Paix Liturgique, Letter 746 (May 19, 2020)

(The decision by the highest French court of appeal in administrative law lifting restrictions on the celebration of Mass that had been imposed because of the coronavirus) prompts Paix Liturgique to make a few reflections:

It is because the faithful of the “extraordinary form” liturgy have requested it that the bishops of France, like Msgr. Aupetit, archbishop of Paris and Msgr. de Moulins Beaufort, president of the episcopal conference, will enjoy earlier than anticipated the right to celebrate Mass in the midst of their people. So it is: the initiative didn’t come from the bishops, or even from the “ordinary-form” Catholic associations, but from Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass – and also from that “bad boy” Jean-Frédéric Poisson. 1) In doing so, these Catholics never lost sight of the fact that they were not asking for “permission,” but were simply utilizing the procedural rules in force in France to loosen the vice-like grip of an illegitimate secular legislation

In asserting the freedom of the Mass, these Catholics of the Traditional Mass had been long used to a struggle that has continued for more than 50 years. De facto prohibited after the promulgation of the liturgical reform which followed the Second Vatican Council, the Tridentine Mass continued despite everything. It was celebrated by a substantial number of priests, which was subsequently multiplied because of the work of Msgr. Lefebvre and of the “recognition” which it was finally accorded by the Roman authorities. These Catholics have defended the freedom of that Mass with their feet (and frequently, with their cars, by driving many kilometers to attend it)and have paid with their person and their own money to defend the priests who celebrated it.  All this without any “disobedience” but, on the contrary, in total submission to the obligation on every Catholic  to confess one’s faith. A faith which, from the point of view of the liturgy, is expressed by the true religious Credo which is the Traditional Mass – in contrast to the new Mass which seriously blurs the expression of the sacramental sacrifice, of eucharistic adoration, of divine transcendence and of the sacerdotal hierarchy.

In the present circumstances of an eclipse of divine worship which will have lasted more than two months, a certain number of priests saw to it that the sacraments were still administered and the Mass said, under conditions the media called “clandestine.” These priests are in the majority “Traditionalist” priests, but also priests of parishes which are predominantly strongly “classic” and close to the Traditionalist world. They did this at the request and with the support of the faithful who regularly attend the Tridentine Mass. Very modestly, that can be explained by the strong theological understanding of the holy sacrifice of the Mass instilled in them by the liturgy which they practiced and which they knew so well.

The consequences of the health crisis will assuredly be most painful for the Church, especially in France. Such a resignation from their duties by the majority of the pastors, such an abandonment of the faithful involving the most precious good of all, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, cannot have anything but disastrous consequences. Much worse than the terrible economic and social crisis, which is brewing,  is the aggravated religious crisis which we are going to enter. Religion, especially in France, but also in Italy, Germany, and in many other places, will be even more marginalized. What is even more terrible, she has voluntarily accepted to let herself be marginalized. Let’s not at all pretend that the Traditional Mass is going to “pull the chestnuts out of the fire”; but we think that it’s possible that it will play even more a role as the last resort for a Catholicism in accelerated decomposition. The living expression of the centuries-old faith of the Church, it is in particular able to express that the religion of Christ is called to be that of the whole society. It is, in itself, and, one must hope, in the convictions of those who are attached to it, totally the opposite of a marginal and “locked down” act. It is destined to be, it wants to be, the celebration by Christ the King of the worship offered individually and in a body by the members of the terrestrial city on the road towards the celestial one.

Paix Liturgique (Thanks also to Le Forum Catholique)

Translated by Stuart Chessman

1. Jean-Frédéric Poisson is a Christian French politician whose “offenses” include speaking out once in favor of Donald Trump.

by Aldo Maria Valli  from Radio Roma Libera

Translated by Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla

The pandemic of the corona virus has brought us suffering and uneasiness, but has contributed to the ripping off of many masks.

One mask that has been ripped off is how the government has acted in the current crisis, just as we have been accustomed to see how government has acted in the last few years: the politics of superficial declarations, of disputes that are continual and meaningless. of continual electoral campaigns, of the quasi- theater only good for talk shows but in the end all fatuous and empty.

