54. Old St. Patrick's Cathedral (Now the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral)

NOTE: In 2015 this church merged with the Church of the Most Precious Blood as part of the Archdiocese of New York's great closings & mergers of 2015. Both churches will remain open for regular Masses and other events. There is no new combined name for this parish as both churches will continue to be known by their separate names. However, this church is now known as The Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

(mass times & church info last updated 03/23/2016)
Address: 263 Mulberry St. (corner of Mott and Prince)
Phone: 212.226.8075
Weekend Mass Times:
Sat: 5:30pm (English)
Sun: 9:15am (English), 10:15am (Chinese), 11:30am (Spanish), 12:45pm (English), 7pm (English)
Weekday Mass Times:
Mon-Sat: 8am (Spanish)
Mon-Fri: 12:10pm (English)
Confession: Sat: 4:30-5:15pm; Sun: 6-6:45pm
Evening Prayers/Vespers: First Sundays: 7pm followed by Mass

Links:
Official Website
Architecture Images
Wikipedia
About the Organ
New St. Patrick's
The Cathedral Becomes a Basilica

My experience this week was fantastic.

I visited this church remembering somewhere in the recesses of my mind that a scene from The Godfather had been filmed here. And as I sneaked in a little bit late (having had some issue finding the front door - it's on Mott Street, by the way, not Mulberry,) I was pleasantly surprised to hear the priest beginning his Homily by discussing that very scene.

You know the scene: the baptism scene at the end of the film, where Michael Corleone becomes the Godfather to his sister's child, renouncing Satan, all the while a series of mob hits are being carried out under his orders. It's a beautiful juxtaposition of the appearance of good and the reality of evil. The priest mentioned it in relation to the past few Gospels that highlight Satan working to fill our lives with sin.

I know the times my life has been filled with sin - which reminds me I probably need to go to confession again very soon - which also reminds me that I just read about indulgences being offered once again in the Church.

The priest's words about The Godfather were pertinent to me as I have become an uncle to a little girl who will be my Godchild. Over the next couple months before I travel back for the baptism, I need to figure out the duties one must fulfill to be a successful and faithful Godparent in this modern age - a time where religion and faith are slipping through our collective fingers and sin wages a war on us, wearing and tearing us down.

The old Cathedral of St. Patrick is a fantastic church and is decorated beautifully with stained glass and statues everywhere you turn. It seemed large yet it was also cozy and comfortable - not at all like any of my experiences at the current Cathedral. The congregation was a mix of young and old, and everyone seemed attentive and happy to be there - it was a good feeling. It was a mix of simplicity and tradition, history and faith, a classic Catholic church in the middle of SoHo.

I have finally managed to rid myself of the debt that has, for the most part, plagued me since moving to NYC over two and a half years ago. I no longer want to be part of the problem of the economic crisis, no longer wish to to partake in my generation's selfish gluttony or demand for material satisfaction. Is it possible to live simply and humbly in this city with all it's distractions, money and status worship, and pure material greed? Those things seem contagious somehow, and myself highly susceptible to all of it.

With Lent two weeks away I am planning on giving up the boozing again - but only for forty days. It was proposed that I give it up forever. Hmmm. With an indefinite amount of time before me, I have serious doubts I could do this.

Having finished getting my new apartment together I suddenly realized that I've turned my new bedroom into a kind of hermitage.

How many of us have done that, I wonder?

Finding solace in this city away from the city.

Having put up shelves and arranging everything so-so I realize it's become more a workroom than a bedroom.

Arranging my new place, going through old journals, I stumbled upon my final thoughts from Aug-7-2000, when I found myself on a road trip through various U.S. cities:

What have I discovered?
I spend a lot of money.
There are a lot of beggars.
Cities are big.
And merciless.
Souvenirs are always crappy.
Home is where and what you make of it.
I like camping.
Journals are hard to maintain.
I don't miss working.

Has anything changed?

After Mass, I wandered SoHo for awhile taking in the people and the views...

37. St. Cecilia (Now St. Cecilia Parish)

NOTE: In 2015 the Church of the Holy Agony closed down and was merged into St. Cecilia Church as part of the Archdiocese of New York's great closings & mergers of 2015. Only St. Cecilia's will remain open for regular Masses and other events. This combined parish is called St. Cecilia Parish.

(mass times & church info last updated 03/20/2016)
Address: 120 E. 106th (Between Lexington & Park)
Phone: 212.534.1350
Weekend Mass Times: 
Sat: 5:30pm (English)
Sun: 8am (Spanish), 9:45am (English), 11am (Spanish)
Weekday Mass Times: 
Mon, Tue, Thu: 8:15am (Bilingual Spanish/English)
Fri: 8:15am (Bilingual Celebration Spanish/English)
Sat: 12:10pm (Bilingual Spanish/English)
Confession: Sat: 4pm-5pm
Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Wed: 8:15am (Spanish), 7:30pm (English)
Links:
Official Website
Harlem One Stop
EastHarlem.com
St. Cecilia
Hymn to St. Cecilia
St. Cecilia Chorus & Orchestra of New York

SATURDAY DAILY MASS

I decided to wander into this church for daily mass today. Upon entering I found the church to be completely empty. You know that great feeling of being in a church all by yourself - you are allowed to take everything in and there is something deep and personal about the whole thing. A peace washed over me. Then confusion... Wasn't there supposed to be a 12:10pm mass? I walked out the front doors and met a kindly older woman who told me to follow her into the side chapel. We celebrated mass in a tiny chapel on the right side of the church - this too was deep and personal - the priest gave a really good talk, the few gathered there seemed so happy to be there, and the prayer was good.

We walked into the mass during the first reading and these lines struck me immediately (from Ezekiel Chapter 18):

If a man is virtuous—if he does what is right and just,
if he does not eat on the mountains,
nor raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel;
if he does not defile his neighbor’s wife,
nor have relations with a woman in her menstrual period;
if he oppresses no one,
gives back the pledge received for a debt,
commits no robbery;
if he gives food to the hungry and clothes the naked;
if he does not lend at interest nor exact usury;
if he holds off from evildoing,
judges fairly between a man and his opponent;
if he lives by my statutes and is careful to observe my ordinances,
that man is virtuous—he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD.

This verse speaks louder to me today than usual as I look to the new life I wish to lead, the one I began speaking about in my last entry. I pray that I may be a virtuous man, one who may walk more upright each day than he did the day before.

A couple weeks ago I was told (and maybe it's an Italian thing, or maybe Irish, or maybe Phillippino) that each time you enter a new church you have never been in before you are allowed to ask three wishes to be granted. I was not told who the granter of the wishes is supposed to be, I assume it must be God - but this is something I had never heard before. To think of all the new churches I have been and all the wishes I have lost by never asking! 36x3= 108! And to think I forgot all about this idea today as I entered St. Cecilia for the first time - that's 111!. Hopefully I will remember this the next time I go into a new church. I figure that asking for these wishes is a little bit different than just saying three prayers each time one goes to church. Although I forgot about the wishes, I did add a new prayer today - I prayed for my unborn Godchild, that he grow strong and have a healthy birth. My sister is pregnant and has informed me that she will ask me to be the Godfather. I am looking forward to this but it was only today that I realized I could go ahead and begin being a good Godfather right away, through prayer.