More Old Churches--Two Cathedrals in One Town

The  first Cathedral we visited in New York City was the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which is the Episcopal Cathedral.  

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

Love those rose windows

Looking at the back of the church

 

One of many side chapels

Another side chapel--love the window

This was near the sanctuary

Pretty!

Sunday we attended mass at the Catholic Cathedral--St. Patrick's.  While I love to look at old churches, I have to say the acoustics leave something to be desired.

St.  Patrick's

Blessed John Paul II

Mother Cabrini

The Sanctuary

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  They don't make side altars like they used to.

Very dramatic

Review: One Good Reason

One Good Reason (Harlequin Superromance)

About the Book:

It's time to move on.  Any day now Jon Adamson will pack his bags and hit the road. After all, his intention was never to hang around Melbourne once he'd settled his late father's affairs. Yet he hasn't moved on. And it might have something to do with Gabby Wade. The not–so–big office manager with the really big attitude is making Jon's days…interesting…engaging…fun. It's impossible for him to resist her.

But he knows himself—long–term commitments and cozy family dinners aren't his style. If that's what the future holds, why is he still here? And why is he spending all his days—and nights—with Gabby? Because maybe she's the one reason strong enough to make him stay.

My Comments:

He and his brother were abused as children and he knows he will never have a committed relationship.  She dated his brother for several years and they "practically lived together", yet the brother would never get emotionally close to her so she broke it off, and they became "just friends", and she worked for the brother as his office manager.  When he married, she was prepared to hate his wife; yet they became close friends too.

 Jon comes to town temporarily, but decides to stay a while and work in the business so he and Gabby meet, and rub each other the wrong way right away, but....

She has to deal with not being completely over the brother.  He has to deal with the guilt he feels for not protecting his brother from his father.  He is afraid of commitment; she is afraid of being hurt again.  They are physically attracted to each other.  

This wasn't anything extraordinary, but it wasn't a bad read either.  Grade:  B-

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.

I Love Old Churches

My parish is your typical late-1960's era suburban parish. The original plans called for what is our church building to be used as a church for a few years, until money could be saved to build a "real" church, at which time the "old church" would become the school cafeteria. About ten years ago we renovated the building and added some stained glass and steeple-like structure. About twenty-five years ago a cafeteria/parish hall was added. I think it is safe to say we aren't planning to build a "real" church. I like my parish but I love old churches. I just got back from a Girl Scout trip to New York City and we visited several old churches and I'd like to share some photos with you.

The first church we visited was Trinity, an Episcopal church not far from the 9/11 site.  To say it was beautiful would be an understatement.  I was surprised at how Catholic it looked; you'll note that my first photo is a statue of the Blessed Mother.

The front of the church, from the back

Close-up of the front window

Close-up of the Altar

A door

The sign

From Trinity, we walked a few blocks to St. Paul's Chapel, where George Washington worshiped.  It was a much plainer church, but lovely in it's own way.  It contained a lot of 9/11 memorabilia.

9/11 Memorial

From the very old graveyard

   The final church I saw in this area was Catholic.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the inside, only the outside, from a bus.

More church pictures tomorrow!

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.

As you read this I am tromping around New York City with my teen daughter's Girl Scout troop.  On our agenda are St. Patrick's, along with the churches by Ground Zero.  We plan to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, see Mary Poppins, visit the museums by Central Park, go up in the Empire State Building and to the Top of the Rock.  You might even have seen us on the Today Show, wearing our Saints shirts.  Of course we'll do a little shopping too.  Have fun without me and hopefully the bad guys won't spam this up since no one is on the delete key.