97. St. Brigid-St. Emeric

(mass times & church info last updated 03/08/2016) 
Address: 119 Avenue B (@ E. 8th St.)
Phone: (646) 476-5617
Weekend Mass Times:

Sat: 6pm (English)
Sun: 10am (English), 11:30am (Spanish)

Weekday Mass Times:

Mon, Wed, Thu: 9am (English)
Tue: 7pm (Spanish)
Fri: 9am (English), 6pm (Spanish)

Constructed: 1839
Renovated: 2013
Links: 
Official Website
My original post about St. Emeric's Church
About the Organ
Wikipedia
St. Brigid
Articles on the renovation: 
Donor Gives $20 Million (NY Times)The New York Landmarks Conservancy
Greenwich Village Preservation Society
The Villager

With this very last Catholic church of Manhattan, I now pronounce this blog officially complete!

Because of the numerical order of this post's title, it may seem the subtitle of this blog is now somewhat obsolete. I considered changing it from 96 churches to 97, but have decided against that. In truth, this blog was a bunch of stories about a young man's turmoil in discovering 96 houses of God. However, this 97th finds me (certainly!) no longer a turmoiled man and (even more certainly!) no longer a "young" man. My life has moved on since I began this journey.

The parish of St. Brigid's has been on a journey too. 

Here's what is looked like with scaffolding covering the church just a few years ago...

And here's what it looks like now...

According to the links above, the simplest story goes that the church of St. Brigid's was old, dilapidated and falling apart a few years back and was in danger of being closed, torn down and sold until a mysterious donor stepped up offering twenty million dollars to save it. That's when the renovations began. And since that process started, the Archdiocese of New York went ahead and closed the nearby parish of St. Emeric's, merging it with St. Brigid's in the new, renovated, pristine church building, to become the new parish of St. Brigid-St. Emeric.

 

All these new photos come from when I visited the church this past April during Holy Week (hence the covered up statues). I went to the Wednesday morning daily Mass (daily Mass always being my favorite and preferred over the pageantry of Sundays). The church was nice, peaceful, and quiet. Although it is a little far east for my liking, it's a good place to stop by when you're in the neighborhood of the East Village / Lower East Side.

Since taking these photos I have departed the awesome and awful metropolis of New York City, to begin a new life with my wife in a land both cleaner and greener. The sun shines bright here during the summertime and the air generally just smells better. Life is good, the way it should be.

Much like this parish, I am renewed and regenerated. Writing one last time in this blog gives me the opportunity to look back on my journey with incredible thoughts of gratitude. I am very thankful that I was able to take such a pilgrimage as this in such an incredible city as is New York. And I'm very happy I was able to do so when 96 parishes still existed, because as you probably are aware, many of those I visited are now closed or in danger of closing, or at least merging very soon.

But we can all look at St. Brigid's as an example of darkness turning light. Yes, it can be argued that this parish got very, very lucky because of the kindness and generosity of a very rich person. However, it's still a tale of a parish and its people overcoming the odds of an unforgiving city and reality closing in and being reborn as something new.

I, myself, am now new again thanks to many people and many things. Not least because of many of my experiences, wandering around this city, exploring these sacred spaces and places, and yearning, looking and praying for a better (no, that's not the right word), a different state of being that what was my status quo.

If your own parish is one of those unfortunates that the Cardinal has closed down, I am so, so sorry. You have probably lost a bit of your identity and history and being. But I urge you not to let your mind and soul linger in some darkened old building now locked to you, but to walk a few blocks north, west, south or east and find a new church to call your own. And if you don't like the priest or the people there for whatever reasons (and trust me, I have been to so many churches, I know there's a lot of bad ones out there), you should feel free to walk outside and head to another one. Because the city is filled with churches and choices. Or do me one better. If you get to a new church and don't like it, or someone there, or the music or the smell, do something about it. Change it. Make it better. Make it more accepting. Teach it love and forgiveness. As you know, much of the institution that claims a monopoly on those two teachings has forgotten all about them. Invest yourself in it and help transform it into what it should be.

