The Churches of New York XCIII: Addendum

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