89. Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz

(mass times & church info last updated 02/28/2010)
Address: 378 Broome St.
Phone: 212.925.2428
Weekend Mass Times: Sun: 2:15pm
Weekday Mass Times: Wed: 6:30pm (see below)
Confession: Sat: 5pm-6pm
Church Constructed: ???

Links:
Official Website
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.

48. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

(mass times & church info last updated 04/29/2016) 
Address: 448 E. 116th St.
Phone: 212.534.0681
Weekend Mass Times:

Sat: 5pm (English), 6:30pm (Spanish)
Sun: 8am (Spanish), 9:15am (English), 10:30am (Latin), 11:45am (Spanish), 1pm (English), 2pm (Polish)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Fri: 7am, 9am (both English)
Sat: 9am (English)
Confession: upon request
Sacred Heart Devotion: First Fridays: 9am
Our Lady Devotion: First Saturdays: 9am (Mass, Novena, Benediction)
Links:

Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Carmelite Spirituality and the Practice of Mental Prayer
Devotions to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

What is with me lately? It's taking far too long to post my entries, and I seem to not have as much to say either (or is it not that much to complain about or to verbalize my fears and anxieties about?)

Why am I still journeying to these churches? Since dating my recent girlfriend I find myself torn these Sundays. Either continue my ramble around the city from holy house to house (alone) or attend with her, at her nearby church - a great one by the way, one I reviewed with zeal. I certainly enjoy attending with her but feel it's slightly more a social outing and less of a spiritual emotional experience - the kind I have when going to these strange new places alone. I have asked her to attend new churches with me, but she prefers her own parish week to week and doesn't quite grasp why I do what I do even though I've tried to explain it's one way I search for and discover God - through each new church, religious art, stained glass, and experience.

So today I traveled to the East Side's Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It's a convent and a church. Not sure what I was expecting, but once I entered this church I was very happy for coming. Another beautiful church and this one seems like a secret somehow, tucked away far east on 116th.

But upon sitting down with the services beginning I began to space out (it was a Spanish service, something I typically enjoy but today just made me feel aloof.) There was quite a few people gathered in the congregation but participation in the service seemed low. Come Communion time most of the assembled did not go up, and me in my daze waited and waited and waited, expecting a point when everyone would stand up and go receive, and it never came, and I just sat (or kneeled - can't remember) and did nothing and missed out on Communion

I attended a service I could not understand, missed out on the part that brings me the most peace and joy, and did not even enjoy the "socialness" that my friends did attending their parish. All of this lead me to question why am I doing any of this? What is it proving? Is it helping me spiritually or not? Is it gaining me anything? Should it?

The financial crisis our country is now facing me plagues me as does the upcoming vote - both play constantly on my mind. We are an indebted nation full of indebted people who have bought more than we can afford with money we do not have. It is my fault as it is your fault and ultimately some kind of sin. Greed? Worse?

Things are bad.

43. Our Lady of Lourdes

(mass times & church info last updated 03/25/2016) 

Address: 463 W. 142nd St. (East of Amsterdam)
Phone: 212.862.4380
Email: lourdes463@aol.com

Weekend Mass Times:
Sunday: 8am (Spanish), 10am (English), 12pm (Spanish), 2pm (Spanish)

Weekday Mass Times:

Mon: 8:45am (Spanish), 7:30pm (English)
Tue-Sat: 8:45am, 7:30pm (all Spanish)

Guide To New York City Landmarks
About the Organ
Our Lady of Lourdes School
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

LABOR DAY

"This Roman Catholic church, one of the oddest buildings in New York, is composed of pieces salvaged from three of the city's most prominent mid-19th-century landmarks and combined by Cornelius O'Reilly. Much of the High Victorian Gothic facade is a reconstruction of Peter B. Wright's famous National Academy of Design which stood at Fourth Avenue and East 23rd Street. The rear of the church consists of the original east end of James Renwick Jr.'s St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was replaced in 1901-06 by a new lady chapel. The stone pedestals that flank the front steps come from the A. T. Stewart mansion, which stood at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street."

- From the Guide to New York City Landmarks by Andrew Dolkart & Matthew A. Postal

Spanish Mass again today, but no intinction.

Why is it I always find the best churches to visit on these public holidays?