Much love to you, reader, and anyone out there that has graced these ramblings or entered any of these holy places in yearning or torment. Please take care of them for me. I do miss them now and then.

90. Mary Help of Christians (CLOSED/Demolished)

NOTE: I haven't visited here in awhile, but it does seem this church is closed, having it's last Mass celebrated in 2012, some of it's remnants and parishioners moving to Immaculate Conception Church. Here are a few articles regarding it's closure:

Slideshow: Last Mass at Mary Help of Christians Church
Demolishing the 96-year-old Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church
This 7-Story Building Is Replacing Mary Help Of Christians 
Mapping 26 NYC Houses of Worship Being Replaced By Condos

Please let me know in the comments below anything else you know about the fate of this church and if there are any vigils or services ever held outside the steps or around here. Thanks!

(church info last updated 03/23/2016)
Address: 440 E. 12 St.
Phone: 212.254.0058; Immaculate Conception: 212.254.0200
Links:
"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.

86. Our Lady of Vilnius (CLOSED)

(church info last updated 03/31/2016)
Address: 568-570 Broome St. (@ Varick)
Church Constructed: 1905
Church Closed: February 26, 2007
Link:
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 officer 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"

60. St. Vincent de Paul (CLOSED)

NOTE: In 2013 this church closed down. The building has already been or will be either leased or sold. If you have any further information on the closing of this church or any continuing efforts to help save it, please leave a comment below.

(church info last updated 04/24/2016)
Address: 123 W. 23rd St. (between 6th & 7th)
Phone: 212.243.4727
Constructed: 1857
Great Place for Brunch Nearby: Le Grainne Cafe
Links:
Official Save the Church Facebook Page
Wikipedia Page Highlighting the church history and demise
NY Timse April 2012 Article about the closing
St. Vincent de Paul Faces a Sad Fate (New York Sun, April 2008)
For NYC Francophones, Saving Chelsea Church a Cause Célébre (Chelsea Now, April 2008)
Parishioners Keep Fighting as Church Stays in Limbo (Chelsea Now, June 2007)
Amid Closings, Preparing to Bid a Chelsea Church Adieu (NY Times, June 2006)
Stop a Church Closing (New Liturgical Movement, June 2006)
Help Save a Parish
Flickr Photos
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul
CUNY Journalism Blog Entry

The Church of St. Vincent de Paul in Chelsea, one of the only French parishes in the city, is yet another church in danger of closing down. Based on my research of the above sites, it seems it was a strong candidate for closing down in 2006 and 2007, with its fate now in some kind if limbo.

I found this 2007 article from The New York Post that details the Archdiocese's plans of which churches were going to be merged into other parishes and which would be closed forever. St. Vincent de Paul seems as if it was on its way to being merged with the nearby parish of St. Columba. As of today it is still standing and I am not sure of what its future is or will be as the articles seem to stop in 2008. Is it still going to be closed or merged (or is it merged already?) Please, if you know anything of it's fate, comment below.

I had walked past this church many time before on various errands on and around 23rd street (mainly on my way to and from TekServe.) Sadly, it had always seemed, to me, just another building on busy 23rd, though I did wonder what it would be like inside.


It's a pretty church, classical and old - with a very French history (Edith Piaf was married there!) I attended the 10am English Mass though probably should have tried, and kind of regret not, attending the 11:30am French Mass. It seems fairly traditional and Communion is handed out in the traditional style of lining up in a row and kneeling at the altar.

I also came upon this interesting article from May 2008 in the Gotham Gazette which details the fates of various closed churches in the city and what became of them: apartments, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. Sad to think that these holy places, once destinations of worship, are now such secular domicile places of commonality - then again, some part of me would strongly desire to live in an old church, or have some drinks in one, or enjoy dinner. Last year during Lent, I recall wanting to go smoke a hookah in a place called The Cloister Cafe, simply because of the stained glass decor, old chapel door and pews for seating.