Feast Day of St. Anothony of Padua

This post takes us well outside of the Midwest to the Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua in St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, DC.  Downtime on a recent work trip gave me the opportunity to revisit this church that I regularly visited while interning at National Geographic magazine a few years back.  For context, the chapel is off to the right side of the nave if you are facing the altar from the rear of the church.  Despite its status as a side chapel in the larger cathedral building, it was actually the first part of the cathedral to be dedicated, in 1898.

Beyond the altar in the chapel is a wooden statue of St. Anthony and the Christ Child.

Details of the columns surrounding the chapel.  I believe these pedestals, along with much of the marble-work in the chapel, were actually carved out in Italy.  

Note the one on the left, where you see the impression of Christ's face with the crown of thorns.  This recollects the moment while carrying the cross where Jesus wiped his face in St. Veronica's cloth, leaving behind an impression of his face.  Probably not by coincidence, St. Veronica is often referred to as the patroness of photographers.

Perhaps the real highlight in the chapel is the series of mosaics of St. Francis and his followers (St. Anthony of Padua was a Franciscan priest, and thus one of these folks).  These mosaics, installed in 1963, are paired with lines from St. Francis' Canticle of the Sun.  Above, St. Francis pictured with a wolf he reputedly tamed.

St. Francis, with the church of Santa Giuliana in Spoleto, Italy.

Sts. Clare and Jacopa dei Settesoli.

Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle

1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036
http://www.stmatthewscathedral.org/

This post heavily relies on notes from the book Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, which I purchased at the Cathedral after neglecting to do so on my regular visits four years ago!  Published 2008, referencing page 38.

Feast Day of St. Margaret of Scotland

Another impressive church from the Gateway City, St. Margaret of Scotland is a fixture in the Shaw neighborhood on the south side.  In over two and a half years of living near St. Louis, I only visited this church once, on a Saturday afternoon well before Mass.  To add insult to injury, all the lights were off, really limiting the photo ops.

A quick consultation of Butler's Lives of the Saints states that St. Margaret (d. 1093) was instrumental in having churches and monasteries built while Queen of Scotland.  In a position full of pomp and prestige, the Queen also devoted herself to a life of piety, influencing her husband and children to do the same.^[1]

This is another church that is better-covered in the blog Rome of the West.  That post can be found here.

St. Margaret of Scotland Parish

3854 Flad Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63110
http://www.stmargaretstl.org/

Additional Sources
[1] Butler, Fr. Alban. Lives of the Saints, Charlotte, NC: TAN Books, 1995 reprint of 1955 edition, 217 - 218.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day celebrations are seemingly everywhere today.  Milwaukee hosted its downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade this past Saturday.  Prior to that, the Wisconsin Shamrock Club partnered with Our Lady of Guadalupe/St. Patrick Parish to have a special St. Patrick's Mass at the namesake church.

This church dates back to 1893, although I believe it is not the first church of the St. Patrick congregation in Milwaukee. The old school building, to the left, dates from 1876.  Originally built for the Walker's Point and south side neighborhood Irish Catholics, St. Patrick's has merged with Our Lady of Guadalupe (formerly Holy Trinity) and serves part of Milwaukee's Mexican-American community.

With help from the Shamrock Club, the church has been well-restored in recent years.  Notable is the Celtic/Irish influence on many features. 

Displayed on a side altar, this statue of Mary was recovered from a fire which severely damaged St. Patrick's in the past as I was told.  I am not sure if this fire was to the current St. Patrick's building, or perhaps an earlier blaze, as the neighborhood around the church saw at least a couple devastating fires around the turn of the 20th Century.

 St. Patrick

Likely with help from the restoration effort, the windows looked pristine.  I didn't have enough time to take full stock in all of the windows, but they highlighted a number of saints and religious figures that I don't see in most churches.  Click on any of these photos to see them in greater detail.

I was fascinated by these dormer-like windows on the church roof.  These windows provide light into the higher row of stained glass windows that you see at the top of the second photo in this post.

How do three-foot Celtic door hinges not catch your eye?

The school building, now home for Notre Dame Primary School, has a richly detailed face.  Note especially the detail near the top of the portico.

St. Patrick Catholic Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe/St. Patrick Parish

723 W. Washington St.  Milwaukee, WI 53204

Additional Sources

http://shamrockclubwis.com/StPatMass.html

St. Agatha Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri

With today being St.Agatha's feast day, here is a trio of photos from St. Agatha Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri.  This Gothic Revival church building is one of many noteworthy churches in The Gateway City. 

The initials of St. Agatha sit above the main doors into the church.  As with many Gothic churches, buttresses are prevalent.  These ones are projecting somewhat unusually from the steeple in a diagonal fashion.

St. Agatha sits just a few blocks south of the Anheuser-Busch (that's Budweiser folks) brewery in the historic Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis.  Largely cut off from the more vibrant areas of the neighborhood's bar and restaurant scene, nineteenth century homes are still prevalent around the parish, making for a pleasant walking environment.  St. Agatha serves as the parish for Polish-language masses in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

St. Louis' historic wealth of impressive neighborhood catholic churches earned the city a noteworthy moniker as "Rome of the West."  Today, a lovely blog, Rome of the West, has a lovely photo set and description of St. Agatha's which you can visit here.  The author of Rome of the West has done a fine job of photographing churches in and around the St. Louis metro area and his site is definitely worth a visit!

St. Agatha Church

3239 S. 9th St.  St. Louis, MO 63118

http://www.polishchurchstlouis.org/