When confronted with an alarming situation, for each individual and for society as a whole, the apparatus of the government has shown  itself to be what it is: A debased theatrical event, or more to the point, a backdrop of paper mâché, before which dull and dreary figures of actors recite the lines of the farce that is the struggle for power that totally ignores the authentic functions of government, that is, the management of the res publica.

What should a government do if it does not operate to guarantee the safety of its citizens?  And what should it do to guarantee the safety of its citizens if it does not recognize that reality, to do what has to be done to give to the country a solid foundation and to confront in a timely fashion crises that arise?

In this case, instead, we have found ourselves in the presence of a government totally unprepared, that facing a situation of crisis has not been able to do anything other than to flounder like a ship in the midst of the sea.  No one, as it has now been seen, had prepared at all to confront the imminent danger, even as the first signs were readily apparent.  And the so-called Intelligence Community?  And those who are in place to meet emergencies?  And those in charge of crisis management?  Nothing at all.  A medical doctor, Professor Pasquale Bacco, who conducted a study on the diffusion of the Coronavirus in Italy, has said that he had advised the authorities already in the month of October 2019, but his warnings were not heeded as something important.

The strategy that was adopted was the “lock down”, shutting down everything, like hiding in a hole in the ground.  The simplest and immediate reaction.  Like primitive man who ran to find refuge in a cave to flee a ferocious animal.  The quality of a government shows itself in times of difficulty, and what we have seen is the non-existence of a government in the full sense of that word.  In fact, it placed itself in the hands of a techno-scientific committee.  It gave up its power and responsibility of governing and decision-making to a body that has nothing to do with governing.

Another mask that was ripped off is that of science as a panacea, as the grand resolver of every problem. The mask was ripped off of science as the certain answer, as absolute and incontrovertible Truth.  It makes me think of the words of an Italian politician who in the columns of an important daily newspaper accused scientists of being able to only offer hypotheses and no solutions.  “You have to give us answers that are certain!” shrieked this politician, showing his profound ignorance of the nature of science.

To be fair, serious scientists admit that facing a new problem they are able to only begin to do studies, looking at data and verifying hypotheses. Their answers, if and when they are announced, will be the fruit of this long and patient work.  Science knows above all that it cannot answer questions without verification.  Science is not a magic wand.

Another mask that has been ripped off is that of the false friends of liberty.  Those, confronting a situation that is complicated and dangerous as the one in which we find ourselves, do not know what to do except to put a bridle on anyone who does not think like they do, on those who do not accept as fact those explanations that are given, on those who do not accept the dominant opinions. We are seeing just how these enemies of freedom operate.  They organize frameworks against those that they proclaim to be “fake news” and then claim to decide from on high what is true and what is false, humiliating immediately any sign of questioning and branding as provocative anyone who does not fall into line with the narrative adopted by the majority.  Before this situation of danger due to the pandemic, these people who see themselves as important emptied out their mouths with demagogic hymns to democracy and freedom, but now, confronting a situation that is objectively difficult, they reveal themselves for who they are:  third-rate censors and inquisitors ( I called them third-rate because the true inquisitors at least had education).

With respect to information, another mask that has been ripped off is that of journalism that says that it is on the side of the man in the street, but in reality engages in psychological terrorism.  The journalist talks of service but, giving in to sensationalism, actually frightens the public.  It is that type of journalism that takes pleasure in alarming situations and stokes the situation, because they profit from  the number of their readers and the number of copies of their newspaper that are sold.  Instead of helping people to conduct a rational analysis of the situation, their only purpose is to stir up emotions.

