during the day we interacted with at least 6-7 of them and they were all so nice.) If you plan a trip to Liberty Island, you must visit the crown (if you can handle the stairs.) Tickets can be purchased in advance here.

We've had a good week together. The transition is becoming easier. If we are at peace and can be good to one another I know this is a relationship that will be deep and meaningful and good for both of us, as well as the rest of the world. And one I hope will last a very very long time.

89. Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz

2010-02-28T23:50:00.002-05:00

Address: 378 Broome St.
Phone: 212.925.2428
Email: sanlorenzo09@verizon.net
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 2:15pm
Weekday Mass Times: Wed: 6:30pm (see below)
Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help/Holy Mass: Wednesdays 6:30pm
Novena to Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno/Stations of the Cross: Fridays 6:30pm
Constructed: ???

Save the Filipino Chapel in New York
"New York's Filipino Chapel to remain open, for now" (Asian Journal)
Our Lady of Vilnius, NYC: "Broome Street Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz: The Plot Thickens"
"Unveiling of the San Lorenzo Ruiz" (The Filipino Express)
Wikipedia: San Lorenzo Ruiz

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

This is the former Church of the Most Holy Crucifix, another closed church which is on my (aging!) complete list of the Archdiocese of New York City churches from 2007. Two weeks ago, after my discovery at Our Lady of Vilnius, and before my experience at Church of the Transfiguration, as I headed east on Broome St., I stopped by this church, looking for Holy Crucifix. It did indeed add to an increasing feeling of bleakness, traveling from one closed church to another. However, I was filled with curiosity that Holy Crucifix had been replaced with this Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz (first Filipino martyr.)

Adding even further to the curiosity, was an official letter from the Vicar General, Dennis Sullivan (he was the Bishop who presided over my confirmation two summers ago,) that was posted over Holy Crucifix's original Mass schedule.

The letter, dated December 1, 2009, stated the following:

"Dear Fathers,

On behalf of Archbishop Dolan, and in my own name as Vicar General, I write to thank each of you for your service to the Filipino community here in New York.

My meetings with you...confirmed that the Team Ministry model for the work at the San Lorenzo Chapel has not developed as we hoped. I think it is true to say that we see now that it is best to remove the obligations from and the participation of the Team Members, and to refocus the future work at the chapel under the leadership of Father Joseph Marabe.

...it seems in hindsight that the structure we designed and the mission that was defined for you had some problems from the start. All of you had great zeal and enthusiasm for promoting the Chapel, and came up with ideas for enhancing its service. These included starting a Mass on Saturday night in Spanish, and allowing the personal devotion of a visionary to take root there. However, there are parish churches nearby for the pastoral care of Latinos and private devotions are private and do not belong in the public prayer of a chapel. The Archdiocese will not assign a priest to work at the chapel full-time. Many of our territorial parishes are blessed with Filipino parishioners whose presence enhances those parishes.

When a team ministry starts to unravel, feelings can be hurt and good people can suffer. Please be charitable to one another and all the devotees of San Lorenzo Ruiz, and let us move forward together with greater clarity about leadership and focus.

Specifically, let us start again this time of evaluation for the future of the Chapel by saying that Father Joseph Marabe, as moderator if the Filipio Apostolate on the Archdiocese, will be responsible to me for the operation of the Chapel. I expect him to be in residence there for the foreseeable future, along with a layman of his choosing, so that the property will be kept safe. Father will coordinate the Masses, etc. without intruding on neighboring parishes. He will call upon other priests to help him as needed, and seek the advice and cooperation of all those interested in the Chapel. He will report on the financial health of the operation, and the Archdiocese will continue to evaluate the pastoral mission of the Chapel..."

What in the world happened to merit that letter?! (And what ever happened to Church of the Most Holy Crucifix? Actually, this list of closed Churches in Manhattan reveals the church was closed in 2005, but that does not explain why it still made my list from the Archdiocese's site in 2007!)

It was really bizarre to be standing in front of a former parish, reading an edict from the Vicar relating to problems the new parish seems to be having. Even though this chapel was not on my original list, I am posting about my visit here today, two weeks after my initial encounter...

It's a small inside building (perfectly sized for a chapel,) and decorated with two sculptures of San Lorenzo Ruiz - one near the front entrance, and one to the left of the altar.

This was a nice little multi-lingual Mass. The first reading was in Filipino, the second reading in Spanish, and the sermon was in a mix of Filipino, Spanish, Italian and English - Fr. Joe Marabe was very good at knowing his congegration and speaking directly to them, to us.

I wish this little parish good luck, they are young (about a year) and still growing. There's a good vibe in this chapel, a peaceful mood. The music at the 2:15pm (one or two guitarists) is nice and warm, soothing and perfect. You should come here, they welcome visitors.

I think my girlfriend regrets moving here, she may even hate it. She has told me she has thought about leaving here, grabbing her stuff out of storage, taking off, rolling on out. I understand that. The freedom, the escape. About this point in relationships, I tend to feel the same thing. The urge to run. Escape away to some kind of lonesome safety. If she were to leave, it would be very different than any breakup of the past. I would find myself in some kind of total insular shock about everything that had just happened.

Over the course of the rest of my quest to these last seven churches, I realize by the end I'll have nothing more figured out than I do now, nothing determined. There will be no clean happy ending involving love. No resolution. And though I'll have journeyed and experienced the Almighty in a few more different ways, I'll still be a wanderer wandering. A wanderer wondering.

88. St. Stanislaus

2010-02-17T20:37:00.017-05:00

Address: 101 E. 7th St.
Phone: 212.475.4576
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 7pm (English); Sun: 8am (Polish), 9am (English), 10:30am (Polish), 12pm (Polish)
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 8am (Polish), 6pm (Polish); Sat: 8am (Polish)
Confession: Sat: 4-5pm; Sun: before Mass
Exposition: Fridays: 5pm-6pm
Rosary: M-F: 5:30pm
Chaplet to DIVINE MERCY: Mondays 6:30pm
Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa: Wednesdays: 6:30pm
Night Vigil: 3rd Friday of the month, 7pm
St. Maximillian Devotion: 1st Saturday of the month, 6pm
Constructed: 1900-1901
Flickr
Slavs of New York
Wikipedia: St. Stanislaus

ASH WEDNESDAY

Today, for Ash Wednesday services, at 12pm I attended the very Polish parish of St. Stanislaus on east 7th street. I had attended this church once before about three years ago for a Saturday vigil Mass, and now having visited it "officially" and posting about it here, the remaining eight or so churches left on my list will be all new to me, unexplored sanctuaries.

Another season of Lent begins, and I've chosen to give up boozing once again. Third year in a row. I try to explain to people why: that it is a big sacrifice to someone like me, my age, and that it really helps bring the message of Lent home to me, as well as realize the zealous celebration of Easter once it finally comes, but I'm not sure I can ever truly relate my meanings. It is better practiced than taught, experienced than discussed.

The priest today, during his sermon, said: "Lent is a time to let go of sin, and leave it behind." I pray I can do this successfully this year. Sin follows me around like a cloud. A storm I cannot escape. Doom itself.

My girlfriend asked me what the real meaning of Ash Wednesday is, and I tried to expain: the ashes symbolize that we came from dust and ash and it is to that we will return. That the ashes are the burned remains of last Easter's palms and that it is all a symbol and metaphor for death and rebirth. After further formal research, I realize what I should have told her is...

"Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one's penitence is found in Job 42:3-6. Job says to God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. The other eye wandereth of its own accord. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."...Ezekiel 9 also speaks of a linen-clad messenger marking the forehead of the city inhabitants that have sorrow over the sins of the people. All those without the mark are destroyed."
(thank you Wikipedia!)

87. Church of the Transfiguration

2010-02-14T12:39:00.003-05:00

Address: 29 Mott St.
Phone: 212.962.5157
Email: TransParish@aol.com
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 6pm (English); Sun: 9am (Mandarin), 10:15am (Cantonese), 11:30am (English), 1pm (Mandarin)
Weekday Mass Times: 8am (Cantonese), 12:10pm (English)
Holy Days: 8am (Cantonese), 12:10pm (English)
Confession: Sunday, begins 8:15am
Constructed: 1810

Wikipedia entry
Explore Chinatown
Catholic Encyclopedia: Transfiguration

CHINESE NEW YEAR

Providence today, and lately in so many ways. After my discovery at Our Lady of Vilnius, and needing to attend Mass for the week, I made my way across Broome St. and then headed south on Mott. My knowledge of this area of the island is limited and so as the shops and signs of SoHo and Little Italy gave way to Chinese storefronts and characters, I realized the Mass I'd end up attending today would be in Chinatown.

