Posts Tagged ‘Sacred Spaces’
St. Patrick R.C. Church
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few blocks away from St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church, which Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself got to visit on a walking tour of Pittsburgh’s Strip District offered by the ‘Doors Open Pittsburgh’ organization, is another church called St. Patrick’s. It has an interesting history, one which is detailed at this site.
I was struck, while our guide was describing the place to us, by the accoutrements. Sculpture and stained glass were everywhere, as were several oil paintings of important former Vicars and Priests. The Pieta pictured above was particularly well sculpted, in my opinion.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I once did a comic that involved the Angels, using Sammael/Lucifer and Michael to fight back an analogous form of Cthulhu, but I interpreted them through a superheroic and pop cultural lens. I’m thinking that’s the Archangel Michael pictured above, as interpreted in the form of stained glass. Patrick is one of the Saints I’ve never seen rendered up like a medieval soldier with wings, which is conventionally how you see Gabriel or Metatron or Michael represented, instead it’s mostly bishop or monk robes for him. The rendering above is a bit more ‘Bible compliant’ than most of the Catholic art related to the Sons of Fire (men are the Sons of Clay), with the multiple sets of wings set into a roundish shape. Read the Book of Ezekiel if you want to know more about that description of God’s Squad.
If this Angel business is a topic that you have any sort of scholarly interest in, there’s an amazing set of books by a fellow named Jeffrey Burton Russell which explores the development of Christian philosophy from prehistoric times into the modern era. The conceit used is eminently Zoroastrian in nature – as in you cannot perceive the light without studying the shadows – so Russell focused in on what individual cultures during the various eras described as being tempting evil to discern what heights they aspired to instead. Russell’s bibliography includes ‘Satan: The Early Christian Tradition (1981),’ ‘Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (1984),’ ‘Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (1986)’ and others. Fully footnoted in both Latin and Greek, I would mention. Great stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The stairs at the bottom of the shot above are a ‘Scala Sancta’ or Holy Stairs, which congregants are meant to ascend only on their knees. This is the ‘sacred space’ chapel area, which is remarkable for its unadorned and plain nature. Normally, Catholic spaces I’ve visited in the United States are more like St. Stanislaus Kostka – ornate and somewhat baroque with paintings and sculptures everywhere. This sort of chapel reminds me of small village churches I’ve seen in Europe.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
St. Stanislaus Kostka R. C. Church
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the… what do you Goyem call it… altar? The stage? I don’t know, but it’s the centerpiece and point of focus at Pittsburgh’s St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church. My grandmother would have referred to the statuary depicting the crucified Christ rising above a scale model of Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican simply as “Yuyzel on da cruss.” What can I tell you, I grew up Jewish.
I’ve visited this ‘sacred space’ before, but this time around I was on a walking tour of the surrounding strip district offered by the ‘Doors Open Pittsburgh’ outfit and I got to linger and take a really good look at the place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This sculpture caught my attention just because there’s so much going on in the composition. Whom I would presume to be Mary is holding a baby I would presume to be Jesus, and offering the Rosary to the damned. I’m sure that every hand posture and facial expression has some allegorical meaning, as that would be ‘very Catholic.’ It was located behind the rack of votive candles, if that means anything. It probably does.
One of the Lay people who care for the church spoke to our group of lookie loos and detailed the history of the centuried congregation and it’s many trials that have included catastrophic floods and nearby industrial explosions. I couldn’t get a decent shot of the mural on the ceiling vault, which depicts John Sobieski and the boys arriving in Vienna to kick some Turk ass. For those not familiar with the battle, it’s what Tolkien based the ‘Charge of the Rohirim’ at Helms Deep on in his Lord of the Rings epic.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On our way back out to the street, and we had to leave in an expeditious fashion as the Church’s Priest had appeared in vestment, with a large family in tow and they were preparing to christen a new baby. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh, definitely put this jewel of a church on you list to visit. Pope John Paul 2 did, so why not you?
As a note, I’ve actually done a bit of research on the ritual of Baptism in the past and it is positively ancient. The Canaanites were basically fire worshippers, being connected to the religions of the Phoenicians as they were – with Baal as the central godhead and ritual sites found on the hilltops in wilderness areas – so it’s unlikely that the proto Hebrews picked it up from them. Theoretically, Baptism became part of the portfolio about the same time that Angels first became part of the story, during the ‘Babylonian Captivity.’
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 