Church #133 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Providence

This is another inner-city Providence church that I'd always found locked on prior visits. It's not especially large by urban standards, but it's spectacular inside, with possibly the biggest stained glass windows that I've seen anywhere. There are lots of other statues and paintings as well, many of which have been recently restored. The altar area is dominated by a gigantic Divine Mercy image.

I went to the parish's lone English Mass on Sunday morning. While it's a relatively small community, it's very diverse and everyone seems to know everyone else, which is a cool dynamic to witness. The Mass featured a choir and the longest sign of peace I've ever seen at a parish. Several people made a point of coming over and welcoming me as a new person.

Bonus Mass - St. John Vianney Residence

This is the home for retired Diocesan priests, located behind the seminary in Providence. A friend's great uncle lives here, so we were able to come and attend a 10am Mass with some of the priests yesterday. It was powerful to think about the hundreds of years of experience the concelebrants had in the priesthood, and the thousands upon thousands of Masses they had celebrated between them. It was a privilege to be able to join them.

Church #132 - St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, Pawtucket

 

I previously knew this parish for having a successful school, and for being the final destination for one of my days of April walking. I came to Mass here on Thursday morning on the way to my last day of school. There was a pretty good turnout for a weekday Mass. I hadn't seen the inside before, and I was very impressed with the church - it has a prayerful, intimate feel, and I would love to be able to come here every morning on my way to work. It has lots of statues and tall, interesting stained glass windows featuring different saints.

Church #131 - St. Michael the Archangel, Providence

I really enjoyed visiting this parish, and it's definitely one of my favorites that I've seen. It's wonderfully diverse, with several different communities and languages coming in and out every week. It has several weekend Masses in English and Spanish, and also supports Hmong (from Southeast Asia) and Haitian communities. The main church is huge and old school, and there is a lower church in the basement that gets a lot of use. It used to be a big, standard-looking lower church, but it has been renovated and split into a social room and a smaller, more informal space for Masses.

The lower church

I've walked to this church several times in the middle of the day, and I was really looking forward to seeing the interior. It's obviously big from the outside, and a very striking sight in the middle of its South Providence neighborhood. It looks exactly as I'd hoped, with tons of space, high ceilings, and beautiful art. The stained glass windows and stations are enormous. There's scaffolding in the front right now, as the parish is restoring some of the windows. There's a big band area in the front for the 11am Spanish Mass, and as I was leaving I saw choir members in robes coming out to get ready with the musicians.

I came to Mass here on a weekday evening. The Mass was in Spanish, in the small St. Martin de Porres chapel in the rectory. I was relieved that a woman got there at the same time as me, so I didn't have to awkwardly figure out how to get in. The room was completely filled, pretty much entirely with old women, and I was forced to sit right in the front. As always, the Mass featured lots of singing in Spanish.

Church #130 - St. Mary, Pawtucket

This is definitely one of my favorite churches in Pawtucket. It shares a parish with the nearby St. Edward, and only has weekend Masses. The Saturday Vigil Mass is in the lower church, so I had to come back again to get pictures of everything, but I'm very glad I didn't miss seeing both parts. I love crypt churches, and I had no idea it was there.

The lower church

The upper church is very nice as well, with a high ceiling and white walls. I've visited it a couple of times previously on walks, and I like it even better when the lights aren't on. The pews are old school, with hat hooks and dividers splitting them in half. The rose window in the balcony is gigantic, and the best one I've seen in a while.

Bonus Post - St. Romauld Chapel, Matunuck

I stopped by here on the way to St. Vincent de Paul in Westerly; they're about 20 minutes away from each other. This chapel is part of St. Francis of Assisi parish in Wakefield, right near the water in Matunuck. As you might expect, the chapel expands from one weekend Mass to three during the summer. It's a lot bigger and nicer inside than I expected. I'm guessing that all the folding chairs are there for the summer, and are put away in the winter.

Church #129 - St. Vincent de Paul, Westerly

This church shares a parish with Our Lady of Victory in Hopkinton. They have a great young pastor, Fr. Michael Colello, who I recently heard a talk from at an event in Warwick. The two churches expand from three to five weekend Masses between them during the summer to accommodate the tourist season; I wonder how much tourists account for the parish's overall attendance and finances.

The church is pretty small but very nice, modern but beautiful. I got to enjoy it for a few minutes alone because I was there so early for Mass.