There was excitement and activity on the street, everywhere I turned it seemed people were setting things up - though I wasn't sure why. As I looked over the ground, the road I was walking on, seeing confetti remnants and bits of debris everywhere, I wondered to myself if it was by chance the Chinese New Year. Of course, it was.

The Mass I ended up attending was in Cantonese, and I followed along as I typically do during the non English services - a lot of quiet meditation and prayer, following along with the order of the Mass. This is again a church with such a strong, vital community. I could really see how much these parishioners care for one another.

During Communion, I witnessed another form of intinction I was again unfamiliar with. The parishioners would receive the Host, hold it in hand, walk to the Eucharistic Minister holding the chalice, and dip the bread into the wine.

Halfway during the Mass, a great ruckus sounded from outside - drumming began, a fast rhythm, and steady. After Mass, we exited, and found ourselves walking right into the middle of a great Chinese New Year parade: crowd, fireworks, confetti, dragons.

It was strange being in Chinatown during this celebration - this festival of new life. Providence did indeed lead me here on this day to witness this culture celebrating this event. It's this sort of thing that invigorates me to live in this city - to wander upon such a big event and experience it in the middle of my day. It was cool. Coincidentally, my girlfriend and I visited the Met's Chinese wing on Saturday, hidden away on the third floor, taking in the ancient art and symbols, so it was great to experience the culture first hand today that is tied into those works from centuries ago.

It is still an ongoing and very rough adjustment and transition for my girlfriend. Today she whispered that maybe she should not have come. This is a difficult time and I wonder how we will make it through it. I want to share everything with her, including letting her in on this blog (something I have not voluntarily shared with anyone I know.) I believe I am doing everything I can for her during this period, but I am not sure if it is enough or what will end up happening.

86. Our Lady of Vilnius (CLOSED)

2010-02-14T09:15:00.004-05:00

Address: 568-570 Broome St. (@ Varick)
Constructed: 1905
Closed: February 26, 2007
Wikipedia: Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn

Alone in a seemingly abandoned city this morning, I trekked out early in the cold, snow still sticking to various areas of streets and sidewalks. I was headed towards two churches I wasn't sure existed any longer, and Our Lady Of Vilnius was one of them. Arriving at 32 Dominick street (the former site of the OLV rectory) I found the doors shut, the area lifeless, the building abandoned.

I needed further proof. Heading around the corner (and over the Holland Tunnel) to locate more of a church, I saw the steeples and was relieved to have found something.

There it was. A lonely church building. Desolate in the cold. A police office stood watch by his patrol car near the entrance of the Tunnel as I walked up to the dead doors of Our Lady of Vilnius, and I felt watched, suspicious.

I tried the old wooden doors. No go. The old cracked red paint should have been enough of a giveaway, but I continued. All three double doors were locked, shutting out the city and any parishioners from entrance.

As far as I could tell, this was a closed church. Closed by the diocese because of money - its sanctuary and mystery lost to us forever. I feel the need to post about it here, because it was one of the original churches on my list of 96. Had I visited it sooner, perhaps back at the latter part of 2007, I would have found it still open, fighting against its own closure. Now, it is dead to us, its light shut off, a beacon no more. Gone.

Following are a few links relating the news about the closing (should have read these a little closer before my visit:)
Information About the Closing
Save Our Lady of Vilnius NYC Online Petition
"Our Lady of Vilnius, NYC" Blog (a blog about OLV and other church closings)
Jeremiah's Vanishing New York
New York Times
The Villager
The New York Observer - "Cardinal Egan Paints Himself an Unhappy Ending"

85. Our Lady of Sorrows

2010-02-07T15:08:00.002-05:00

Address: 213 Stanton St. (@ Pitt St.)
Phone: 212.673.0900
Email: oloschurch@yahoo.com
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 6:30pm (Spanish); Sun: 8:30am, 10am (Spanish), 11:30am, 1pm (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: Mon/Wed/Fri: 9am; Tue/Thu 6:30pm (Spanish)
Confession: Sat: 5pm-6pm
Constructed: 1868
About the Organ
Our Lady of Sorrows

'Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!” '
(Is 6:1-2a, 3-8)

How was it, the burning ember, cleansing body and soul, purging sin? To taste the sun. To live again. Absolution. Rebirth. Salvation.

Our Lady of Sorrows is a welcoming parish. I discovered this as I wandered into the 11:30am Mass today.

The light level in the church is bright and that brightness feels good as one enters and sits amidst a very nice group of people. The design of the church is spacious, inviting.

"The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows was established in 1867 by the Capuchins. Located on Pitt Street in the area once known as Kleindeutschland (Little Germany), the church served as a national parish for the many thousands of German families who arrived in New York in great numbers after 1848. The church was built from 1867-68 to designs by Henry Engelbert—who combined Victorian, Byzantine and Romanesque styles—and was dedicated by Archbishop McCLoskey on September 6, 1868. By the early 1910s, the Germans had moved uptown and in their place were throngs of newly-arrived Italian immigrants. Still later, the Italians moved out and the area demographic became largely Hispanic. By 2000, masses were offered in Spanish and English, and the church is also known as Nuestra Señora de los Dolores." (from nycago.org, http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/OurLadySorrows.html)

Unfortunately much of the art on the walls, ceiling and on the altar are in serious need of renovation as they have, over the years, lost their color and contrast. They are now dark images where a visitor can barely make out the iconography behind them, the stories of faith, forgiveness, new life.

I, in my own way, am about to begin a very new life for myself. I have decided to leave my current job, that has lately caused me such grief and aggravation. I will soon begin working in a field I desire to be in more and feel I am much better suited toward. Prayers have been answered, God has granted me many gifts. This new position is such a blessing, a gift dropped into my lap. I am grateful.

My girlfriend has moved here - another gift. She is here now in this beautiful and terrible city, this monstrous metropolis, awesome Gotham. I want her so much to enjoy this city, to see it for all its beauty as I often have. I know her transition here will be difficult, and the adjustment to a new life in New York will be tough. I pray for her that her life here is good, and for me that I can be good to her and be all the things she needs me to be.

I just want to be one of the good ones. But I fall. And sin. Again and again.

After church this week the celebrating priest, Fr. Michael, greeted me and shook my hand. Before I had much of a chance to think about it, I asked him if there was any confession offered at the time. He graciously offered to hear my confession right then and there. It has probably been over a year since the last time I went to confession, and with all these new things happening in my life, I really wanted and needed absolution, a clean slate, a fresh start.

A cynical person might say that an organized religion such as the Catholic church has cornered the market on sin, offering forgiveness and salvation to those who willingly come and ask for it, and taking in the process their loyalty, numbers, and money. That these followers are looking for a salve against a very human and natural and common trait - sin. That sin is something we are destined (and predestined) to do because it is in our genetic makeup, our biology, our weak will - and that the church takes advantage of these very normal traits to gain followers.

But I am not cynical, I am a sinner.

84. St. Emeric

2010-01-10T18:42:00.023-05:00

Address: 185 Ave. D (@ E. 12th St.)
Phone: 212.228.4494
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 4pm; Sun: 10am, 11:30am (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 9am, 7pm (Spanish) (on Thursdays only at 9am!)
Confession: Sat: 3-3:45pm; Before each weekday and weekend Mass
Exposition: Everyday 9am-9pm
Adoration: Every first Friday 9pm-6am
St. Emeric of Hungary

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

Somewhere in Alphabet City, on a dead end of Avenue D, sits the church of St. Emeric, found amidst the factory area of the lower east side, dropped in the middle of industrial smokestacks and a neighborhood - the last outpost between the city and the east river. The smokestacks spill out pure white sinister clouds on this sunny, cold Sunday morning, and this whole neighborhood feels like a strange distant land to me - even though my home is only eight or nine miles away.