I wasn't able to visit the main church - I believe for these weekday masses they only open the basement chapel - but the chapel is quite an amazing place to be. It's like a cave down there - modeled after the Lourdes Grotto no doubt.

I entered this morning, descended the stairs and came into this darkened, ambient lit, holy place. Again - I could not follow the readings or priest, but I found the atmosphere to extremely lend itself to quiet introspective prayer. When it came time for Communion, the priest offered the Eucharist to me in English - do I really look like such a gringo?

I suppose I will come back here for Sunday Mass some weekend so that I may see the church, but I feel somehow it will not be as special to me as this basement grotto chapel - what I'll forever remember as the "underground cave chapel." It probably truly is one of the oddest buildings in New York, certainly one of the odder churches.

I highly suggest this one to you too - go to weekday Mass here, see the cave.


(08/24/2014)
Additional Photos...

I'm glad I went back here for Sunday Mass this morning to take more pictures. I first attended this church almost 6 years ago and at that daily Mass the main church wasn't open, but today it was and I really liked it. It was one of those smaller, but ornate, bright and welcoming churches with just a good architectural vibe, if that makes any sense. There was a lot of natural light and it was easy to take pictures. Sometimes, some of the larger, darker churches are poorly lit and I cannot capture good images. So I was at peace when I arrived here and sat for Mass. Intinction caught me by surprise as it's been awhile since I received communion that way. All in all, a good service. Afterwards my wife and a friend and I visited a nearby little restaurant for a good brunch: Trufa.

Attending this main church today did make me realize something, keeping my past (above) experience in mind: if I had only gone to weekend Mass at this parish and not that long ago daily Mass, I never would have experienced the downstairs cave chapel. (It wasn't open today, just the main part of the building.) That got me thinking about some of the other chapels I've been lucky enough to visit and explore when I go to some of these churches and attend Mass. As if all these wonderful churches weren't enough, a lot of them have secret little chapels a casual visitor like myself would never know about. As I've mentioned before, I often like daily Mass better than the big weekend Masses, because daily Masses are quieter and smaller and usually more intimate. So it is with chapels. It's almost enough to make me want to write a companion blog to this one: Catholic Chapels of Manhattan.

But alas, I'm too tired to take on such a project and go through this all again. But a good idea for someone out there. New images of the main church below...(Chapel photos above, but please go visit it for yourself some weekday night!)

41. Our Lady of Esperanza

(mass times & church info last updated 03/24/2016)
Address: 624 W. 156th (West of Broadway)
Phone: 212.283.4340
Weekend Mass Times: 
Sat: 6pm (Spanish)
Sun: 9am (Spanish), 10:30am (English), 12pm (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: 
Mon-Sat: 9am (Spanish)
Confession: Sat: 5pm-6pm
Adoration: First Fridays: 9:30am-10:30am

Links:
Official Website
About the Organ
Washington Heights Info
Museum Planet Tour
New York Landsmarks Conservancy
From Hudson Heights Owner Coalition

SATURDAY DAILY MASS

Spanish Mass again, and intinction again.

This church is awesome - small and beautiful. It's richly decorated and well taken care of. Elegant. And Holy.


Once again I wasn't really able to follow along with the readings, Gospel or homily, however when it came time for the Eucharist I knew what to do - and this time around there was very little hesitation or fear. But I admit, there was a little.

There are two beautiful portraits that flank the altar: the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, and St. Joseph doing the same.

This church is just around the corner from St. Catherine of Genoa, a church I really enjoyed when I visited. There is something very nice about this part of Washington Heights - the streets are wide yet peaceful. There is a wonderful openness to the whole neighborhood that you don't find a lot of in Manahattan.

I am not sure if ever I did, but now I certainly do not, no longer belong in bars. There is nothing for me there any longer - when I enter them and sit down on the stools and order up some beers or cocktails or whatever, this is all just another form of my wanderings. And yet I keep going back. And once there my wandering mind becomes only capable of focusing on any passing girl. And all of this will only lead me down a road I do not wish to go down. Alcohol once consumed my passions, and now it is only consuming my wallet, as I throw away my money, basically into fire of obsession and waste.

I have begun regular spiritual advisement. And though I am only just beginning to learn what it is and what exactly it can do for me, I already realize it will be wholly beneficial to me as I strive for direction in this, my life, an up-to-now wandering clusterfuck of darkness, ignorance, wrecklessness and waste.