Welcome to this week's Roamin' Catholics: Body and Soul. One church. One restaurant. Two views.
HIS VIEW:
Wow! This is the word of the day! We ventured up
to Baltimore for this week’s installment of Roamin’ Catholics and it was a
wonderful experience. Adding a little variety, we attended the 8 AM mass
at St Casimir’s church in the Canton section of Charm City. Built in the
1920’s, the structure is quite imposing set among the tightly packed row houses
of east Baltimore. Clad in limestone and containing twine spires, this IS
your grand daddy’s Catholic church! Built in a neo-renaissance style, it
is much more traditional than the churches we have been going to in recent
weeks. The parish was original formed to meet the needs of the burgeoning
Polish population in Fells Point and Canton. Originally it was a mission
of St. Stanislaus but quickly became a faith community in its own right.
Canton and nearby Fells Point were centers of the Polish community in the late
19th early 20th centuries. As the families of many
of the original parishioners moved out to the suburbs, the Polish parishes
suffered and even closed. St Casimir’s has survived but the website tells
us that the parish had approximately 5300 members at its peak and is currently
down to around a 1000. Still an impressive number in today’s Catholic
Church. I was pleased to see quite a few young families with infants and
toddlers at mass this morning. Seems like there is hope for both the
church and the neighborhood.
The outside of the church isn’t even half of the wow factor
for this building. When you walk in you cant help but be impressed with
the massive size of the sanctuary. The outside of the building is a bit
deceiving and you wouldn’t think it could contain such a massive space.
According to the church website, the sanctuary holds 1400 people!
The most impressive part about the church is the fresco on the ceiling that
extends the entire length of the sanctuary. I wanted to stare at and take
it all in but the image of me walking down the aisle with my mouth agape wasn’t
a pretty one and we needed to move along to our seat. There was still a
lot to take in. From the Polish Eagle painting to the stain glass windows
to the elaborate altar, this was truly a work of art. While I was not
around during the period this was built, it is clear to me that churches during
this time were built as a monument to Christ and a sign of the community’s
faith. I commented to Mary that I would have loved to be around Baltimore
in its heyday. It must have been something. My father once told me
I was born in the wrong era. (A commentary aimed at my love of history) I
think he may have been right.
Another wow from today were the readings and the Pastor’s
homily. Today’s first reading was from the book of Exodus. We are
introduced to the Ten Commandments. I am also thankful once again that we
have a new testament versus the fire and brimstone of the old testament.
Exodus 20:1-17 contains lines like, “For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous
God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of
those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation” and “the LORD will
not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain.” Yikes, scary
stuff! A bit more uplifting is the message from the Gospel according to
John. “Destroy this temple and on the third day I will raise it
up.” Of course, Jesus was not talking about the temple that was a
building. He was foreshadowing his crucifixion and resurrection. This is
the whole reason for Lent. Preparing Catholics for Christ’s resurrection.
As I listened to this morning’s homily, I recalled a joke I
heard a while back (Mary is groaning right now because, frankly, I am not the
best joke teller…) The joke is about a guy stranded in his home during a
flood. As the waters began to surround his home he prayed for divine
intervention to save him. A boat came along and he waived them off saying
that he was waiting for a sign that the Lord would save him. As the flood
waters rose, he moved up to the second story and then the roof. With each
attempt by rescuers to save him, the final one being a helicopter, he told his
would be rescuers that he was waiting for a sign from the Lord that he would be
saved. Finally, the flood waters rose above the roof of the house and
this poor lad drown. Upon arriving at the pearly gates of heaven, he
inquired about not receiving a sign of divine providence. St. Peter,
looking a bit frustrated said, what do you think the rescue boats and the
helicopter were?! For me, the moral of the story is, the Lord works in
mysterious ways and you have to be open to receiving the word of God and
knowing when He is speaking to you. I truly felt His presence during the
pastor’s homily. We weren’t supposed to attend this mass. Our
original plan was to go to mass locally on Saturday evening. Due to a
scheduling conflict that came up last minute, we changed our plans and instead
drove to Baltimore. I truly believe things happen for a reason and there
are no accidents. We were meant to be in that mass and we were meant to
hear Father Kulbicki’s homily. He began with a story about growing up in
Springfield, Massachusetts and taking family trips down interstate 84 (through
the center of Connecticut) to visit family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
For me, this was an instant connection as he related to something that I am
familiar with. If for no other purpose, this made me pay a little more
attention. He brought this home by telling about a halfway point that his
parents would stop at during their trips with the fact that we are now halfway
through our Lenten journey and Palm Sunday is three weeks away. He went
on to talk about the fact that we are all on a personal journey. To
illustrate this point, he discussed Father Joe Martin and the uneven path he
had with addiction (in Father Martin’s case, an addiction to alcohol.)
Father Martin was famous for his Chalk Talks about how to kick his
addiction. Once again, relating it to our lives, Father Kulbicki said
there are lots of addictions around us everyday. Whether it be a substance
abuse problem or the addiction of negative thoughts we need to overcome
them. I leaned over to Mary and whispered, this is the best homily this
year. This is why I go to church. To hear a positive uplifting
message. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen enough.