I was happy to find this outpost, as that is what it felt like until I actually entered the church. It's funny, this trek, which brings me to all these places I've merely located on a map, that remain just that - points on a map - until I actually make the visits there. I'm always ecstatic to finally find them, to see what's there. Sometimes I am happy, pleasantly surprised by what I find - some kind of special place to have witnessed, and sometimes the churches are merely churches, not much else than simple basic points of interest that remain marks, insignificant, in my mind.

St. Emeric had something going for it though, especially the 10am youth Mass I attended this morning. Mistaken, I thought I'd be arriving late for a 9:30am Mass but found myself instead twenty minutes early for the 10am. Those twenty minutes revealed something so important to me - a kind of energy and excitement in the air, an electricity, like that you would witness before a big show or rock concert. The growing congregation was excited, and seemed to look so forward to what was to come. By the time Mass began, the church was nearly full. It was a good place to be for Mass, and everyone was quite into it.

Though the new year has brought with it new joys and fresh hope and much to look forward to, and I overall feel very positive about 2010, there is something not quite right with my chi lately. I'm off, somehow. My impatience grows. I find myself moreover angry all the time - and this is certainly not how it used to be with me. I'm short with people - my friends and family. Strangers set me off. Crowds on the street. Traffic. The trains. Everything. A mere symptom of simply intaking too much Curb Your Enthusiasm lately, or a growing trait of my personality?

Though I feel good about this year, there is something I'm still missing. So angry. So scared.

God help me.

Additional images:

83. Church of the Resurrection

2009-12-20T21:22:00.018-05:00

Address: 276 W. 151st St. (@ 7th Ave.)
Phone: 212.690.7555
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 10am, 12pm (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 7:30am; Thu: 7pm (Spanish)
Confession: Sun: 9:30am, 11:30am
Adoration: Wed: 7pm
Constructed: 1907
About the Organ

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT

"The Church of the Resurrection was founded in 1907 to serve Catholic residents of Central Harlem, which at that time was predominantly white. A modeset building containing the church, school and rectory was built the next year, opening in 1908. By the 1930s, the demographics of Harlem evolved to include many hispanic and black residents, but it was not until the 1970s that the Rev. Lawrence E. Lucas was named as the first African-American pastor of the church (and one of the first in Harlem). In 2007, this parish was scheduled to be consolidated with the Church of St. Charles Borromeo." (from NYC Ago's website)

Journeying to these churches each week is often a struggle, and there is always doubt in my mind. Entering new places can be for me intimidating, (though exhilarating,) and sometimes along the way I wonder whether if it would be better that day should I just head back home to grab some more (much needed) sleep, or meet up with friends, catch a movie instead... Usually I end up going and I am always grateful I have.

Snow covered the city this morning. En route to the church I stopped by a friend's apartment and forced him to come with. We trudged through the snow and sludge - it was cold - heading southeast toward the Church of the Resurrection. Uptown turns slightly confusing sauntering eastward so we found ourselves delayed. Eventually we arrived.

This is the last uptown church on my list and most likely the last black Catholic church I have to visit. It was strange - I expected more congregation in attendance, but perhaps the snow kept the parishioners away. There were about 20 of us total in the pews, as well as a lively choir - VERY lively considering the frigid temperatures outside. Attending the gospel churches, I realize there is no way to leave here without a smile on my face and warmth deep in my soul - there is so much energy and faith!

*Fool's Mass

2009-12-13T23:00:00.002-05:00

I attended another staging of Dzieci's Fool's Mass recently and was again overcome by its power, humor, sweetness and devotion . It shows, in a very dramatic and humorous manner, precisely how we should encounter and participate in the actions and rituals of the Mass: with excitement, enthusiasm and vigor. It's a lesson about faith and the awe of the faithful.

If you live in this city, you should not miss out on seeing this production.

If you are a Catholic not living in this city who has ever been to Mass and either been elated or confounded by what you experienced there, travel here to NYC this year to see one of these shows. You will not be sorry by what you find there.

Included below is a list of upcoming shows from their website:

Thursday, December 17th, 7:30pm
Union Theological Seminary (in the Lampman Chapel)
3041 Broadway (@121st st)
New York City

Friday, December 18th, 7:30pm
The Old Stone House
336 Third Street (bet. 4th & 5th aves)
Brooklyn, NY

Sunday, December 20th, 11am
The Cell Theatre Company
338 West 23rd Street (@8th Ave)
New York City

*All photos taken from Dzieci website.

82. St. Mary

2009-12-06T20:25:00.028-05:00

Address: 440 Grand St.
Phone: 212.674.3266
Email: info@saintmaryles.org
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 7:30pm; Sun: 8:30am, 10am (Spanish), 12pm, 1:15pm (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: Mon-Sat: 9am (English/Spanish)
Confession: Sat: 4pm-5pm
Adoration: Mon, Fri: 10am-6pm
Constructed: 1831-1832

About the Organ
The Lower East Side: St. Mary's Church
The Cult of the Virgin Mary in New York
The Blessed Virgin Mary

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

What happens to my faith sometimes?

Why do I often have so little?

In other people, in myself, the world. Why do I hold onto these worries, cling to the stress? What do I still need to learn that I've missed thus far?

Why can I not just trust? Give my worries to God? Release and let go?

These churches are further and further away from me. This one took about an hour to travel to today. I almost did not go. Having too much other things going on, too many errands, too much worry and stress, I considered just going to one of the local neighborhood churches (which at this point is either the Frances Xavier Cabrini Chapel, or Church of the Good Shepherd.) Ultimately I decided to head out, and after an hour on the subway made it to St. Mary Church in the Lower East Side.

From St. Mary's website:

"The American nation was not yet 50 years old when on May 14th, 1826, Fr. Hatton Walsh, an Irish Augustinian, stood in the pulpit to face his parishioners in a newly acquired Church on Sheriff Street, in NYC. It was the 3rd Catholic Church in New York...The reason for its establishment was compelling. St. Peter's, on Barclay Street (established 1785), and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral (established 1809), were overflowing.

To accommodate the families now located east of the Bowery, the Rev. John Power, Vicar General of the Diocese, approved the creation of a new parish...On March 27th, 1827, the feast of the Annunciation with Bishop Dubois presiding, the Church was dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Historically, St. Mary's was the first Church to be blessed by the Bishop...

Even though St. Mary's ranks third as a parish foundation, it is the oldest, complete church in the Diocese. While the Catholic Churches in Lower New York continued to grow and prosper as more and more Catholics arrived from foreign lands, mostly from Ireland, latent antagonistic feelings - anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant, anti-Irish - were beginning to surface. Protestant propaganda began to arouse people to the "dangerous interests and pretensions of the Roman Catholic Church". St. Mary's was one of the first Catholic Churches to suffer from this bigotry.

On the morning of November 9th, 1831, St. Mary's Church was destroyed by fire. Vandals and saboteurs had broken in, pillaged it, secured the tongue of the bell, started a fire in three places, and burned the church to the ground. Almost everything was destroyed...

Aroused, united and determined, the parishioners of St. Mary's, with many of the outraged non-Catholic friends, mobilized to build a new Church...

On December 31, 1831, St. Mary's was able to purchase property on Grand and Ridge Streets, which became the site of the new and present St. Mary's Church. The cornerstone was laid April 30th, 1832. Soon after the basement was completed (which is now called the Bingo Hall) served as the first parish school for St. Mary's. On December 23rd [1832], a little more than one year after the destruction of the original church, the first mass was celebrated in the basement of the new St. Mary's Church."

It's a bright, white, fairly large church with a very diverse congregation. I was happy to be there on this second Sunday of Advent. I attended the 12pm Mass which turns out is a Family Mass (at least this weekend.) Something about it, and my mood, put me in the most impatient mindset however, and I felt very out of the moment. I hate when this happens. The priest was doing a very good job of describing, in brief, a bit of background about each reading, giving both historical context and narrative detail to each story - which was really interesting, and something I wish I had access to each week. Still, I just felt so out of it. After Mass, I left, my mind on my stress and the things I had to do, unable to leave any of it behind.

