64. St. Michael

(mass times & church info last updated 04/24/2016)
Address: 424 W. 34th St. (@10th Ave.)
Phone: 212.563.2575
Weekend Mass Times: 
Sat: 5pm (English)
Sun: 10am (English, choir), 11:15am (Spanish), 12:15pm (English)
Weekday Mass Times: 
Mon-Fri: 7:25am (in the Chapel of Divine Mercy), 12:10pm (main Church) (both English)
Holy Days of Obligation: 7:25am, 12:10pm, 5:10pm (all English)
Confession: Sat: 4:30pm-5pm, and after any Mass
Adoration & Novenas: contact the church for more info
Links:
Official Website
About the Organ
About St. Michael the Archangel

Walking home at 6am this morning, exhausted mentally and physically, not to mention emotionally, misdirected, misguided, trudging along, feeling all the old feelings of last night's revelry: ill, tired and shamed. Is this all I'm capable of? Is that the reason I keep coming back to it?

Later, I visited St. Michael's on 34th street. Another beautiful church but, perhaps it was my mood, something about the services seemed muted and dispassionate. The music was technically good yet lacked a certain animation. The African priest delivered a great talk, but something didn't seem to click. Maybe it was row after row of empty pews - only about 20 of us in attendance. Something was missing.

The church is aesthetically gorgeous. There are great statues of angels and saints (including John the Baptist and Pio.) especially one of St. Michael stepping upon Satan in triumph (though not as grand as that spectacular one out front of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.) My favorite part of the morning was kneeling in front of St. Michael's statue and finding a prayer to him and reciting it - a prayer I will forever cling to (see below.)

Now tonight, as the evening grows long and those Sunday night blues begin, the emptiness I felt this morning at Mass has found me here.

I'm losing it. I don't know what I'm going to do. Falling further and further from what I know and what I want and want to be. Away from others. My friends are like strangers. Everything I thought I had and assumed to be mine, is gone.

St. Michael, Archangel,
Defend us in battle.
Be our defense
against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray.
And you, Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into Hell Satan
and the other evil spirits
who prowl the world
for the ruin of souls.
Amen.

40. Cathedral of St. Patrick

(mass times & church info last updated 04/24/2016)
Address: 460 Madison Ave. (@ 51st St.)
Phone: 212.753.2261
Weekend Mass Times: 
Sat: 5:30pm (English, with music)
Sun: (all English except where listed):
7am, 8am
9am (with music)
10:15am (choir)
12pm (with music)
1pm
4pm (Spanish, with music)
5:30pm (music)
Weekday Mass Times: 
Mon-Fri: (all English with music except where listed):
7am
7:30am, 8am (both no music)
12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm
5:30pm (music on Mondays/Fridays only)
Sat: 8am (in Lady Chapel), 12pm (in main Church) (both English)
Confession:
Mon-Fri: 12pm-1:20pm, and after all morning Masses
Sat: 12pm-12:45pm, 3:30pm-5:30pm
Rosary: Tue, Thu: 5:30pm (in the Lady Chapel)
Daily Exposition/Adoration:
Mon-Fri: 1pm-6pm, evening devotions at 6pm
Miraculous Medal Devotion: Mondays 5:30pm (in the Lady Chapel)
Evening Prayer: Wednesdays 5:30pm (in the Lady Chapel)
Litany of the Sacred Heart Devotion: Fridays 5:30pm (Lady Chapel)
Stations of the Cross:
Wednesdays & Fridays at 6pm during Lent (except Ash Wednesday)

Links:
Official Website
Archdiocese of New York
About the Organ
Wikipedia
Answers.com
Sacred Destinations
Medieval New York
Architecture Images
Some Pictures
Old St. Patrick's Cathedral
NY Times Slideshow - Pope's Visit


Today I went to the Cathedral for Mass - this can only mean one thing: I have guests in town.

When I first moved here to the city, the Cathedral was one of the first places on my list to visit - and at the end of that first Mass I ever attended at St. Patrick's I concluded that I would never go again. It's a beautiful building for sure - but the crowd, the TVs, the bullying ushers and complete spectacle of the whole thing really turned me away and I determined to seek out smaller, more intimate places of worship where I would be able to pray in more peace.

