I went to Mass here with a friend on Monday morning. The congregation was saying a rosary before Mass as we came in. The priest was a retired fill-in, since the pastor is on vacation, but he gave an excellent sermon and it was nice to be able to meet him afterward (unfortunately, I forget his name).
 |
| Not sure what ethnicity these statues of Mary come from. |
The church has a very bright, pleasant interior, with some interesting decorations. One oddity was a kneeler for adoration positioned right in front of the altar (see the top picture), something I've only seen for monks or nuns in a monastery. Who was using this, and when? Anyways, I was thankfully able to get into the balcony (and with permission, no less!), which was nice because I'd been on a long string of churches that don't have them and I was starting to go through withdrawal.
The biggest highlight of the sanctuary is a relic of Blessed Elena Guerra, a late 19th/earlier 20th century Italian sister. She founded a community called the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit, which is primarily dedicated toward the care and education of girls. She was beatified in the 1950s, with 5000 members of her congregation in attendance. The community still has houses today in a spectacularly diverse array of countries: Italy, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, Lebanon, and Iran (!).
 |
| The relic |
No comments:
Post a Comment