Strangely, it was music that helped me today turn my mind to reflect on lighter things through two specific experiences. The first happened, entering the #1 train at 82nd street around 3pm this afternoon, tired from my errands. Our subway car was joined by two mariachi musicians who began jamming immediately upon takeoff. Instantly my mood was lightened, my outlook brightened - how could one be so consumed in gloom in the midst of that always fun, bizarre and spontaneous combustion of live music on a moving subway car?

My heart lifted, exiting the subway at 181st St. I made my way to Holyrood Episcopal Church on 179th St. and Ft. Washington where the Cornerstone Chorale was performing favorite chorale arrangements from their past performances. This is a very good local city choir and always a joy to sit in a cool church on an afternoon being in the presence of their song. Heavy thoughts had been in my head, with heavy worry. As I listened to the performance, my mind was carried away as beautiful composition after composition was presented and the choir's song told the story that the world is not so dark, and that man, in God's presence, under His watchful eye, can create and produce things of great beauty and elicit the purest and best of feelings and emotions from within the soul. Then, the eighth piece was performed and I was struck, unable to control myself, tears welled up in my eyes and a lesson was instilled in me with the rapidity of a flood, a bit of Johannes Brahms Geistliches Lied (sacred song.)

"Do not be sorrowful or regretful; Be
calm, as God has ordained,
and thus my will shall be content.
What do you want to worry
about from day to day?
There is One who stands above all
who gives you, too,
what is yours. Only be steadfast in all you do,
stand firm; what God has decided,
that is and must be the best. Amen."

Later, a line from Maurice Duruflé's Ubi Caritas rung out, true too, to that within:

"Let us love each other sincerely and from the heart."

They ended the day with a Robert Frost poem (Choose Something Like a Star), set in Randall Thompson's composition Frostiana, and within this piece so fully were so much some of my very own considerations and true feelings about God, and this world, and how we humans try so desperately to gain some understanding - sometimes leaning (too heavily!) on science or fact, over feeling and faith. At some point during the middle of this piece things clicked inside me and I understood, briefly,

"O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud-
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light,
Some mystery becomes the proud,
But to be wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat,
Say something! And it says, 'I burn,'
But say with what degree of heat,
Talk Farenheit, talk Centigrade,
Use language we can comprehend,
Tell us what elements you blend,
It gives us strangely little aid,
But it does tell something in the end,
And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,
Not even stooping from its sphere,
It asks a little of us here.
It asks of us a certain height,
So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid."

On another note - I think sometimes those few of you readers out there read some of this craziness I write and find it most necessary to pray for me. I ask today, if you are reading this, to offer a special intention and say a prayer of healing for my brother-in-law down in Texas who is very sick. He's the father of two precious little girls, and he's currently in the Intensive Care Unit and needs as many positive thoughts and prayers as possible heading his way.

Thank you.

81. Our Lady of the Scapular & St. Stephen

2009-11-29T16:13:00.019-05:00

Address: 151 E. 28th St.
Phone: 212.683.1675
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5pm; Sun: 8am, 9:30am, 11am (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 8am, 12:15pm
Holy Days: 5:30pm (Vigil), 8am, 12:15pm
Confession: Sat: 4pm-4:30pm
Adoration: First Fridays 6:30pm-7:30pm
Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary: Mon: after the 8am & 12:15pm Masses
Rosary: M-F: after the 8am & 12:15pm Masses
Constructed: 1866

Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary (associated Chapel)
About the Organ
NYC Architecture
Sacred Places
Holy Art to God
Will It Ever Be A Landmark? (Gotham Gazette)

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This church is deceiving, appearing fairly small from the outside, but upon entering you realize it's big, going on and on beyond the altar which is set more towards the middle of the church. Beyond the altar are a few small chapels, statues and shrines. Good, small quiet places for prayer. The church is well lit, dramatically so, and the many art, paintings and sculpture around the building are highlighted.

"The Church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel was founded in 1889, and was located in a Country Gothic building at 341 East 28th Street. Our Lady of the Scapular was merged into St. Stephen's Church in the 1980s, and the original building was razed. In January 2007, the Archdiocese of New York announced that the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus, located at 307 East 33rd Street, would be merged into Our Lady of the Scapular-St. Stephen Church." (From nycago.org's NYC Organ Project webpages)

The Gospel this week was simple and to the point (Luke, 21:25-28, 34-36):

"Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.”

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

I need to quiet my own carousing and drunkeness and to prepare for what is to coming.

A friend invited me to one of those expensive midtown bars last night, pricey cocktails, atmosphere, possible celebrities. Couldn't wear jeans, jacket a must. I didn't go. I don't want to dress up anymore. I want to stay uptown, hide up here, grow a beard, pray.

I've been taking great long walks in the mornings and going to daily Mass at a few of the uptown churches. It's a good way for me to begin each day. It calms me. Come 9am, though, it's all very anticlimactic, the world is grim again and there's nothing to look forward to save my job, that lately I dislike so much. I've been looking into career changes, but there is nothing immediate. I realize I am in a position and an industry in which I truly do not belong. I'm a feeling person in a cold pointless position, working, performing tasks that ultimately enable other cold pointless industries to thrive and go on to enable other industries, and so on. For me, its a path to and of nothingness. And I want out. But truly, I'm at a loss, not knowing what to do next.

Still reading The Life You Save May Be Your Own; some of the adventures of those four Catholic pilgrims I relate to so directly:

Merton, in Rome...
"By day he went to churches, over and over. 'And thus without knowing anything about it I became a pilgrim. I was unconsciously and unintentionally visiting the great shrines of Rome, and seeking out their sanctuaries with some of the avidity and desire of a true pilgrim, though not quite for the right reason.'" (33)

Day, in Manhattan...
"She had rented rooms from some friends on Fourteenth Street so as to be near the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where she liked to worship-a small Mexican church between Seventh and Eight avenues, no wider or grander than an old railroad flat." (63)

Merton, in Manhattan...
"His hell was Cambridge, but his Sodom is New York. For him as for Day, Manhattan will be, first of all, a rebel's paradise, a place of sin and temptation, against which he will rebel in turn by becoming religious. And yet for him, as for her, the firsthand experience of New York, of its legendary excesses and waywardness, will lend authority to his renunciation of it. Because he seems to relish the lost life as he describes it, his conversion seems authentic. (73-74)

He went to Sunday Mass at Corpus Christi, a small, bright church off upper Broadway past the Columbia campus...He was surprised by what he saw. The church was full of people, which amazed him. A few pews ahead, a beautiful girl knelt and prayed, oblivious of all else, and her beauty and piety put together amazed him, too...The priest gave the sermon, and it was convincing. It sounded like the word of God. 'For behind those words you felt the full force not only of Scripture but of centuries of a unified and continuous and consistent tradition.' (90-91)

He began a regimen of round-the-clock religious devotion: Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's on Sixth Avenue, weekday Mass at St. Francis of Assisi near Penn Station or Our Lady of Guadalupe on Fourteenth Street, a few hours' reading in the Summa in the Columbia library, followed by the Stations of the Cross at Corpus Christi Church or the Church of Notre Dame on Morningside Drive... (98)

In 1937, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened a museum of medieval art. The Cloisters, as it is called, was like no other museum in America: an odd and remote outpost compounded from the ruins of several disused European monasteries-chapels, cloisters, stained-glass windows-which had been taken apart stone by stone, shipped across the ocean, and put together on a bluff in uptown Manhattan as a New World meta-monastery.

Thomas Merton went to the Cloisters on a date one Sunday the summer after it opened, then returned by himself later in the year. Looking back, he described those visits as the happiest days he spent in New York -happier it seems, than the days he spent in actual churches." (95-96)

Things with my girlfriend are good, despite those fears I experienced out west. There is a strong connection and potential for so much love. She's thinking of moving here next year - a possibility I'm excited for. Not a Catholic, and very much against organized religion (can't much disagree with her there, based on all the very stupid, hypocritical and detrimental acts so many religions are responsible for,) she has a lot of different ideas and thoughts on God than I do. For starters, she doesn't necessarily believe in God, but does admit to believing that there is something greater than us. My first reactive thought is that people are pompous who say they "do not believe in God." Putting more thought into it, and reading Merton's experience, my thought changes to, how pompous of any of us down here to think they know the idea and concept of God so fully.

