The “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Antonio Campi over the Church’s main altar; above that hovers the conference room (Photography by Francois Halard for WSJ. Magazine)

A church in Milan- with 16th century frescoes, a high altar and crypt – converted into architectural offices! An in-depth article by Tom Vanderbilt with photos by Francois Halard in the March 2015 WSJ. Magazine.

And of course: Locatelli built a steel structural element that obscures the crucifix in the nun’s choir. The cross was “too strong,” he says. “Not because I mind, but in case someone from another religion comes in. This is not a religious place anymore.”

Application for a beer and wine license.

1b.* Apps. to the SLA for New beer and/or wine License:
JP Street, Inc., 52 E. 8th St. 10003
Tea and Sympathy Inc., 108 Greenwich Ave. 10011
Dumpling 516 Hudson NY Inc., 516 Hudson St. 10014
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center, Inc., d/b/a Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker St. 10012
DomoDomo LLC, 138 West Houston St. 10012
Doshermanos LLC, 95 MacDougal St. Store B 10012

(Thanks to Samuel Howard for the tip)

SOURCE

And the Jesuits are in there of course:

Pope Francis and the Culture of the Internet Symposium

$10 suggested donation…

Both stained glass windows appear in All Saints Church, Manhattan

The following churches will offer Traditional Masses for the Feast of St. Joseph, Thursday, March 19

St. Mary Church, Greenwich, CT, 7:30 pm. The  traditional blessing of pastries will follow the mass.

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, Vespers, 5:30 pm; Solemn Mass at 7 pm.

Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 400 Maywood Ave., Maywood, NJ, 7:30pm, Missa Cantata.

Stained glass window of St. Michael appears in the Church of the Holy Innocents, Manhattan

We received today a letter  of interest to our readers:

My name is Matthew Reid and I, along with a number of other NYPD officers recently started a traditional Catholic fraternity for the many Catholic members of our Dept. We have monthly, to bi-monthly meetings at our home, the great Church of the Holy Innocents. Father Leonard Villa  is working with us, for which we are most honored and appreciative.
I would like to request that you please let the readers of your great site know about our fraternity, which is named “The Patrolman’s Fraternity of St. Michael.” We are on facebook under that name and are looking to expand our reach and ability to evangelize our fallen away brethren by exposing them to the majesty and other worldly awe of the Mass of the Ages.
I would like to end by asking for prayers, as our job these days is unfortunately a spiritual desert, like so much of the rest of society.

En Christi,
Matthew Reid

And tells of his experiences– including interesting details on aspects of life in the Jesuit order in the New York metropolitan area.

(Above and below) In the “upper church” the great window of the Second Coming – with a commemoration of St. Etheldreda(Audrey)

One of the few medieval London churches to survive the Great Fire of London… Returned to Catholic hands in the 19th century.

And now the “lower church” or “crypt” has become a venue for parties: a dinner of the International Bar Association last Monday amid the statues of the past.

To the late Brent Bozell and Triumph magazine from neoconservatism, which movement seems to be groping towards the same conclusions on America reached by Bozell and Triumph  – only some 45 years later:

“The End of American Civic Christianity” by Rod Dreher (see also the First Things discussion to which it refers)

There is much that is sensible written in these essays. However, the conclusion of George Weigel’s contribution  – which returns to the same First Things cliches – demonstrates that the neoconservative movement still has to pass through a long process of understanding:

“The answer in America is to revitalize a civil society rooted in the moral truths embodied in human nature. Only a civil society so rooted is capable of sustaining pluralist democracy without imploding into chaos or sinking into the dictatorship of relativism. And it is likely that only the Church, among American civil-society institutions, can lead in that long process of national civic renewal.”

Today, of course, Catholic neoconservatism must face not only complete rejection by American Civil Society but also specific repudiation of all its main points by the Bishop of Rome. Here too an apology is due. In this case the mea culpa should be directed to the many traditionalists, true conservatives  and “palaeocons” of the post-Triumph decades who were the target of neoconservative abuse on ecclesiastical and liturgical issues. But, as recent exchanges reveal, not everyone at First Things has come as far in his understanding of Francis as have the participants in the above exchanges in their assessment of American civil society.

A blessed and merry Christmas to all of our friends, benefactors and readers!

(Above: The window of the Nativity in St. Thomas More Church, New York. The parish is scheduled by the Archdiocese to close in August 2015)

“The observance of Ember days is the cherished tradition in the Roman Church. Four times a year, at the turn of the seasons, it was the custom to devote 3 days of the week, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdayt o prayer and fasting, so as to implore God’s blessing on the new season and on the ordinations which took place during the vigil on the Saturday-Sunday night. Advent, which is a later institution, has imbued the December Ember days with the distinctive note of expectation and preparation for Christmas.” (St Andrew Daily Missal)

Anyone who regularly attends the 9:30 Solemn Mass at St. Mary’s will be familiar with the Schola Cantorum, which sings at that Mass each week. But this evening’s Lessons and Carols service featured the other choirs of St. Mary’s Church—all of which are themselves strong choirs.The depth and quality of the choir program at St. Mary’s is indeed impressive. On the program were the St. Mary’s Choir (which sings weekly at the 11 am Mass), El Coro Hispano de Santa Maria under the direction of Welder Gomez (which sings at the 1:15 Spanish Mass), the St. Mary’s Student Schola, and the Regina Pacis Academy Schola. Musical selections for Advent alternated with scriptural readings, and the evening closed with Adoration and Benediction.

David Hughes rehearsing the two student scholae before the start of the program.

Charles Weaver, Student Schola Assistant Director, accompanies on the mandolin.

The St. Mary’s Choir

El Coro Hispano de Santa Maria