This is an absolutely gorgeous old church on a main street in Newport, with a noon Mass on weekdays. I came here with a few friends yesterday, on the feast of St. Ignatius, though I didn't know that at the time. Ignatian spirituality is something that I don't really know anything about, but I have friends that have fallen in love with their faith as a direct result of it.
As I mentioned above, the church is well over a century old. It has a very high ceiling, with an equally high balcony that I unfortunately wasn't able to access. There are beautiful mosaics in the front, with the main one naturally being devoted to St. Joseph. It has the words "Ite Ad Joseph" (Go to Joseph, if I remember my Latin correctly) below an awesome image of Joseph with the child Jesus.
My favorite thing in the church is the extremely tall pulpit, which doesn't appear to be used anymore. It has a rather slippery twisting staircase leading up into it, which thankfully wasn't roped off. The church also had the usual post-Vatican II changes made to it: the altar pushed forward towards the congregation, pews taken out, and some of the most beautiful decorations in the front removed.
It so happens that the parish had a new pastor installed this past weekend. I hope he's having a good transition. The parish has three retired priests that live there, one of whom said our Mass. I wonder if Newport is a great "destination" for a senior priest, and that's why they have so many?
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| View from the street |
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