"In the book [The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy], by his own account, he found a conception of God that he thought plausible and appealing. This God was not a Jehovah or a divine lawgiver, not a plague-sending potentate or a scourge of prophets, not the heavenly Father of Jesus Christ or the stern Judge waiting just past the gate at the end of time, but the vital animating principle of reality - "pure act," being itself or per se, existence in perfection, outside space and time, transcending all human imagery, calmly, steadily, eternally being. 'What a relief it was for me, now,' he recalled, 'to discover not only that no idea of ours, let alone any image, could adequately represent God, but also that we should not allow ourselves to be satisfied with any such knowledge of Him.'" (80-81)

80. Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary

2009-11-08T23:25:00.027-05:00

Address: 325 E. 33rd St.
Phone: 212.213.6027

Email: m044@archny.org
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 12:30pm, 5:30pm
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 5pm; Sat: 12pm
Holy Days: 5pm (Vigil), 5pm
Confession: Sun: 4:45pm-5:15pm
Constructed: 2009? (forgive me if I'm mistaken)
Chapel History
Church of Our Lady of the Scapular & St. Stephen (associated Church)
Congegration of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

This chapel is so far on the east side, why does anyone live all the way over there?

My thought, as I headed down 33rd this evening towards the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary, and, finally arriving, I looked inside the chapel through it's great south windows, walking closer, peering inside, I witnessed a great congregation gathering for the Sunday 5:30pm Mass. It must happen every Sunday, and it was nice to see a mixed crowd, all ages, various types, lots of different people.

The priest gave a good sermon about living in the moment, living within and being inside each breath you take to be present in the Lord's graces and be in the moment, ready for God. It was direct and to the (and such a good) point. Ironically, I felt very out of the moment this evening. Why are things so off sometimes?

more...

Additionally, there was a special announcement at the end of Mass, and an insert in the bulletin, about the U.S. Catholic Bishop's response to the Heath Care reform that had just passed the House. There are some fundamental sacredness of life issues presently in the bill that conflict with standard Catholic teachings concerning public funding for abortion, and care for the poor and immigrants. As United States Catholics, the Bishops urge us to speak out to our senators, politicians, lawmakers who are also our fellow human beings.

One can go here: www.usccb.org/action to lodge an automatic online request to your senators.

more...

Recently I was in a cafe with a good friend, 0ne of my closest, a fellow Christian who's a protestant. We were speaking about sin and repentance and forgiveness (pretty light, huh?) They told me that even though through their faith they know that when their sins are forgiven by God, they still feel a need to admit aloud what they have done and that they wish their church had something similar to confession as the Catholic church has.

I was struck suddenly by the sweetness of the Church's seven sacraments (specifically Reconciliation) and what it means for Catholics. These are gifts we have as Catholics that simply do not exist in other branches and sects of Christianity, and we (and I mean I here, but perhaps you feel the same) should cease taking these things for granted. We all sin down here, there is no way around - but the fact we are able to walk into the confessional and admit to God's servant our wrongdoings, and be blessed and absolved in person in a very real way, materializes for us the wondrous abstraction that is God's constant and eternal forgiveness of our very real sins.

It has given me a new realization of my Catholic faith and I now, very soon, I gots to get me to a confessional.

I've begun reading Paul Elie's book, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, which focuses on the spiritual pilgrimages of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy. Thus far I am especially connecting with Dorothy Day's journey, in New York, and her visits to Manhattan churches. This may begin happening in the next few following posts, my sharing excerpts about Day's thoughts on NYC from Elie's book:

"Mornings she would set out on the streets of lower Manhattan...'In all that great city of seven millions, I found no friends, I had no work; I was separated from my fellows. Silence in the midst of city noises oppressed me. My own silence, the feeling that I had no one to talk to overwhelmed me so that my very throat was constricted; my heart was heavy with unuttered thoughts; I wanted to weep my loneliness away...
So it was at dawn, going home, she found herself stopping at St. Joseph's Church on Sixth Avenue, not far from Hell Hole, thinking it inevitable that 'sooner or later I would have to pause in the mad rush of living and remember my first beginning and my last end...'
St. Joseph's is the oldest Catholic church in Manhattan, low and square, with fieldstone walls, high white pillars, and a portico topped by a cross that stands out starkly against the sky. It is a kind of house blend of old and new, of city and country, of Catholic Europe and leatherstocking America...
All her life she had been haunted by God. God was behind her. God loomed before her. Now she felt hounded toward Him, as though toward home; now she longed for an end to the wavering life in which she was caught...
For the time being, she began to pray...'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'"
(pages 16, 28-29)

79. Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard

2009-11-01T22:59:00.001-05:00

Address: 328 W. 14th St.
Phone: 212.243.0265
Email: guadalupe3281@verizon.net
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5pm; Sun: 10am, 5:30pm
Weekday Mass Times: 7am, 12:10pm
Holidays: only at 9am
Confession: Sat: 4:30pm-5pm; M-F: 11:20am-12pm
Exposition: First Fridays 12:10pm-7pm (followed by Benediction)
Constructed: 1875
About the Organ
Flickr Photo 1
Flickr Photo 2
Sunday Tacos at Our Lady of Guadalupe...
Shrine of Guadalupe

SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS

"The Roman Catholic Church of St. Bernard was established in a wagon factory located on West 13th Street. The present church was designed by architect Patrick C. Keely and built from 1873-75. Keely also designed the similarly-detailed Church of the Holy Innocents on West 37th Street near Herald Square. St. Bernard has the distinction of being the first church to be dedicated by John Cardinal McCloskey, the first American cardinal.

The parish of Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe, honoring the patron of the Americas, was founded in 1902 to serve the Spanish-speaking population of New York. A church was created in an existing row house on the north side of West 14th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in the area once known as Little Spain. The Spanish Baroque facade that includes a rounded pediment and iron porch was designed by Gustave Steinback and added in 1921. As the city's Latin population changed over the years, Our Lady of Guadalupe has served Spaniards, Spanish-Americans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. By the early 2000s, the small church could no longer accomodate the growing Mexican population, and in 2003 the congregation moved to nearby St. Bernard's Church at 330 West 14th, which was renamed Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's."
(nycago.org's NYC Organ Project webpages)

The Spiritual Traveler calls the building High Victorian Gothic, a style that uses stone of contrasting colors - though I visited the church at night so really couldn't take in the beauty of the exterior.

This was a great church to visit on All Saints Day as it is filled with art and iconography of a multitude of the saints. I attended the 5:30pm Mass and there was an excellent Indian priest who celebrated. This Mass apparently has no musical accompaniment - even so, the cantor had a beautiful melodic voice, and lead the little bit of congregation there was through a nice mix of hymns.

Staring intently at the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (an image that is actually found in most if not all New York City churches) I came home and did a little research.

"Guadalupe is strictly the name of a picture, but was extended to the church containing the picture and to the town that grew up around. The word is Spanish Arabic, but in Mexico it may represent certain Aztec sounds...The picture really constitutes Guadalupe. It makes the shrine: it occasions the devotion. It is taken as representing the Immaculate Conception, being the lone figure of the woman with the sun, moon, and star accompaniments of the great apocalyptic sign, and in addition a supporting angel under the crescent. Its tradition is, as the new Breviary lessons declare, "long-standing and constant". Oral and written, Indian and Spanish, the account is unwavering. To a neophyte, fifty five years old, named Juan Diego, who was hurrying down Tepeyac hill to hear Mass in Mexico City, on Saturday, 9 December, 1531, the Blessed Virgin appeared and sent him to Bishop Zumárraga to have a temple built where she stood."
(Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07043a.htm)

Sometimes when I catch the last Mass of the weekend at some of these churches, the church staff begins turning off the lights and shutting down the building as soon as the celebration is completed. This happened tonight, and once the lights were off I couldn't take all the pictures I wanted. This is a really gorgeous building, clean, well-maintained and bright. (Funny, I feel like I'm relating everything here in real estate terms, due to my current obsession of finding a new place.) It seems like a happy parish too, but I can't exactly say why, just a feeling I got by being there.

