Pictures of your Local Parish

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Not my current parish, but the one I grew up in here in Scotland.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/stnic/churchgallery/broxburn-rc-bldg4.jpg

Quality on this one is not so good, but it’s all I could find on-line:

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/stnic/churchgallery/broxburn-rc-nave2.jpg

The church dates from around 1880 - was ‘revamped’ in the mid 70s, in line with Vatican II. Unfortunately I can’t find any ‘pre’ pictures on-line to let you see, but there was an incredibly beautiful altar and reredos - completely destroyed (before my time, but it still makes me sad)
 
I posted earlier of the Cathedral that I attend weekly, which I love not only because of the inspiritional beauty of the church and music program, but also because of the high quality of holy and humble priests. We are very fortunate there.

But here is the church that I spent half my childhood in as we spent almost all of our weekends and summers in the Endless Mountains of Upstate PA. The church was always opened so that I was able to split up my walks through the woods and fields by stopping into the church to say a prayer and to rest a bit. It has such a simple beauty (very different from the cathedral, but I believe both are equally beautiful) and the indoor pics don’t do it any justice. The tress in the front were unfortunately chopped down recently because they had some sort of blight. I was so depressed a month ago when I learned that the diocese was going to close it down and they were supposed to have its last mass July 4th weekend, but I think enough of the parish, its two sister parishes and the one priest pastors all three parishes fought long and hard and it has stayed open and was able to attend mass there two Sundays ago - God be praised!!!

The parish began in the 1850s by an Irish immigrant population, the original church on that site was blessed by St. John Newman who travelled by horseback from Philadelphia to Susquehanna Ct. This one was built in 1905/1909? I love how so many of the descendants of these Irish immigrants on what is called “Irish Hill” still live in the area, farming the lands and having a strong community up there.
 
sandraladeda said:
As often happens to me as I read the threads at CAF, I am stunned by the unkindness of some of the posts in response to this photo. I have no photo of my own parish, but it is nothing special to look at. What goes on there, on the other hand, is, imo, very special…
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I have frequently made the same observation throughout the CAF forum…
I think that’s part of why me I decided to share our humble beginnings in my above link. I’m curious to see what the reaction will be.
There are also many kind, supportive and encouraging people who post here
 
VAC said:
I haven’t figured out how to post photos here, so I posted some on my website, so that you all could see our humble beginnings… In a local high school cafeteria or auditorium. Click on ‘photos’ link to see them; there are 2 pages. Most of the photos of mass are on the second page. Comments welcome, but no guitar-bashing please:D

home.comcast.net/~blessedjohnxxiiichoir/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html
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There’s actually something I find kind of uplifting about Mass being celebrated in such an odd location. I’ve been to a Byzantine Catholic Divine Liturgy that was literally celebrated in a hallway. It just seems like, no matter what, we’re going to celebrate the best way we can (don’t get me wrong though…I’m all for big fancy churches 😃 )
 
pm1853 said:
There’s actually something I find kind of uplifting about Mass being celebrated in such an odd location. I’ve been to a Byzantine Catholic Divine Liturgy that was literally celebrated in a hallway. It just seems like, no matter what, we’re going to celebrate the best way we can (don’t get me wrong though…I’m all for big fancy churches 😃 )
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I’m all for big fancy churches, too… groundbreaking is coming and the lot is cleared:)
No matter where you celebrate it, it’s still MASS!!!
 
VAC said:
I haven’t figured out how to post photos here, so I posted some on my website, so that you all could see our humble beginnings… In a local high school cafeteria or auditorium. Click on ‘photos’ link to see them; there are 2 pages. Most of the photos of mass are on the second page. Comments welcome, but no guitar-bashing please:D

home.comcast.net/~blessedjohnxxiiichoir/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html
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Don’t feel embarrassed about your church. This is all you guys have and you said that there will be groundbreaking soon. Although I love and prefer beautiful, old churches, I also believe that in the whole grand scheme of things, if the best one can have is four walls and a roof, you can still have mass and still make it reverent. I actually prefer it to wasting money on a really ugly and obscene new church. (My inlaws attend one that was recently built, but looks like a CVS pharmacy.)

Our college chaplain who married my husband and I was sent to be a pastor at a church that was still using their school gymnasium for mass for 30 years. They did their best to make it reverent. I cantored his first mass there and my husband (boyfriend at the time - we were finishing up my undergraduate and his graduate schooling) :eek: played the guitar for the psalm and Alleluia because that was all they had available at the time and it was the best that could be done. He also had a choir from the Byzantine church come to sing all a capella music for the rest of the mass as he had a good relationship with them from the early days of his priesthood. The mass was very reverent, holy and filled with love despite the fact that in the back was the basketball hoops.

The parishioners at his new parish knew him from when he first became a priest and requested him because they knew he’d get the ball rolling and give them a church that was promised to them years ago. Well, he made good and they finally got it done. When he married us, I promised him that I would come back after the church was completed to sing for mass and sang as a cantor and soloist with their choir. It was a lovely mass and a beautiful church.
 
Rand_Al_Thor said:
Pax vobiscum!

I don’t like that modern design. I especially don’t like the table for an altar since that was one of the very first things the Protestants did when they took over churches.

Here is the church I normally attend, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Portland, OR.
http://www.holyrosarypdx.org/photogallery/image.php?twg_album=Easter+2006+~+The+Day+Mass&twg_show=IMG_0585.jpg
http://www.holyrosarypdx.org/photogallery/image.php?twg_album=Ash+Wednesday+~+2006&twg_show=DCP_1203.jpg

Here is my cousins’ church in Eugene, St. Mary’s.
http://www.stmaryeugene.com/images/church-interior.jpg

In Christ,
Rand
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It looks nice, but I do not prefer those chairs on the center of the altar its like a Masonic Lodge.

pax
 
GENERAL REMINDER

Please when posting photos change IMGs to URLs–some of these photos are so outsize as to distort both the look of the board and cause problems for some viewers. Thanks for your help!
 
sandraladeda said:
As often happens to me as I read the threads at CAF, I am stunned by the unkindness of some of the posts in response to this photo. I personally think it is quite lovely, and as another poster has suggested, it only shows one angle…how can anyone know where is the tabenacle, statues, etc.?
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I don’t think it’s unkind if we aren’t somehow making fun of the poster because, to be honest, this church (at least architecturally) stinks of modernism. Here is what I said about it on my blog some time ago.

As for the tabernacle and statues…from the pictures they aren’t where they should be.

So please don’t think anyone has anything against the poster it’s just hard not to comment when you see a church like this.

God bless,
~G
 
As for me…I don’t think I have a “Local Parish”. :o It’s just that I constantly move between 3 places. So if the question would be to list “churches I typically go to” would post this:

St. Wenceslaus
http://www.vertigopisek.cz/images_web/n4_prosek1.jpg
I don’t have a picture of the interion but it’s not as nice because most of the interior was destroyed. I need to find more detail.

St. mary Cathedral
lvivbest.com/images/sections/churches/lviv-church-20.jpg

One of the side altars…
bp2.blogger.com/_NCKVWLIFRIE/RstHDpDPnPI/AAAAAAAAAEM/ZcNeI-JeK8Q/s1600-h/13.jpg

and ceiling
bp1.blogger.com/_NCKVWLIFRIE/RstC1ZDPnOI/AAAAAAAAAEE/8oaoJrsc5No/s1600-h/4.jpg
 
I’m so proud of myself… I finally figured out how to post pictures here!!! Here’s where out church meets while we await a building. One is in the auditorium of a local high school, the other in the cafeteria.:extrahappy:




 
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