Back in the Saddle

The Project's computer is healed! Well, not entirely healed. Some pesky spyware is still hiding in the nooks and crannies of our operating system. But it's fixed enough to let us resume our duties. Praise be to Jesus!

And in celebration, here is the present I wanted to give you over a week ago.

Enjoy!

Mailbag 5

The Project's computer is still on the fritz. But while technicians work frantically to repair it, here's something from our still-functioning mailbag:

I read the church project about St. Columba. I truly enjoyed the article, for it brought back happiness as well as sadness. I attended St. Columba's School from 1948 thru 1956. My family moved from the area in November 1961, that you called Strawberry Mansion, but who parishioners of St. Columba called "Swampoodle." Looking at the front of the church I can see myself as a kid standing on the church steps ready to make my First Holy Communion. I went to bed one evening at the tender age of six, and when I awoke I found that I was sixty-six. Father Time, where have all the years gone? For many kids, living in the area was a great experience, for Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium (where the Eagles, Phillies, and A's played professional ball) was only two blocks from St. Columba.

St. Columba is a beautiful church, and will always be my favorite. In the late 70's and early 80's, past parishioners came BACK to St. Columba for a Sunday reunion mass with cake and coffee served after mass in the auditorium.

I forward your Philadelphia Church Project to many people on my email list. Hopefully, the forward continues indefinitely so many, many more cans enjoy.

St. Columba, of course, is now currently known as St. Martin de Porres, post-Year of Hell. What we often miss in the discussion of these churches are the feelings these places evoke. Parishes are more than pretty buildings, after all. They're places where people grow up and / or get married and start a family. They can symbolize happiness and the lost innocence of a simpler time.

St. Columba is technically dead, but its property lives on. And maybe, just maybe, it's evoking the same emotions in the current generation. The language and context is different, sure. But those emotions are probably just as poignant.

Oh, and yes, Swampoodle was once a recognized neighborhood name. It died out after the area's demographics changed, and now the City Planning Commission lumps the whole area in with Strawberry Mansion.

Technical Difficulties: Please Stand By

Dear readers,

I was going to post a new church for you, but the Project's computer had an untimely viral meltdown. Yes, I had anti-virus software. No, it didn't help.

Until I get things fixed, the Project is dead in the water, aside from whatever News & Notes content I can concoct here.

Thanks for your patience!

Stained Glass from the Past

Another great item this week from the Project's mailbag: The Saint Joseph's University Stained Glass Collection.

Saint Joseph's goal is to eventually establish a permanent exhibit of Philadelphia and non-Philadelphia area stained glass. They even published a book on Philly stained glass! (Hold on a second; the Project needs to make an addition to its Christmas list.)

Lucky for us, in the meantime they have created an online gallery of stained glass photography. The gallery features high-quality images of many stained glass windows from closed parishes, including North Philadelphia Swath of Destruction victims St. Elizabeth, St. Edward the Confessor, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Bonaventure, among others.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Feeds the Poor. St. Bonaventure Church, Philadelphia.

The sheer craftsmanship and artistry of these pieces is astonishing, and almost certainly surpasses anything that could reasonably be constructed today. Unfortunately, seeing these also heightens the disappointment that the grand churches that once housed them are also gone.

Still, enjoy it for what it's worth. A real treat.

Our Lady of Hope School to Close

The headline pretty much says it all. The Project's inspiration, Logan's Our Lady of Hope, is going to close its school at the end of the current school year. You can read more about it here, courtesy the good folks at the Catholic Standard & Times.

Holy Child, Class of 1958

It's rather surprising to me, because I actually didn't know the former Holy Child still had an active school. Sad, but really, we're well past the point where every parish needs to have its own school, and a more regional-based education model is probably in our future.

The Project actually sees a couple of silver linings here. Parochial schools can be a tremendous financial burden, so many parishes actually do better without the additional strain. Our Lady of Hope doesn't have enough money to keep the building upright, let alone worry about the school. This may actually be more beneficial to them in the long run.

You know who else it benefits? Project-fave Incarnation of Our Lord, which will get some of the cast-offs. If someone has to win in this arrangement, we're glad its Inky and super pastor Geraldo Piñero.

Mailbag 4

From the Project's mailbag:

I just visited your web site. I attended St. Bonaventure Grade School, first thru 8th grade and graduated in 1960. Things were already going down hill. Most people moved after graduation. I have many fond memories of the parish. It was sad to read the terrible state of the neighborhood and to see a church in decay. I wonder if there are any pictures of the interior?

I was also wondering what happens to the hymnals when a church closes? Might they still be around. If so, is it possible to get one. We were required to attend Mass every single day before school. We always sang. There are hymns I remember that we don't hear any more - although I don't think our hymnals included the music ( but I am not sure - it has been a while!) And then the girls got to sing in the choir and we often sang Gregorian Chants - Mass was still in Latin. I miss that too. Are there copies of the Gregorian hymn books still around?