As I was leaving I looked up and noticed this painting of The Last Supper on the ceiling of the entrance way. Such a strange location for it about three feet above one's head, but a fun little detail of this church.

Unfortunately, the other thing that sometimes happens when catching these late Sunday Masses is the slow dull onset throughout the day of that Sunday-blues-melancholia culminating in a boiling up of my emotions near the end of Mass. Made all the worse tonight because I have to go back to Greenpoint to reclaim a forgotten credit card. My Saturday night self knows no shame and makes my Sunday day self pay for all of his shenanigans and then some.

Today being All Saints Day, here's a little video I found on the web, Fr. James Martin discussing the saints:

78. Church of the Immaculate Conception

2009-10-31T12:59:00.034-04:00

Address: 414 E. 14th St.
Phone: 212.254.0200
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 4pm, 5:30pm; Sun: 8am, 9am, 10am (Folk, Sign Language,) 11:15am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 5:30pm
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 7am, 7:45am, 9am, 12:10pm, 5:30pm; Sat: 8am, 9am, 12:10pm
Confession: Sat: 11:30am-12pm, 4:30pm-5:30pm
Evening Prayers: Mondays 6pm
Constructed: 1896
What is the "Immaculate Conception?"

HALLOWEEN
SATURDAY DAILY MASS

Looking for an apartment in this fucking city is just about one of the craziest, most stressful, sometimes ludicrous, often ridiculous, and unmistakably pain-in-the-ass experiences of one's lifetime and I've found myself in the last 2 weeks doing it for the third time in as many years. It's so hard to tell if the brokers out there are good or bad people, because more often than not, at my financial range, they are hawking shoddy merchandise at unbelievable prices - even in today's "renter's market."

I am an indecisive person by nature, so something like this is drawn out all the more terribly than it already is, and, in my first solo search for a one bedroom dwelling, I find myself torn between two places - the big place up in Inwood, by the parks, with all the trees, kind of old, may or may not have pest problems vs. the smaller, renovated, next to more places (restaurants and stores) apartment in a great part of Washington Heights. Why am I such an uptown guy? Because I am priced out of most of the rest of the island and work north of the city? Probably yes, that's it. Bingo.

And so reaching the brink of my indecision, I call my girlfriend and then my parents, looking for the light. Just talking things through helps so much. Asked for advice, asked for prayers, and received a little peace of mind, mostly knowing I have such good support from both.

Still, I'm weighing the odds, and praying I choose the right place.

Here's what The Spiritual Traveler says about Immaculate Conception Church,

"Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church was built by Grace Church as an Episcopalian chapel and social service center in what was then a poor immigrant neighborhood. Today we see only half of what this complex once was, but it still resembles a medieval urban church, looking after tbe spiritual, educational, and physical needs of its parish. The style of the building is late-Gothic or early-Renaissance French, featuring a bold tower on 14th Street, a church, and a small chapel...The Roman Catholic Church bought this property in 1943. The belief in the Immaculate Conception - that Mary was born without sin - was proclaimed Roman Catholic dogma in 1854."

The Saturday 12:10pm Mass was nice here today, and well attended. This is a peaceful church and there is an outdoor grotto area I spent some time in afterward. Though my mind was preoccupied with my apartment search, this was a calming place to be and prayer came easy.

Unfortunately, this is another New York church covered in scaffolding for the time being, so I was unable to get any shots of the exterior. But within the walls and outside in the grotto were all beautiful enough for an overcast Saturday.

Later on I went to a friend's birthday gathering in a dark basement bar in the financial district, followed by heading to Greenpoint for a Halloween party. I should have just gone home after the financial district. I still can't seem to control myself and continue "finding myself in situations," not knowing how I ended up there. So I wandered around Greenpoint and somehow miraculously made it back home later in the night. Still so reckless and directionless...

An aside, if you're ever in this area visiting this church, two great bars on this street come to mind...

O'Hanlons...

...and the Crocodile Lounge (free pizzas.)

77. St. Veronica

2009-10-25T14:38:00.018-04:00

Address: 149 Christopher St. (between Washington and Greenwich
Phone: 212.924.5628
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5pm; Sun: 10am (English), 11:10am (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: Tues. & Wed. 12:15pm
Confession: Sat: 4:30pm-5:30pm
About the Organ
About St.Veronica

Creeping downtown in the number one train this morning on my way to St. Veronica in the West Village and, due to construction, "all trains running express between 96th and 42nd street!," the conductor screaming, we crawl along slower than if we had run local from the beginning. (What is this, the local?) I am back in New York again, where public transport (when it works) is the best, and one's own feet can carry them across entire worlds. As great and terrible a city as it is, it's my city, for the time being, and I am glad to be back in it.

This is a comfortable church to visit. The West Village is always a nice neighborhood in my opinion, and St. Veronica's fits that vibe. The priest at the 10am Mass (sorry, didn't catch his name) gave a beautiful sermon, and somewhere between constant distraction and worry, I was able to very clearly hear him, and take away some of his words with me. He was talking about those bad times in life, when we all go off to dark places.

He was saying that through these bad dark times, which are times of bad thoughts and bad spirits invading our lives, Divine assistance always remains and that God's help is always there for us. And much as when one is hungry they had better not go grocery shopping as they are more than likely to buy up a bunch of impulse food items they do not really want, so should we not make great changes in our lives when we've reached these low bad points. Wait, and be patient. The good spirit will return.

Divine assistance remains. God's help is constant.

I've got these two sides to me. Sometimes the one side takes over, the one that spends money recklessly and wants only to be reckless, drink into oblivion, sin, again and again, and make not just bad decisions, but really terrible ones. This other side I got wants simply to pray. Wants just to hide away in the dark on days and find some solace and pray.

I sat near this stained glass window through which none of the bright sunlight from outside shone through. A building put up right beside the church after it was constructed, most likely, has hidden the light from this window, and robbed it of all its colorful, bright and inspiring potential. Still, the outline remains, and kind of story, but not the full one the stained glass artist had intended.

*West Coast Churches

2009-10-18T22:59:00.006-04:00

"A great anxiety has God allotted, and a heavy yoke, to the sons of men; From the day one leaves his mother's womb to the day he returns to the mother of all the living,
His thoughts, the fear in his heart, and his troubled forebodings till the day he dies--
Whether he sits on a lofty throne or grovels in dust and ashes,
Whether he bears a splendid crown or is wrapped in the coarsest of cloaks--
Are of wrath and envy, trouble and dread, terror of death, fury and strife. Even when he lies on his bed to rest, his cares at night disturb his sleep.
So short is his rest it seems like none, till in his dreams he struggles as he did by day, Terrified by what his mind's eye sees, like a fugitive being pursued;
As he reaches safety, he wakes up astonished that there was nothing to fear.
So it is with all flesh, with man and with beast, but for sinners seven times more."

- Sirach 40:1-8

Mission Dolores in San Franciso...

Sudden fears that this new relationship I'm in won't end up working out either. Why do I tend to jump so eagerly into these things, these love situations, expecting so much and reaping my own anxiety and insecurities instead? Why are these things so difficult? I've been in enough that I thought I understood what it takes. It turns out as time goes on and each day passes I actually know less and less than I thought I did. We as people are all such head-cases, with such major tendencies of spoiling ourselves with the things we think we deserve, and such true ignorance of what is really important. I am guilty of this when it comes to women, and they to me.

St. Augustine Church in Culver City...

Overall, despite my stupidity, I feel I have always ultimately made the right decisions about girls in my life - must stop here to give thanks to divine advisement and intervention. Now, I have to begin making these kinds of decisions all over again and figure out how to be selfless without being a dope; how to open up without letting the fear control me; how to love fully without selfish tendencies or hesitation.

*Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes...

"Out of here, we're out of here, out of heartache, along with fear.
There goes the fear again. There goes the fear.

And cars speed fast, out of here. And life goes past, again so near.
There goes the fear again. There goes the fear.

Close your brown eyes, and lay down next to me.
Close your eyes, lay down, 'cause there goes the fear. Let it go.

You turn around, and life's passed you by.
You look to those you love, to ask them why?
You look to those you love, to justify.
You turned around, and life's passed you by. Passed you by, again.