Another mask that has been ripped off (and here we move on to the ambit of religion) is that of the happy clappy clergy who are all “peace and love”, all “we love each other”, and “it is not true that God punishes”, and “we do not judge” and “enough with dour expressions on faces” and “life is beautiful” and “faith is joy.”   These clergy, all ”Laetitia et Gaudium”, are always ready to polemicize against those who tell us that the life of faith in reality is also tragedy and battle, it is choice and judgement, because Jesus said that he came to bring the sword and not peace, because truth is not negotiable, and therefore to defend truth one needs to be ready to defend it, because the problem of death and of the eternal destiny of the soul is not something that can be avoided. But now, facing the danger of the pandemic what are we supposed to make of these discourses on peace and love, that avoid taking into consideration death, judgment, hell and heaven?  Right now, faced with the objectivity of suffering and restriction, what are we supposed to make of religion that is reduced to sociology and vague words of consolation, a religion that has forgotten transcendence and what is ultimately important?  Strange, but not too strange, for it is exactly these clerics, who are all ”peace and love”, who are those who seem most terrified of the virus, those least disposed to open up the churches.  Before all of this, they always laughed and smiled. Now they are terrorized.  A while ago they were jabbering about the “Church going out of herself”. Now they prefer to hide in a hole in the ground.  Now, instead of helping us to make sense of pain and death, instead of bringing us closer to God, they ask for obedience to the State and lock down our Lord, treating him as a bringer of plague, whom one must approach with a thousand precautions and as a sign of distrust, as if the Eucharist were not the Viaticum that sustains us and strengthens us, but rather a danger in itself.

If and when we get out of this situation, will we have learned anything?  Will we be less disposed to allow ourselves to be seduced by the hallucinations imposed by the guardians of thought?  Unfortunately, nothing lets us imagine that we will have learned anything.

…will be very much like the old one. From Amy Welborn:

There is wisdom in tradition.
Traditional practices grew out of human experience — human experiences of joy, sorrow, difficulty and challenge. Human experiences of trying to obey Christ, bring his presence into the world as it is — in peace, war, plenty, famine, health and disease. I wrote a bit about this earlier here. Yes, tradition and traditional practices are always subject to reform and development. But it helps if, as we reform, we keep the wisdom of the tradition in mind and are realistic about life in this world as well.
Short version: Maybe they knew what they were doing, after all.

SOURCE: Church life in the post-pandemic world

“Guidelines for the Reception of Communion” (Published May 11, 2020)

See also:

Bishop’s Letter

Guidelines for the Resumption of Public Mass

Guidelines for the Celebration of Mass Outdooors

By Father Richard Cipolla

It just snowed this evening.   Not the heaviest snow I have ever seen, but still snow, with wind that bent the trees.  A sort of snow squall.  And here in a suburb of New York City on the ninth of May, May, the “pretty little month”, when the dogwoods bloom with their blood- stained white flowers.  May, the month of Mary.  And watching this theater of nature unfold, I went out into it and smiled a smile of happiness, for amidst the weeks, nay rather months, of shutdown and of social distancing that is necessary and yet against every Catholic instinct that delights in embracing and kissing and holding and clasping and eating and drinking, that instinct that takes ultimately seriously the fact that God became flesh and dwelt among us:  that in this singular and yet natural event that is called a pandemic,  a sign is given, that the reality of what we are going through is indeed cold and “out of season” and that we are asked to do things we would not choose to do that are against our Catholic—not early twenty-first century social instincts—but Catholic instincts that are grounded in the remarkable and totally not expected event of God becoming flesh, our flesh and dying on a Cross to redeem us so that we might not die forever but have everlasting life.

Reveling in a snow squall is hardly what was in the mind of Gerard Manly Hopkins, poet and priest, when he wrote his poem: “May is Mary’s month”. His poem links Mary’s motherhood with the burgeoning flowering of Spring. And rightly so.  And then Hopkins says this:

St. Paul the Apostle

Mr. James Wetzel, the music director of St. Vincent Ferrer parish in New York, has kindly pointed out to me an important additional source on  the parish of St Paul the Apostle  –  contemporary with the decoration of that church. “The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York (An Appreciation),” Christian Art,  Vol. 3 at 101 (June 1908) was written by Wilfred E. Anthony. 1) That author should be of no little interest to St. Vincent Ferrer parish:  he was Bertram Goodhue’s assistant in the construction of that church, later designed the high altar there and finally was the architect of St. Catherine of Siena.  What is fascinating about Anthony’s piece is his description of the unusually complete liturgical practice of St. Paul the Apostle parish and how it informed the architecture of that church. This is mentioned, of course,  by almost all the sources but not with Anthony’s level of detail and enthusiasm.