Not that the Cathedral doesn't obviously have so much to offer, and I must admit that attending daily mass here is really quite wonderful (though I have not attended the Saturday 8am which is held in the back chapel - that must be truly a cool experience as the chapel is absolutely beautiful and very calm indeed.)

As you walk up to the Cathedral in midtown it towers above you, even while the midtown Rockefeller buildings tower above it. It is definitely a presence in this neighborhood and the whole area is one of my favorite places in the city - Rockefeller plaza, the flags, the bar at the Top of the Rock, etc.

So my aunt was visiting and we attended here and then followed that with brunch and it was all very much a nice day, aside from the ushers who unpleasantly herded the congregation into and out of the lines for communion.

There is a lot of history and beauty contained within this Cathedral and even though I do have better experiences at the other 39 churches I've been to in the city, I will go back to St. Patrick's, especially some Saturday for that 8am Chapel Mass.

Having just visited St. Rose of Lima the day before, I was pleased to find a chapel dedicated to her.

As we are on the topic of Cathedrals, I need to state again how much I really do enjoy visiting the Episcopalian Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Perhaps I am partial as it is right around the corner from my place - still though: it is grand and holy and serious and simple all at once. I do not mean any disrespect, but as far as Cathedrals go, I do prefer it to St. Patrick's. Here's a few shots I've been able to take of St. John the Divine:

8. Holy Name of Jesus Church

NOTE: In 2015 this church was part of a list of churches in danger of merging with other churches or closing altogether as part of the Archdiocese of New York's great closings & mergers of 2015. This doesn't seem to have happened and this church remains open for regular Masses and other events. If you have any news about this merger or lack thereof please feel free to write in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

(mass times & church info last updated 03/22/2016)
Address: 207 96th St. @ Amsterdam
Phone: 212.749.0276
Email: holynamenyc@aol.com
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm (English)
Sun: 9am (English, Youth Choir), 10:30am (Spanish), 12pm (English, Choral Mass), 1:30pm (French), 5:30pm (English, Contemporary Choir)
Weekday Mass Times:
M-F: 7am, 12pm (English)
M, W, F: 9am (Spanish)
Sat: 9am

Confession:

Tue, Thu: 11:30am-12pm

Sat: 4-5pm

Adoration:

First Fridays: 12:30pm-1:30pm
Post-Church Activity: Cloisters
Links:
Official Website
Wikipedia
Wikipedia: Advent
Wikipedia: Advent Wreath
The Organ
Reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Name Pledge
Catholic Tradition of the Holy Name
The Cloisters
Fort Tryon Park
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

The first semi-real snow of the season occurred this morning - too bad for a friend of mine who was visiting from out of town, decided to try and attempt an early flight out, left at 5am and then proceeded to be stuck in and wait on an airplane for most of the day - but good for me as it refreshed my view on just about everything.

There was something all together wholesome about my walk down a snow covered Amsterdam, not many people about, on my way to, what seemed to me and I'll refer to as, a classic bucolic church in the middle of Upper-Upper West Side Manhattan.


It being the first Sunday of Advent, I felt suddenly thrust into the Christmas season. Upon returning to my apartment, I immediately drank cocoa and played Christmas music, cleaned up after my friend's visit and tried to get my extremely tired (I woke up at 5am also to see my friend off and sleep did not return to me) mind and body into sync with how I wanted to spend the rest of my Sunday. I had an overwhelming desire to see go up to the Cloisters and see Fort Tryon park in the snow. I caught the A train up there and when I emerged from the subway cave, what I experienced was awesome - and I use that word in the original intent and use of that word to indicate something awe-inspiring and great, not what skaters, teens, and you and I and generations of others have turned it into. The walk through the snowy, icy paths of Fort Tryon was good for my soul. The cold blasts of wind woke me from my fogginess that had been lingering since my early wake up. The views were, of course, absolutely incredible and just exactly what I needed to be doing and seeing.

Later, back in my neighborhood, with fogginess creeping its way back into my head, I found myself wandering into St. John the Divine Episcopal Cathedral for the weekly Sunday evening 6pm Evensong. Again, this felt like precisely the place I needed to be. This cathedral is a grand cavern, dark and medieval. The voice of the pastor came ringing through the building as if it were the very voice of God. The singing was as if I was caught in the midst of angels that I could not see, angels trying to tell me something, something ancient and beautiful and in another language that we lost long ago and no longer knew.

Somewhere inside, I knew what they were saying.


(12/5/2010)
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