Today, breakfast was at the Iron Rooster. A small
local chain that was located in Baltimore’s Brewers Hill neighborhood.
Our server informed us that they had an in-house pop-tart that they made
fresh. So of course we had to try it. Of course we got one to
share, which was a good thing cuz this bad boy was big! Even then, we
each only had a bite and took the rest home. If we finished this, good
night Irene, its nappy nap time! As my expanding waistline will attest
to, I am a sucker for breakfast out. I must admit, I made the
selection of this restaurant based on the fact that served all day
breakfast. Any place that serves breakfast ALL day has GOT TO BE
GOOD! I wasn’t disappointed. Their spiked corned beef hash
was made in-house and was delicious! By the way, spiked with chipotle
seasoning, not boozey booze. Mary had the chicken and waffles which
surprised me a bit, as she doesn’t usually like the whole sweet and meat
thingy. Speaking of thingies, I really don’t get the chicken and waffles
thingy. Seems like an odd combination, but its pretty good. I think
the funniest thing from breakfast was one of the good ole boys at the table
next to us trying to pick up our server (figurtively.) He definitely was
not from around these here parts. Judging by his accent, he was from WAY
south of the Mason Dixon Line! He was smooth. He asked the server,
what did you think of the Kid Rock concert last night? This was his
opening to get her to talk. I didn’t turn around to see, but Mary said
she was beet red. Even as these good ole boys were leaving, he was still
jawing at her trying to get her to open up. It was fun to listen to.
We wrapped up our jaunt to Charm City with a visit to some
of the fine Polish delis (which also sell items from Poland like candy and
Polish Pottery) that the city had to offer. We thought it only fitting to
follow up our visit to a Polish Parish with a visit to a (several) Polish deli.
HER VIEW:
I noticed that hubby dearest stepped up his writing game last weekend, so in the spirit of healthy marital competition, I present this week's Roamin' Catholics: Body and Soul.
This week's adventure involved a little personal sacrifice to "get to the church on time" as they say. We decided upon a church that would bring us back to our Polish roots. Yes, for the cousins on my Dad's side who are reading this, a census from the 1930's indicates that we may have a wee bit of Polski running through our DNA. So back to personal sacrifice. The 8:00 am mass at St. Casimir's Catholic Church in Baltimore was our target this week. For those of you not familiar with the area, Baltimore is about an hour away from our home base, which meant a 5:30 am wake up call and a 6:45 am A.I.S. time on a Sunday morning. In an effort to see who really reads this, I am waiting for someone to ask what our A.I.S. time is. I am hoping the early morning wake up counts as some form of Lenten sacrifice... of course I joke... a little.
St. Casimir's Parish began in 1902 and the church (seen below) was completed in 1926. To get an idea of the size of the outside of the building, the niches house 9' tall statues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony. I don't know what I was expecting when I walked in, but the church is massive (225' long x 75' wide)... and no, and even though interior design is my craft, I did not have my tape measure with me... I cheated and found this out on their website.
This is the view from the back of the church. It was incredible and I found myself looking all around to take in all the beauty this church had to offer. Painted murals adorned the ceiling, bronze statues bedecked the altar, stained glass windows lined the left and right sides of the church, and architectural details were ornamented throughout. I could probably look around this church for hours and continually see something new. This has to be the most elaborate interior we have visited thus far in our journey. Unfortunately, due to the massive volume of the church, it was very cold inside. I wouldn't want to pay their heating bill, it would literally and figuratively be sky high.
Another interesting tidbit... the confessionals. There must have been ten of them. Of course Lou made a little joke when we reached our pew that the parishioners must be very bad to require so many confessionals.
A view of the ceiling of St. Casimir's Catholic Church
I am not usually one for such ornamentation, but it worked so well in this space. The altar was also something to behold... and according to the church's website, there are 15 tons of Tuscan marble in that space.
I know Lou will go into great detail about the homily because we talked afterwords and I know he was really moved by it. My main take-away from today's mass - and something that we also discussed in the car on the way to breakfast is that there are no accidents in our lives. We were supposed to go to mass yesterday evening, but due to a series of circumstances beyond our control, we had to make a last minute change and decided to attend this particular mass. I think God intervened in this case. Of all the mass times in all the Catholic Churches in all the Metro DC area, we were meant to be at this one. God has our backs.
I liked that the priest was personable and the parishioners seemed very friendly. Aside from the cold, I enjoyed the mass. I think that is allowed, isn't it?
After mass we moved on to the Iron Rooster for breakfast. This establishment more than made up for our poor dinner dining experience last week. Our waitress was lovely, the food was delicious and the ambiance was lively and fun. It was a Sunday Trifecta!
The breakfast menu was extensive and I had to go with what our waitress said was their number one seller... the chicken and waffles. And I must let it be known that I ate only a third of the portion served - and of course took the rest home. It must have been massive Sunday - big church and big food portions. Lou had some sort of hash skillet.
As a side note, this restaurant makes their homemade version of pop tarts... berry, maple brown sugar, and banana were today's three flavors. I can neither confirm nor deny that we partook in one of these delicacies. Yeah, as my faith grows, my waistline is following suit.
And as always, we end with our weekly Soulfie...
Thank you for reading - we hope you have a wonderful week.
Comments
Post a Comment