St. Paul’s chancel or sanctuary had to be extensive to accommodate the ministers and an all-male “liturgical choir” dedicated primarily to chant.  When Pius X mandated the singing of chant upon the whole church, St. Paul the Apostle had very little to change: its choir had been singing chant for decades. In contrast, the 1903 motu proprio’s impact on St. Patrick’s cathedral and other churches, who had to disband their mixed choirs  and fire their professional female singers, was traumatic. Speaking of St. Patrick’s, Anthony does not have very kind words for the musical and liturgical practices of  New York’s cathedral: “the two churches would scarce be recognized as belonging to the same communion”! At St. Paul’s though, the  layout of the choir on either side of the high altar, although “not strictly liturgical,”  enabled everyone to follow the ceremony. By the way, the organ of St. Paul’s was also located in the sanctuary (most unusual (then) for a Catholic church).

There were other aspects of the special liturgical focus at St. Paul’s. New vestments ware introduced in the more ample Gothic style.  The Paulist fathers in charge of this parish emphasized the official liturgy of the Church over “popular devotions.” Anthony applauds the fact  – unusual, he says, – that the “intelligent” laity of this parish followed the mass reading their missals. It was the first form of “active participation.” I will leave up to experts to advise if the ceremonies of St. Paul’s, as described in detail by Anthony, are in fact liturgically accurate.

Yet these manifestations of the incipient liturgical movement were clearly a mixed blessing.  At least in New York City, full blown “liturgical choirs” were established in but a handful of churches in the wake of Pius X’s motu proprio: St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Patrick’s, St. Ignatius Loyola. In many other places the motu proprio simply caused the disappearance of Catholic ecclesiastical music.  We may applaud the orientation of the architecture of St Paul’s around the liturgy – but isn’t there a certain “utilitarian” influence discernible here?  I recall that somewhere Duncan Stroik has criticized this aspect of the Liturgical Movement: elevating suitability for the liturgy above all other functions of church architecture.  But even taking into account these limitations, Wilfred E Anthony has left us a remarkable testimony of that time – demonstrating that, under the proper circumstances,  even in 1908 great care was taken in celebrating the Traditional Roman rite.

1. Available online at Google books

A Greek choir in the liturgy (from the UNESCO report)

“UNESCO Recognizes Byzantine Chant as Part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” So it was proclaimed last December, upon the  motion of the governments of Greece and Cyprus. 1)  Well, UNESCO has spoken, so it must be right!

According to the ruling:

Highlighting and musically enhancing the liturgical texts of the Greek Orthodox Church, (chant) is inextricably linked with spiritual life and religious worship. This vocal art is mainly focused on rendering the ecclesiastical text; arguably, the chant exists because of the word (‘logos’), since every aspect of the tradition serves to spread the sacred message….In addition to its transmission in church, the Byzantine chant is flourishing due to the dedication of experts and non-experts alike – including musicians, choir members, composers, musicologists and scholars – who contribute to its study, performance and dissemination.” 2)

(Above) a mural from Cyprus. As the UNESCO report commments, although instruments are prohibited in the Orthodox divine liturgy, there exist depictions of  their use both in and outside of  church. (From the UNESCO report)

And from the nominating proposal (in somewhat obscure English):

Psaltic art accompanies and enhances musically the Divine Liturgy, the performance of the Sacred Mysteries (Sacraments) and, in general, all rituals of divine worship. It occupies a central role in the religious and social life of the community of Orthodox Christians, interwoven with the most important events in a person’s life, such as baptism, wedding, and funeral, as well as with the observance and celebration of religious festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, and Lent. The importance of the service rendered by the choirs of chanters cannot be stressed enough since, on certain occasions, they chant up to seven or eight hours per day, for days on end.