An interesting question. What does happen to the hymnals when a church closes? Given that all of a church's artifacts are removed, they may have ended up in another church, possibly in the area. But since hymnals are routinely updated, they probably are no longer in circulation. Or if they, it's in a 3rd-world country

But I leave it up to you, dear readers. Do any of you know where the St. Bonaventure hymnals might be, or, for that matter. any Gregorian hymnals?

Oh, and as always: if anyone has old pictures of St. Bonaventure or any other church, send 'em on in.

Transfiguration, Un-Long Goodbyed

A time-travel item from Project reader Terry Callen, who forwarded a picture of an active Transfiguration of Our Lord, circa 1968:


Quite a change from the abandoned pics we saw a while back, no? Not the best picture in the world in terms of quality, but it's better than having nothing. It could just be the photo, but it already looks like the church was starting to suffer some water damage---look to the right of the sanctuary.

Plaigarism Resolved

Last week I alerted you to a case of plaigarism involving the Friends of Immaculate taking some church images without consent from, or credit to, the Project.

With some assistance from Immaculate Conception's good pastor, Father John Holliday, the situation has been resolved. The Friends decided to, surprisingly, remove the images altogether instead of adding a photo credit. I'm not sure why they chose the former and not the latter (and neither is Fr. Holliday, for that matter), but it's a victory of sorts.


The real news is that my brief confab with Fr. Holliday resulted in a welcome parish update and a delightful bit of news:

Thank you for your kind comments. We recently had a young couple contact us about getting married here later in the year. The bride-to-be discovered our church on your web site and contacted us. We appreciated your favorable review of your visit to our church. We are "hanging in there." In the spring we opened a shelter for men in the vacant building that was formerly our convent. This arrangement has helped us to offer some services to the community. They are also paying us rent and utilities for the building which has been very helpful.

Fr. Holliday

It's good to know that Immaculate is hanging around, if not exactly prospering. It's a landmark church and parish, and deserves to be be around forever. Hopefully they can continue hanging on until the Germantown gentrification reaches them.

But what gets me is that a couple wants to get married at Immaculate because they learned about the church on our site. How ridiculously cool is that? We've inspired a wedding! Your feedback has long assured me that the Project is making a difference. To hear something like this, though, truly leaves me at a loss for words.

Oh, and for the record: the bride-to-be has excellent taste. Immaculate is a fine choice, albeit one that will dwarf almost any wedding party. The Project would certainly consider it, as well, should a Mrs. Project ever come into the picture. And if I happen to make 1,400 friends between now and then.

St. Philomena

Happy Sunday!

In the midst of a glorious-weather day, the Project delivers a new treat.

Have fun!

Oh, That Crazy Archdiocese

An interesting item in this week's Catholic Standard & Times, courtesy Project friend Bill.

The Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul, also known as the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has recently installed four new shrines. Two of these shrines were made by taking the side altars of sadly deceased St. Boniface, now Long Goodbye-ing at Diamond & Hancock Streets in West Kensington.

There's more detail in the article, including the installation of an heirloom icon of Our Lady of Perptual Help. But here's all you need to know: To make their acquisition of the shrines complete, the Archdiocese commissioned the construction of four new, 6000 lb. marble statues and marble backdrops, one for each shrine.

Go back and read that sentence again, please.

The Archdiocese is viewed in many circles as being too focused on themselves and on the surburbs, to the detriment of the old city parishes that make up their history. And stunts like this won't help one bit.

Here's the problem. In this economic climate, at a time when so many inner-city parishes are struggling, how can they justify the enormous expense of four new intricate marble statues for an already pristine building?

You can't. The CS&T can tow the company line all they like, but there is no excuse for this. Not when Our Lady of Hope gets closer every day to caving in on itself. Not when Our Lady Help of Christians is trying to repair its gutted vaults and leaky windows. Not when St. Martin de Porres is struggling to work urban miracles on a shoestring budget. Not when Ascension of Our Lord's crumbling church has been rendered uninhabitable.

Yes, the Basilica is a beautiful building, and yes, it deserves to be protected and restored and beautified. But you know what? So do those other parishes. And really, it's these parishes that are the lifeblood of the Archdiocese. Actions like these, though, do nothing to give the impression that the Archdiocese actually gives a darn. Is it any wonder that there's a small (but growing) and vocal contingent that's disgusted?

Count the Project among them. We've made no secret of that, really. And it's not because we have a bone to pick with the Archdiocese, but because we've seen all of these churches up close. We've been in the trenches, from 9th & Cambria to 5th & Lindley to 63rd & Callowhill. And we see what these parishes mean to struggling neighborhoods, and what happens to areas once a parish is closed. In these hard times, the Archdiocese should be sparing no expense to keep these places afloat. Instead, they break the bank for some new statuary. Thanks, really.

You'd be outraged if a mother kept her children ragged and hungry, yet surrounded herself with expensive finery and food. Wouldn't you? Of course. But these parishes don't have child protective services to put them in a better home.

I sincerely hopes that the Archdiocese will prove us wrong; that they have more going on than meets the eye.

But I have a feeling they won't, and they don't. Remember: they never stepped in when Boniface spent years slowly deteriorating, but they'll gladly take its altars.