And late last night, makes up her mind. Another fight, left behind.
There goes the fear again. Let it go. There goes the fear."

- The Doves
- - -
*[Wayfarers Chapel is not a Catholic parish, but a church sponsored by The Swedenborgian Church (a branch of Christianity I was not previously familiar with - you can read more on their theology here.) It's a beautiful little place set on the cliffs of Palos Verdes, overlooking the Pacific - a tiny glass chapel designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, who insisted a visitor does not look at it as a chapel made of glass, but rather a chapel made of trees. And true enough, the frame of the place looks as if it was made from the surrounding trees themselves, bent and formed to create a very nature-inspired place of prayer and worship. This was a great little place to visit.]

Another Note:
I visited Los Angeles and the surrounding area this past week and had intended to visit some of the churches that one reader had anonymously commented on, but was however unable to arrange transportation due to my location and lack of personal vehicle (stupid L.A., have to drive everywhere!) If I make it to L.A. again, I plan on visiting them, especially the one in Dana Point. Anyway, if that reader is still out there, I'm wondering how you are doing, and I want you to know you remain in thoughts and prayers - and not just mine, but some other readers as well. God bless.

76. Our Lady of Victory

2009-10-04T23:24:00.006-04:00

(mass times & church info last updated 01/21/2011)
Address: 60 William St.
Phone: 212.422.5535
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:15pm
Sun: 7:30am, 10am, 12:15pm
Weekday Mass Times:
M-F: 7:15am, 7:45am, 8:20am, 12:15pm, 1:05pm (in chapel), 5:15pm
Sat: 7:30am
Holy Days:
Vigil: 4:30pm, 5:15pm;

Mornings: 7am, 7:15am, 7:30am, 7:45am, 8am, 8:15am, 8:30am, 8:45am, 9am, 11:30am

Afternoons: 12pm, 12:15pm, 12:30pm, 12:45pm, 1pm, 1:15pm, 1:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:15pm
Confession:
M-F: 8-9am, 12-1:30pm, 5-5:30pm
Miraculous Medal Devotion: Mondays 12:45pm

St. Anthony Devotion: Tuesdays 12:45pm

St. Jude Devotion: Wednesdays 12:45pm

The Holy Spirit Devotion: Thursdays 12:45pm

The Rosary: Weekdays after 8:20am Mass; Fridays 12:45pm (Except first Fridays and during Lent)

First Fridays: Sacred Heart Novena 12:45pm

Fridays of Lent: Stations of the Cross 12:45pm
Constructed: 1947
About the Organ
Our Lady of Victory

I believe I have visited all the churches nearest me up to now on this journey so each weekend I now venture out further and further from my apartment to some distant neighborhood in Manhattan. Having recently tackled a huge amount of churches on the east side (there are a lot there) I think I now will be focusing on the many churches of the Lower East Side and downtown. This morning, I decided to go to Our Lady of Victory, one of Manhattan's most furthest south churches that I have left (though I believe Our Lady of the Rosary is the actually the southernmost Manhattan church,) because my roommate and I decided to set out from South Ferry this morning heading North, covering the distance of Manhattan lengthwise on foot.

Unfortunately, my camera battery had died so I was forced to use my Blackberry camera as backup (which is why these images of the church are such poor quality and blurred (stupid Blackberry!)) I went to the earliest Mass offered, 7:30am, of course running a little late, was completely tired as I had gone to bed late the night before, and continued being cloudy and slightly unfocused during the Mass as I've been the last few weeks.

Luckily, my roommate brought me a spare battery when meeting me at South Ferry, and then we began the journey, walking around the southern tip of the island up to the U.N., cutting across Central Park, and then on up the west side (the best side) through Riverside Park, past the G.W. bridge up to the furthest point north, coincidentally very near one of my favorite places, Indian Road Cafe, where we stopped in and had a few celebratory beers. Well deserved, and we enjoyed them.

Here's a few of the sites along the way...

additional photos...
(01/21/2011)

75. St. John the Martyr

2009-10-03T20:20:00.019-04:00

Address: 250 E. 72nd St. (@ 2nd Ave.)
Phone: 212.744.4880
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5:30pm; Sun: 8:30am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, 5:30pm
Weekday Mass Times: M-F: 7:30am, 12:15pm, 5:30pm; Sat: 9am, 12:15pm
Holy Days: 1234567
Confession: Sat: 4:30-5pm
Rosary: Mon-Sat: 12pm
Miraculous Medal Novena: Mondays after each Mass
Legion of Mary: Wed: 6pm (rectory at 259 E. 71st)
Exposition: First Fridays after 12:15pm Mass
Constructed: 1888
"When was it built and who designed it?"
Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

SATURDAY DAILY MASS

I'm so distracted lately. I feel in the past that I visited these churches with zeal and intensity, and as of today, not as much. I think I just have a lot on my mind - basically all the job/employment hogwash I've been bitching about. It's as if I cannot really enjoy all the parts of my life, because one main part of my life, my job, isn't what I want. I was telling my friend last night that I've realized I'm not the type of person that tends to drink when sad or depressed, but actually only enjoys drinking when things are going mostly overall well - more of a celebratory drunk. So, as of now, I'm not enjoying any extracurricular activities as much recently because that other part of my life (employment!) just doesn't feel right any more, doesn't feel good, I'm not settled, not happy with it. I've got to become more focused on my job search, and thus my life.

All that being said, this church, St. John the Martyr on the east side, is an absolutely awesome little church, and it was a great church to attend Mass in - comfortable, cozy and just a good feeling. I think I was too caught up in the stupid business of my mind to enjoy it at the time, but looking back on the experience and these pictures it was great to be there. The building was constructed as the chapel of part of a larger Presbyterian church in 1888 and was taken over by a Catholic parish in 1904. There are some nice little artistic details to be found on the exterior, above the altar, on the door and other little places you look.

A thought, real quick, something my friend in L.A. asked me recently when we were discussing a a sick family member and all the many prayers being offered for their healing: "What about the people out there in the world who have no one to pray for them? Does God watch over them, does God help them, or are they destined to suffer because they either know no one or those they know do not pray?"

Perhaps someone out there can help offer a better response than I did, which was basically: God and the saints reserve a special place for these folks in their thoughts, gifts and graces since those people are, in a prayerful sense, alone down here. I also offered that there are whole congregations and holy orders that say special intentions for those that have no one to pray for them. And also that I, and we as spiritual people, should offer up prayers to those who have no one to pray for them.

I meant to work more on my resume and job search today than I have, but I eventually became too consumed in all the many escapes of life. It seems like this always happens to me. Distractions and disruptions and then I'm back to where I've begun.

74. St. John Nepomucene

2009-10-01T11:30:00.011-04:00

Address: 411 E. 66th St. (@ 1st Ave.)
Phone: 212.734.4613

Email: slovakchurch@gmail.com
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 9am, 11am (Slovak), 12:30pm, 6pm
Weekday Mass Times: 8am
Confession: After all Sunday Masses; After 8am Daily Mass
Constructed: 1925
About the Organ
St. John Nepomucene
St. John Nepomucene (Wikipedia)

WEEKDAY DAILY MASS

A doctor's appointment this morning allowed me the chance to attend daily Mass at St. John Nepomucene located on the east side. It was nice to attend during the week and receive the Eucharist in the morning before the day began, but the weather is cold and grey, and leaves one gloomy, especially one so predisposed to the gloom as I.

The sound system at this church isn't great, kind of echoey, and I really couldn't understand a word of the reading, or the Gospel, or even much of the Homily. I did pray though and am glad I went.

Now, I'm headed to work on the Metro-North, thirty minutes away from my office, enjoying the sights through Harlem and up the Hudson, but not really wanting to be going where I'm going. Want to go somewhere else. Want to be doing something else. It's preying on me, this heavy disinterest in my work, it's breaking me.

Supplemental: Three-Fourths Complete

2009-10-01T07:00:00.006-04:00

Someone's recently called this journey to Manhattan Catholic churches a quest. I've been to approximately three-fourths of them, and have about twenty or so remaining, and I guess it is that, a quest. It's a lot of things: fun, interesting, addictive, informative, an anchor.