The functional elements of Byzantine chant, its unequalled lyricism, and its multifaceted nature (language and verse, music and rhythm, vestments and ritual, etc.) render it a powerful socio-cultural expression, an essential trait of the collective and personal identity of the bearers. As one of the main components of the Liturgy, the chant contributes dynamically to the self-determination and self-awareness of the communities of the bearers.

Preserving rituals and sacred texts through chanting prior to the spread of the printing press, the art was vital in safeguarding the Ancient and Medieval Greek language. 3)

I don’t think we can say the same for the status of plainchant (or of  the Latin language or ecclesiastical music in general) in the Western Church. In fact, the traditions  singled out for praise above directly conflict with the policies and practice governing liturgical music that prevail in the Roman Catholic Church. And I don’t know what “Catholic” country would promote the Catholic musical heritage in UNESCO (some countries have nominated various religious processions – presumabably as “folklore”).

See “Icons of Sound: Lost Voices of Hagia Sofia” by Cappella Romana – an initiative trying to recover the musical traditions of Constantinople’s cathedral rite.

1. SOURCE
2. UNESCO Statement (w/ Pictures)
3. “Nomination file No. 001508 for inscription in 2019 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”

Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka will be teaching sacred music course this summer on-line.   Full informatio can be found at the St. Joseph Seminary website:

• Summer Sacred Music Courses

  • June 1-July 28 – Principles of Sacred Music ( 3 credits or audit, taught by Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, 8 weeks asynchronous online + 2 days online-live [synchronous] via Zoom, July 27 and 28)

  • July 13-17 – Principles of Chant (3 credits or audit, taught by Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, synchronous via Zoom)

  • July 20-24 – Teaching Gregorian Chant to Children (3 credits or audit, taught by Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, synchronous via Zoom)

  • July 29-31 – 3-day – Conducting and Group Vocal Pedagogy for the Parish Music Director (2 credits or audit, taught by Dr. Timothy McDonnell, synchronous via Zoom)

  • August 3-7 – Introduction to the Organ for Pianists (2 credits or audit, taught by Dr. Crista Miller, synchronous via Zoom)

This is the final section of a three-part post. The article begins here

After 1920, St. Paul’s continued for decades on its established path. A massive pamphlet rack was maintained in the church. The Gregorian chant choir kept on its course. The Paulists set up and operated a radio station on the parish grounds. Inside, selected individual works of art were added, an altar here (of St. Theresa), a relief there. By 1939 – how fast do things change! – this church appeared  to be an admirable but old-fashioned memento of the “gilded age” and its artists.

(Above and below) The central window of the apse was by a noted English firm; the window to the right and its comapanion to the left (not visible in this photograph) are by the Mayer firm of Munich.  Note how the right hand window takes up the theme of the “Angel of the Sun” of a mural below (not visible in this photograph).

The post-World war II years were unkind both to the church and the neighborhood. As noted, in the 1950’s, the once colorful interior was overpainted in gray. A huge but crude blue and white relief was affixed to the facade of the church. The neighborhood took a sharp turn for the worse – part of the movie “ West Side Story” was filmed in 1960 ten blocks to the north.  Then came Vatican II. The school and the boys’ choir disappeared.

The Paulists actually decided to close the church in the 1974. But real estate values in the neighborhood had fallen so fast that no buyer could be found.  According to The New York Times: “One of the city’s most impressive architectural white elephants, St Paul the Apostle on Ninth Avenue, with its galaxy of ecclesiastical arts, had been kept out of the hands of developers only by the building recession.” 1) The church was landmarked in 2013 –  over the objections of the Paulists. 2.) Today, however, the parish website states: We could not be prouder that the city of New York has recognized our Church’s important history and significance in this great city. 3)

St  Paul’s barely had escaped demolition in the 1970’s  – but in the succeeding decades its adjoining properties and air rights were sold off. The church is now dwarfed by high-rise buildings.  On the other hand,  the interior received a major renovation in the early 1990’s that cleaned windows and paintings and restored much of the color – but unfortunately not all of the original decoration.  And, as noted, it also disfigured the magnificent sanctuary.

