A new St. Mary's
The altar of St. Mary's new church is shown. The $9.8 million church is built in a contemporary style with "in-the-round" seating focused on the altar. (Jeff Goldwater/DAILY NEWS)
THE DAILY NEWS reports ...
PALMDALE - St. Mary's Catholic Church will dedicate a $9.8 million church that seats 1,400 people, replacing a church built in 1956 when Palmdale's population was less than one-tenth its present size.
Full story HERE.
posted by Quintero at 11:50 PM
6 Comments:
Hi,
LOOK AT THE CROSS IN THE PICTURE!!!!! It's a after thought! REALLY!!!!!! It doesn't even fit the wall. They must think we are absolutly stupid. The cross was not wanted and will be taken down.
John
At least "It's" a crucifix and It is large!
Uh, am I the only that sees something that's missing?
I've noticed that a lot of Catholic churches seem to like "Where's Waldo?" games as I'm usually 'playing' "Where's Jesus" games..
Check out that gong in the middle...
Well, at least the Crucifix is there. Where is the tabernacle?
The Crucifix was a concession to one of the 'old guard' who had money, I bet. We have a round church and I it. The pews are angled so that almost everywhere one must twist to look directly at the altar which hurts my back. But there has been much in the church that has been a pain in the neck over the decades...
Sigh. Where do I start?
The crucifix. Not only is it wanted, but it was planned and prepared for long before the dedication ceremony. The corpus (figure of Christ) is the same one as was in the old church. The cross itself is new, since an examination of the original cross early this year revealed that it was too fragile to be moved. The corpus was removed from the old building several weeks ago so it could be attached to the new cross and both properly placed in the new building. Yes, the crucifix is off-center. However, it is not only on a larger cross than in the old building, but it is also placed more prominently than before, making its presence behind the alter more, not less, obvious.
The tabernacle. Yes it is there, and if you look carefully at the picture of the sanctuary lamp in the photo album, you might guess where it is located. It is located behind the alter in a small chapel of its own, right behind the stained glass "gong."
Statues and stained glass pictures. Currently the new building has no statues or stained glass representations of saints or Mary or even Jesus. The reasons are rather simple. THe staues will be new, to match the new surroundings, and are currently on order. They will be placed in the building once they arrive, and after the dedication ceremony festivities were complete, the old statues were to be moved into the new building until the new statues arrive. The old building also contained many lovely stained glass windows. Those will be installed over time in the new building, after the old building is no longer in regular use.
Before anyone asks, the move to dedicate and occupy the new building before the rest of the above mentioned things were completed was waaaaay overdue as it was. The old building was at least 100 persons over compacity at every Sunday Mass, making the nearly double compacity building not only a convenience, but a necessity.
In the round. I can see where sometimes in the round seating is a pain in the neck, literally and figuratively. However, facing straight forward when the alter and priest are almost to your direct right or left, is also a pain. In the new seating, at least a great deal more people can clearly see the alter without having to crane their necks. Even the side areas for families with young children are designed to have a good view.
Architecture. Not really sure on this one as to the designer and intent and all of those details. Frankly, I have attended Mass in buildings with leaky roofs and water marks on the alter and crucifix, and I have attended outdoor Mass, and attended at St. Mary's, old and new, and Jesus is there, present. The surroundings can distract you if you let them, or you can let them fade into the background of your worship, and focus in on the God who created the universe and EVERYTHING in it ,and can bring ALL things together for His Glory.
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