St. Elisabeth of Thuringia.
The Churches of New York XV: Just an Ordinary Parish
St. Monica’s
413 East 79th Street
St. Monica’s was part of the grand expansion of the New York Archdiocese in the 1880’s through the early 1920’s. Churches were constructed on Manhattan in unprecedented number and quality. The network of parishes grew explosively – both the regular archdiocesan and the ethnic: Italian, Slovak, Hungarian and even the very first Spanish. Catholics were moving into new neighborhoods uptown and serious money became available to build the houses of God.
It was the golden age of Manhattan Catholic Church architecture: The Lady Chapel at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Jean Baptiste, St. Vincent Ferrer, and Blessed Sacrament are just some of the highlights. Many of the earlier churches were lavishly redecorated as well. Gothic remained the style of choice as in the preceding High Victorian age, but an amazing variety of other architectural idioms was deployed: baroque, beaux-arts, an early variant of Spanish mission – even Byzantine.
St. Monica’s was one of the new parishes of this era. Formed by separation from St. Lawrence O’Toole parish (later St. Ignatius Loyola) in 1879, St. Monica’s met the needs of the growing population of Yorkville –at that time primarily a working and middle class area, the home to innumerable ethnic groups especially from Central Europe. St. Monica’s was not an ethnic parish – that meant it was predominantly Irish. In 1905-07 a grand parish church in the Gothic style was built. (1)The architects, Schickel & Ditmars, were key players in the Golden Age of Catholic Church architecture.(2)
Since that time the parish has experienced its ups and downs as chronicled in the parish’s informative website. The Catholic working and middle class population rose and fell and eventually dispersed. This part of old Yorkville – for a long time now just part of the ”Upper East Side” – is now quite well to do indeed. Through it all St. Monica’s has remained “just an ordinary parish” – not attracting attention to itself outside of its own territory. As a personal note, it was here that I held here my one official position with the Archdiocese of New York: as an usher in the early 1980’s. St. Monica’s was then sustained by a small but loyal group of parishioners. I get the sense that little has changed since then.
The art and architecture of St. Monica’s, however, is very much above average. The church presents a splendid façade to East 79th Street, the interior is a grand Gothic basilica. There still is a definite flavor of the early 1900’s about the place. It was much stronger in the early 1980’s when the church retained its pristine, unrestored and somewhat musty atmosphere. Several years ago a very extensive restoration was carried out. While everything now shines in unprecedented splendor, the sanctuary in particular suffered not a disastrous but still regrettable “restoration.”
Perhaps what strikes the visitor to St. Monica’s most is the well preserved original decoration: the magnificent white marble altars, the Stations of the Cross and the stained glass. The latter – in a neoclassical/baroque rather than Gothic style – is among the finest in Catholic New York. Just as in the more spectacular commissions of the period, this church exhibits a sense of the “total art work” – all elements of art and architecture blending into a harmonious whole. That took unexpected creativity here, because to a great extent the styles of the decoration, furnishings and architecture differ! Indeed, St. Monica’s is one of the best examples of the high level attained by Catholic Church architecture around 1910, where the extraordinary frequently was achieved – even in “just an ordinary parish.”
The “restored” sanctuary. Restoration in the 21st century no longer takes the form of demolishing the altars and reredos of the past but of making the temporary “conciliar” altar permanent and adding Latin phrases. As well as eliminating most of the communion rail.
Seemingly in an effort to permanently block the threatening return of the the Traditional Liturgy a marble “stopper” is inserted in place of the tabernacle door. The telephoto lens reveals an inscription attributed to St. Monica: ” one thing only I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord.”
St. Agnes and St. Aloysius (?). Compare the noble image of the former Saint with the semi-scandalous fresco currently above the altar at St. Agnes Church, New York.
St. Monica above the high altar.
One of the Stations of the Cross.
The altar of Our Lady – with part of the communion rail left intact after the “restoration.”
(1)http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StMonicaRC.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schickel_%26_Ditmars
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