This video taken with a drone in the inside of St. Joseph Church shows our gloriously restored altar railing which looks as it it has always been in this position since its consecration and also gives a spectacular view of the rose window and choir loft, never scene/seen from this position!
This is another exterior view of the church with First Baptist Church in the background and our elementary school beyond it to the left! This is absolutely spectacular and a view of the church never seen before!
Many thanks to Warren Jones a member of our neighbors next door, First Baptist Church of Christ for using his drone to video our church! God bless him!
6 comments:
Curious question, Father. I know you prefer the freestanding altar and won't be getting rid of it, but have you ever had any desire based on curiosity to use your high altar, or have you ever said Mass at a traditional high altar with reredos? If so, does it "feel" any different than saying Mass at a freestanding, unadorned altar?
The lighting for the interior video was perfect. Have you told the parishioners about it?
This is very beautiful, Father, and I don't think that the previous photos have done justice to the interior as your video has done. It is a wonderful work of restoration to the greater glory of God, Deo gratias.
The interior reminds me a little of St Mary of the Angels in Wellngton, NZ, one of a very few churches that have survived wreckovation in my country. The rose window over the organ in the choir loft is very similar too. The altar rails are the original marble altar rails and it was thanks to the intervention of parishioners in the 1980s that they survived. The beautiful reardros was also to be removed, as were the beautiful marble side altars of Our Lady and St Joseph, which were I understand all brought out from Italy early last century. I don't know how old they are. The statue of Our Lady is one of the most beautiful I have seen - very delicate features. All were donated through the generosity of parishioners. At the moment the church is closed for two years for earthquake strengthening so we pray that everything will remain in tact. You may be interested in viewing the interior and appreciate the similarities:
https://vimeo.com/42939377
Jan
I say Mass ad orientem at the free standing altar each Tuesday as an EF Mass and on Sunday as an OF Mass at 12:10 PM. It affords me a wonderful view of the old altar which acts as a reredos. I haven't celebrated Mass on the old high altar, but I have celebrated Mass at our side altars which have reredoses too, in fact I did last Friday for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. I like the space on the free standing altar better. The altar attached to the reredos is quite limiting on space (necessarily so, so one can actually reach into the tabernacle).
If I celebrated Mass at the old high altar, people in the pew would see only the top third of me--it would look odd from the congregation's pov. From the congregation the new free standing altar appears as one unit with the old high altar.
Jan
I viewed the video you provided of St Mary of the Angels in NZ. Nice.
It seems to be similar in size to St Joseph's. What is the history?
When was it built? Who designed it?
George, thanks for your interest - I found this information that may be of interest to you. The building was completed in 1922. The architect was Frederick de Jersey Clere who was trained in the United Kingdom. The design is in the style of the French Gothic, strongly perpendicular, and the principal east elevation can be seen to have been modelled closely on the old collegiate church of Saints-Michel-et-Gudule in Brussels. The design adopts a reinforced concrete structural frame with the bays infilled with a pale, sandy coloured brick. The architect chose reinforced concrete because Wellington is earthquake prone and he didn’t feel that stone would stand up as well - he seems to have been proven right on that score, as St Mary’s has gone through quite a few major earthquakes - the most recent one a mag 6 resulted in the church being closed for earthquake strengthening as people fled in panic. There is a beautiful stained glass window above the altar in the sanctuary and most of the windows came from F X Zettler stained glass factory in Munich, Germany. The marble altar was built in Lyon France of Italian marble. Construction commenced at Portland cement was a key material for the concrete and mortar and largely had to be imported from Belgium and Canada. When it was consecrated in March of 1922, "Clere,[Mahony] and unskilled concrete pourers had created a stunning Gothic presence Down Under" (McGill 1997, p139). As you can imagine, being so far away from Europe and the great cathedrals, and also those to be found in the USA, it is an important church for a small country and Catholics have had to work hard to protect it but, with the generosity of many non-Catholics, it seems it will be preserved for some generations to come.
Jan
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