In general, since the Council the Paulists have followed the Jesuit lead in adhering to most advanced principles of “liberal” Catholicism.  St. Paul the Apostle has been among the most “progressive” Catholic parishes of New York, most prominently in outreach to the “LGBT” community. 4)

The result of these efforts for the Paulists has been the same as for the Jesuits: the ongoing retreat from apostolates everywhere as membership declines.  In certain recent cases, moreover,  local bishops have been active in reducing or terminating the Paulist presence. The Paulists have shrunk from 306 religious (261 priests) in 1967 to 120 religious ( 107 priests) in 2017. 5)

In respect of the arts this parish has attempted to preserve at least a tenuous connection with the past. There is a music program,  apparently of some substance,  which includes a professional chamber choir proving sacred choral music for “Feast Days, Christmas and Holy Week.” There is dance – the Rockettes rehearse in the basement of St Paul’s  each year;  photos show ballerinas  before the baptistery and in the sanctuary.6) And in keeping with its earlier patronage of painting and sculpture,  St Paul’s has served as a venue for “Openings NY”:  exhibitions of visual art dealing with vaguely “spiritual” themes. A glance at these, however,  reveals the chasm between the art of 1900 and that of secular society today. For the exhibited objects conform to no shared, accessible sacred tradition; they are the private caprices of the artists.  But their visions are the same as what is now produced and seen everywhere else in secular modernity. If St. Paul’s in the 1890’s was hosting the arts to reach outward, the recent exhibits have the outside world thrusting itself into a once sacred space.7)

(Abvoe) The altar of St Patrick (painting by Willam Laurel Harris); (below) The altar of St. Agnes (paintings by Harris)

(Below) A modern interepretation of St.Agnes displayed in the chapel of St. Agnes (above).

(Abvoe) “Islamic” art from a recent exhibition at St.Paul’s.

(Above) The Rockettes at St. Paul’s in 2019!

Now economically,  the neighborhood of St. Paul’s has drastically and steadily rebounded from the low point of the 1970’s.  All about St. Paul’s the social transformation of Hell’s Kitchen and the southern reaches of the West Side is so complete one can no longer speak of gentrification.  “Billionaire’s row” – the procession of monstrous residential skyscrapers along West 57th street – draws ever closer to the parish. Around Columbus Circle one can find some of the most expensive hotels and restaurants in the city. Perhaps reflecting the new demographics, recent media initiatives of the parish  – like a 2013 CBS Regis Philbin Christmas special – show St Paul’s trying to project a kind of East Side Jesuit/Anglican image, mixing bourgeois sentimentality, a highly selective display of Catholic “traditions,”  and mildly “arty” productions. 8) Have these developments and initiatives  had a positive impact on the (financial) health of this parish?  I don’t know but St. Paul’s is not yet St Ignatius Loyola’s on the Hudson.

“The union of Catholicism and American civilization – a future brighter than any past.” So is inscribed the immense funerary monument to Fr. Isaac Hecker in St. Paul’s – he is buried here. At this moment (2020), however, we can confidently say that his vision has emphatically not been realized. Honestly, what role is there today for a priestly society created to conduct a missionary apostolate to the non-Catholics of the United States when the Pope himself has explicitly and repeatedly condemned proselytism?   Both the “American Catholic Church” and the Paulist missionary society are in dreadful condition; the state of “American civilization” is even worse. But St. Paul the Apostle still stands for us as a grandly dimensioned, relatively intact, and in part, very beautiful monument – not to a radiant future but to the glorious but long-departed golden days of both the Paulists and the New York Archdiocese.

See Part I of this article.