I say that last bit in light of looking back at my life as a whole the past three years here in the city, the last two of which I've spent contributing to this blog. My job treats me well but in all honesty I'm not particularly enthusiastic about the work, which I tend to consider empty and meaningless, and where I observe everyone working, overall, just to make some sort of profit; and in a lot cases it's a career filled dealing with many (though there are some good) gripy, shifty, and annoying people - and ultimately it does nothing for me. And it's getting to me lately. As I've written in some past posts, I do find some peace sometimes over the weekends, but come Monday, I am stuck and immobile once again throughout the 40 hour work week in all its humdrum greyness, yearning to break free, but frozen in the lethargic anxiety it covers me in. It weighs on me. It suffocates me. I am but a service bot in a meaningless service job, breaking down and rusting.

But if the weekends and activity free me for 48 hours from this grind, shouldn't I find respite away from work each evening, in the sanctity of my home? Alas, I live in a somewhat okay apartment but in a very shitty neighborhood because it's all I can afford - and it is a shitty, crazy, strange, fucked up neighborhood (has anyone ever experienced living on 135th between Broadway and Amsterdam? It's nuts!) And it offers no peace to me. It's a stressful, busy, ugly street, noisy polluted and disgusting. I'll have to find a new place soon, something more to my suiting. Such is the stress I need to endure over through the end of the year: searching for a new job and a new place to live, two of the most painful experiences out there.

I have friends in my life who are there for me when the times are rough, good friends, but friends I am lately distanced from, plus many are beginning to move away: my best friend is leaving for Japan at the end of the year, one friend has headed away already to Yale Divinity school, many more are going away to grad schools somewhere, and all my Brooklyn friends are just becoming inundated more and more in their married, couplish, career-oriented grown-up life styles.

So honestly, my day-to-day life consists of not all that much holding me here in New York city any longer, save for the question, what else would I do; a desire to give myself a couple more years to see what I may succeed with and accomplish; and more than anything, this quest. Is that ridiculous? Should I escape to greener pastures (in my head, at least) somewhere else despite these twenty-odd churches left to visit? Is the fact that this journey to churches is becoming the single most important part of my life in New York city just plain stupid?

This journey is prominent in my life, almost at it's center, though I have not centered my life around it. Oftentimes, the weekend rolls around and I am caught off guard, having not chosen a church to attend before Mass times are upon me; or I simply neglect to go to Mass, choosing instead some trivially entertaining pursuit. Still, it is there, in the back of my head, this to-do, this must-do, this have-to, before I can leave this city for further adventures or a quiet retreat. The quest, and those other three pervasive parts of my life.

God.
I pray daily, asking for things I believe I need and in thanks for those things I've been given. I wander into churches, often recklessly, to witness the visual beauty humans have constructed in interpreting God. My faith, at times, very deep, can also run thin when I begin to forget all I have and have had, and all that's been given us to begin with.

Booze.
Alcohol don't bother me no more. At times in my life I've worried it would consume me. Not now. It's still something I enjoy, too much. At the present though, not a danger. My compulsion at present is to find a job I like a whole hell of a lot better than the one I have, or better yet my niche. Because if I continue to waste just one more minute of my talents and potential, going on and running through my same drab day-to-day, I think I really will go mad, and become just another one of those shouting rageful New Yorkers we see roaming the streets, intermingling in our midst on the subways, yelling at their kids' soccer games on the weekends, or driving my car through the nearest Dunkin' Donuts.

Women.
I've been chasing something up to now that didn't rightly exist. Now, it's different. There's a girl out there I've liked for a whole long while, and a chance finally to be together. Only problem is she lives worlds away, the west coast, Los Angeles. Karma rears it's ugly head because I've told friends countless times again and again never to find themselves caught up in long-distance relationships, that they are too full of stress, cause one never to live fully in the moment as your thoughts are always far away with that other person who's not around, and that the time you do get to see each other, those vacation weeks or long holiday weekends, don't count because there's too much newness and excitement to allow things between the two of you to be very real. And here I am: nightly phone calls, long emails, spare time spent searching the internet for cheap flights. And it's all worth it, I realize when it's the right other person. And I'm trying to convince her to move here to New York, expressing all the love and interest within me, telling her (and getting excited, myself) about all the times we could share in the Big Apple. And somewhere in the back of my head, with not much holding me here, I see myself moving out west, but not before finishing this journey, which is quickly becoming not just some side hobby project, but all I have left in New York city.

My ex-girlfriend, despite being a Catholic, never understood what I was doing, never really got it and so I never let her further in. My L.A. friend gets it, gets me, more than most others have. She's doesn't share my faith, but she has respect for it, and something about her touches my spiritual side unlike any of the other girls I've dated here. And despite differences in our faith, she seems to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, seems even intrigued and excited, and has even given it a name:

A quest.

73. St. Columba

2009-09-20T22:27:00.001-04:00

Address: 343 W. 25th St. (@ 8th Ave.)
Phone: 212.807.8876
Weekend Mass Times: Sat: 5pm, 8pm (Neo-Catechumenal); Sun: 7:30am, 9am, 11am (Spanish), 12:30pm
Weekday Mass Times: T-F: 12:10pm (in the chapel)
Confession: Call for appointment
Constructed: 1845
About the Organ
St. Columba

Teetering on the brink of sin and destruction, nearly on a daily basis - don't we all? Why do I do any of it? Waking this morning, with all the tastes of last night's shenanigans stale and drying in my mouth, and the memories of yesterday's activities: a day drinking binge lasting nearly six hours, an impromptu picnic with the decaying light of the sun sinking away from us, more bars and even a burlesque way the fuck out in Red Hook, and then indecision setting in, ending with a cab ride back home (best $40 I've ever spent,) there is but one thought occupying my mind this morning: I have got to get myself to church.

It has been hard for me keeping up regular visits to new churches these days, and I'm not going as much as I'd like. Traveling, friends visiting, work and life have tended to keep me away. And sometimes, on a Sunday evening, if I've not attended, I become so glum. But today, I am heading out.

Everything is going to plan then, until the subway system throws me a few curves and for more than a few loops. My faith is strong, yet I reserve none for the New York City transit system.

Due to this, I, of course, arrived late to Mass, entering during the Homily. Funny enough, the priest's voice reminded me of the priest in The Princess Bride, which was completely bizarre, but I soon realized he was brilliant-a very smart man and really good priest. The topic at the moment, was love, and, more specifically, fear to love because of past experience and pain. His point was to overcome this through faith. And in this trust to open one's self to love and to being loved. After I arrived, he also said something along the lines of, "We here in Manhattan tend to sometimes drink too much, and smoke too much, and attend these services not fully in complete mind, body or spirit." - something along those lines, anyway. Why do I feel they are always speaking so directly to me?!!!

This church is smaller and older than some of the others I've visited lately. Probably a little poorer as well. It seems it could use a few renovations - something I didn't help with particularly, when coming time for the collection, I revealed to myself a wallet full of receipts and nothing else - last night the cause and to blame yet again. This church though has faith. The priest loves his parishioners, and they him. There is something good in his words, and in the petitions, as when the reader fumbles around the altar looking for them, the lost list of petitions, the priest begins a series of heartfelt and true requests, and we all answer honestly, Lord hear our prayer.

And then after church, escape. From the city, from the world for awhile. My friends come and whisk me away to Storm King - that wonderful rendezvous with sculpture, about an hour out of the city. It is a beautiful marvelous place, combining two of my favorite things: nature and art - and therefore inherently God and peace. Storm King Art Center is a wonderful place, and the perfect day trip if you live in NYC. It's 500 acres of trees and hills and landscape, sprinkled with hundreds of colossal sculptures. My friend from L.A. told me, when visiting me here in the city a few weeks ago, that she noticed I seek refuge from the city and the world in churches and in the parks. Of course, that is very true. Both places give me peace. And in both I find solace in God's works. Strolling around Storm King today, I found a similar peace.

By the end of the visit, I lay on a bench near the Storm King Wall, staring up through the trees, seeing an airplane way way up in the heavens (modern practical moving sculpture,) at peace in the sculpture garden and with the day, and so very glad I had made it to church this morning. There is peace down here on earth to be found by each individual, if for moments at a time anyway.

More in October.

For now, some images of the sculpture garden: