This is an awesome church, because it's absolutely crammed with artwork, especially the altar area. Much like John the Baptist, I wish every church were like this. It's so..... Catholic.
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| Not sure what thy there are two random pews here, not connected to anything else. That's the left side of the altar in front of the pews. |
I went to a wedding here this summer. I don't remember how much notice I took of all the art, and I believe there wasn't as much of it then as there is now. As a side note, the homily at the wedding was given by Fr. Cuddy from Providence College, and it was almost definitely one of the best I've ever heard.
The parish has a relic of St. Justin Martyr, who I hadn't heard of. You can see the statue of him with the relic under it in the picture below:
Justin Martyr is the statue on the left. It's hard to see the relic, but it's under his feet.
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| The way he's holding his fingers symbolizes the doctrines on the Trinity and the Logos, which he's famous for explaining and defending. |
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| The relic (in the tube the angel is holding). The sacristan let me take a picture before she put it away. |
There actually is a story behind the "random pews" off to the side of the sanctuary. I am in my second stint as organist at Sacred Heart. My first stint was from January through April 1989 (yes, just three months, explanations later). My current stint, a much happier one, began in April 2011.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1989 stint, I was responsible for only two Masses - the 5:00 on Saturday and the 9:00 on Sunday. The 7:30 Mass on Sunday mornings was an Italian Low Mass (it is now English), and the 11:15 Mass was the folk group's Mass. It was the folk group that used those "random pews".
I am happy to say that the music at all four weekend Masses, since 2001, have been, and will continue to be, accompanied by the organ.
On behalf of the parish, thank you so much for the kind plug for our parish, and best of luck on your tour of all the parishes of our Diocese.
Peace,
Brian Michael Page
Organist
Sacred Heart Church
Oh, and one other note: San Dominco Abate (St. Dominic the Abbot) and San Pietro Martire (St. Peter the Martyr), two saints you saw prominently displayed, are patrons of Fornelli, Italy, birthplace of much of the parish ancestry.
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And the statue and relic are of Peter the Martyr,NOT Justin. Peter the Martyr, like Brian stated, is one of the patrons of the town from where the people who founded the parish came.
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