1. Hunstable, Ada Louise, “Our ‘Expendable’ Churches are too Good to Expend,” The New York Times (Nov. 25, 1975)
2. Landmark Designation, New York Landmarks Commission, supra,  Part I Note 6  at 1(June 25, 2013)
3. “A New York Landmark” St Paul the Apostle Website.
4. “Out @St. Paul.”  St. Paul the Apostle Website.
5. Catholic-hierarchy.org – Paulist Fathers
6. Danceasart.photoshelter
7. E.g.,  “Frenzy into Folly” – our review of this 2013 exhibition
8. YouTube:  “A New York Christmas to Remember”. This show offers a view of parts of the church interior. Regis Philbin also states he was baptized in St. Paul’s baptistery (not the current version!).

Continued from Part I

What really distinguishes St. Paul’s from other Catholic churches of the era is the magnificent surviving decoration by the noted artists of the era 1890-1920. 1)We should start with the stained glass and painting of the (Catholic) John Lafarge. His non-figurative windows glow with rare deep blues and yellows. These are joined by  several fine English and German stained glass windows in the apse. LaFarge  provided the first color decorative scheme of the interior. He also contributed a painted “Angel of the Moon ” in the apse; the companion “Angel of the Sun ”  was never executed by him  but a study survives. 2) He also is credited with designing some of the side altars ( but were these more likely designed by his son’s firm,  Heins & Lafarge?).

(Above and below) Nonfigurative windows of John LaFarge – along with Louis Comfort Tiffany, the premier American stained glass artist of that time.

(Above) The “Angel of the Moon” mural in the apse.  (Below) Lafarge’s draft for the “Angel of the Sun” ( Staten Island Museum) ( William Laurel Harris later painted that angel in St. Paul’s)

The second major decorator was William Laurel Harris, who covered the church with murals and stenciled designs. It was one of the most remarkable and comprehensive decorative programs of any American church of its day. He worked on St. Paul’s from 1899 till 1913 (as a life commitment) when he seems to have had a personal falling out with the Paulists and was fired. (There must have been a reconciliation,  for he lived and died next to a Paulist retreat center) 3) Regrettably, much of Harris’s work was destroyed when the interior was repainted in the 1950’s – the most recent restoration was able to restore some of the individual paintings (like the grand crucifixion high in the rear of the church, the “Angel of the Sun” or the paintings surrounding some of the side altars) but recovered only fragments of the rest of his decor.

(Above) In the rear of the Church:more windows by John LaFarge and the immense painting of the crucifixion by Harris.

(Above) From a memorial in the south vestibule painted by Harris.

(Above) A contemporary (1913) magazine cover showing St.Paul’s interior (or a vision of the complete interior) with Harris’s murals and stencils. See notes 1 and 3.

Third, Stanford White, the high priest of Beaux-Arts style in New York, designed  the monumental high altar and the two side altars. The high altar, described as “Byzantine,” includes rare and precious materials: onyx, porphyry, alabaster and Numidian marble.

But many others contributed as well. Bertram Goodhue, the architect designer of  St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, St. Vincent Ferrer etc., laid out the elaborate  floor in 1920. The firm of Heins & Lafarge (Christopher Grant LaFarge was the son of Robert Lafarge and the architect of St John the Divine) created the baptistery (regrettably relocated and  partially reconstructed after the Council).  Then there is the painting of the martyrdom of St Paul by the American impressionist Robert Reid.

(Above) The original design of the baptistery by Heins & LaFarge in 1890; (below) As relocated and reassembled in a “post-conciliar reform.”

Although Augustus St. Gaudens himself did not contribute a work of his own hand, a number of his leading pupils did. Their statues and decoration, in their individuality and exceptional quality,  set the tone of the church. Frederick MacMonnies sculpted the angels of the baldachin.  Philip Martigny (or Martiny) created the grand sanctuary lamp (which, by the way, like several older New York churches, features the correct white glass). Bela Pratt’s Madonna of the Annunciation, intended to evoke the form of a lily, is especially impressive.

(Above) Reid’s martyrdom of St Paul; (Below) the sanctuary lamp(Martiny).

(Above and Below) The side altar of Mary – Stanford White, designer.

(Above) Part of the marble floor by Bertram Goodhue: “in all things extremely God-fearing”(Acts xvii. 22) – astute flattery of America.

Now the artists of St. Paul’s were admittedly men (and one woman, Cecile Wentworth) 4) who enjoyed in their day official commissions for society portraits, monuments and public buildings – not the “avant- garde.” But doesn’t this faithfully reflect American taste at the time? It is an amazing achievement – an order established to evangelize the Americans attempts to demonstrate what the religious art of these Americans – imitating European models – could achieve!

I don’t think anyone has ever been enthusiastic about the squat, rough stone exterior of St. Paul’s. The carved portals with their statues are the only obvious remnant of the original vision of a Gothic cathedral. Inside is another story. The church surprises with its vastness (it is the second largest Catholic church in Manhattan after St. Patrick’s Cathedral). The limited number of natural light sources –  stained glass windows high in the clerestory  and the upper reaches of the facade and apse – normally leave the church enshrouded in a mystic darkness.  It is alleged that the massive, high walls not only create a mysterious, spiritual ambiance, but have a practical objective as well: they shut out the noise of the surrounding city.

(Abvoe) The altar of St. Agnes. (Below) The altar of the Annunciation.

The windows and chapels strike just the right decorative note. The  series of individualized, marble side altars on either side of the nave, combined with massive walls,  have reminded more than one observer of a Florentine basilica.  We note the pulpit situated in the middle of the nave (so all could hear the preacher in a pre-electric age) and the reversible pews enabling the congregation to face either the preacher or the celebration of the Mass in the sanctuary.

To my taste,  St Paul’s is a far more successful application of the same architectural and liturgical principles that had informed the building of  St. Francis Xavier church,  finished just a few years before. Indeed, it anticipates the grand Beaux-Arts spaces of the immediately following decades. But like the buildings in that style,  St Paul’s seems to me to have a distinct flavor of the secular.  Does it not vaguely resemble the immense hall of Grand Central Station – extending to the depiction on the ceiling of stars and constellations? (In St. Paul’s case,  those of the midnight sky of January 25, 1885, the date of the dedication of the church)

But now we come to the present age. Regrettably,  the chancel or sanctuary has been devastated: in 1992 a new altar was placed forward in the nave surrounded by a jumble of wooden ramps and objects (including parts of the old communion rail). The “old altar…will still be visible. …but will be de-emphasized”and reduced to an “apparent reredos” or “decorative wall.” All this was done at a cost of $1.5 million.  It is a situation familiar to us from St. Francis Xavier and a host of lesser churches. The reasoning behind such travesties is not just ideological – really, is there a need for  a huge sanctuary for the handful of ministers today or for an immense nave for for the diminished congregations? 5)

1. Given its historical prominence, the structure and decoration of the church of St. Paul the Apostle has enjoyed much more than the usual level of attention paid to New York Catholic churches – which also results in discrepancies and erroneous attributions even in the earliest accounts. The most complete and reliable guide is Malloy, The Church of St Paul the Apostle in New York, supra, Part I note 5(1950?). Dorr, Charles H.,  A Study in Church Decoration: the Paulist Fathers Church in New York City & Notes on the Work of W. L. Harris, Architectural Record vol XXXIII 187-203 (March 1913) is a detailed, enthusiastic contemporary account of the decoration of the interior as it was created.  Kent Becker at notmydayjobphotography.com gives us beautiful photographs with captions partially taken from official descriptions that used to be displayed in the church. Finally, the Landmard Designation of the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, supra, Part I note 6 ( June 25, 2013) contains a wealth of curious factoids and anecdotes not encountered elsewhere.
2. In the Staten Island Museum
3. “William Laurel Harris” – Wikipedia
4. “Cecile Wentworth” Wikipedia. Her painting of the crucifixion in the altar of St Catherine of Genoa has disappeared – replaced by a hideous “Resurrected Christ.”
5. Gray, Christopher, Streetscapes: St Paul the Apostle; Renewal and Change, Esthetic and Liturgical, The New York Times (December 20, 1992) (the gullible reporter acts as a scribe of the Paulists)

Continue to Part 3