St. Vincent de Paul - Perryville

Good evening.  I hope everyone had a good Monday.

For Sunday Mass after a slight setback (no 3G, closest Masses were at 8 am... etc) I attended 11 am Mass at St. Vincent de Paul in Perryville.

The music was accompanied by a guitar, which was in the loft.
Music:
Opening:  Come Christians Join to Sing
Offertory:  The Servant Song; This is the Air I Breathe
Communion:  One Bread, One Body; Love Never Fails
Closing:  City of God

Before Mass there was a little summary of the Gospel and a greet your neighbor time. Father's stole was pea green.  I only noticed because I thought it was white and it's Ordinary Time and I was trying to remember what feast it was when I realized it was pea green and not a deep green.

Dramatic reading and hand motions - just don't.

Father's homily started off with a story.  There was a couple who were expecting a baby and discovered she would have a serious genetic problem.  They were offered options:  abort or keep the baby.  They decided to have the baby knowing the risks.  The baby died at birth.  The father of the baby told this story before the funeral Mass.  We all defend the right to life.  It imitates God's choosing of life.  We celebrated this little girl's life and ministry to people.  There was a moment of conversion in the pews.  How can we say that she was something to be gotten rid of.  We need to speak against the evil of abortion. We are being coerced into paying for abortion.  The Catholic Church can not do that.  We can not pay $94 a day for not complying.  Catholic institutions will disappear.  A man came up to Father after Mass and said that the Catholic Church just needs to suck it up.  Father was speechless.  Have you found a cross to die on?  We have found it in this.  The Bishop is willing to go to jail.  I am ready to get an orange jumpsuit.  In the Gospel, the disciples were sent out into the world.  It's not about sandals.  (Father apparently has more shoes than Imelda Marcos...which is disturbing) God says to us Don't Worry, I'm going to take care of you.  Don't let all of this stuff rob of us of our joy or keep us from proclaiming God's love for us.  Her life had value and meaning.  She was a Child of God.  We need to pray to God to heal of us our willfulness and our dissent.

Father used one of the Eucharistic Prayers for Various Needs.  The Our Father was sung.  People held hands too.

There was Anointing of the Sick after Mass.


Pictures:

St. Vincent de Paul

View from the Back Pew

Holy Family

Ark

Mary

St. Boniface

 

St. Vincent de Paul

All of the windows were in this style...

Link:
Website of St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent de Paul - Dutzow

Hello! Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

On Sunday, September 5, I attended the 10 am Mass at St. Vincent de Paul, which was preceded by pancakes (which they have the first Sunday of every month).  St. Vincent de Paul is on a hill in the middle of farmland, which was handy because I had the wrong directions.  The GPS couldn't find the address, so I took the latitude/longitude coordinates from Google (which comes the Archdiocesan website) and inputed them into the GPS via Google Maps which had (38.602050, -91.009209).  Unfortunately, those coordinates are about 1.5-2 miles off.  By the front door of the church, the coordinates are (38.59233, -90.98446).

According a sign posted outside of church, the parish was founded in 1837 and was originally known as Sts. Peter and Paul.  The name was changed in 1858 when the first brick church was built.  The current church was completed in 1875.  I don't think the interior is from 1875 however, except for the windows.

The music at Mass was accompanied by an organ and the organ and choir were in the choir loft (getting to be a rarity...having the choir in the *choir* loft).  The Gloria was spoken.
Music:
Opening:  Lift High the Cross
Offertory:  You Are Mine
Communion:  One Bread, One Body
Recessional:  For the Fruits of This Creation
Mass Setting:  The one with the Lamb of God that goes "Lamb of God, offered for us, and Grant us everlasting peace"

Between the pancakes and the very unhappy toddler, I'm not sure I got where ever Father was going with his homily.  Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and is telling stories.  In today's Gospel, the story is about discipleship and is meant to "shake up" some of his followers, specifically, who are following Him to see a miracle and will then go home and back to their ordinary lives.  It is a call to wake us up.  We change even though week to week we sit in the same place at Church (hmmm what is it about church seating?  2nd week in a row mentioned...).  We need to go deeper, where our lives encounter scripture (This is where he lost me.)  All the joys and sufferings are wheat for the bread (He means the Eucharistic bread).  Jesus is alive and engaged in his life, deep within.  (I'm glad to hear a priest profess belief in Jesus.... :) ).  Our days belong to Jesus, surrendering all.  Only Jesus can meet me in the depths of my heart (Hope He brings a flashlight); that is where I will meet Jesus.  We need to consecrate everything to Jesus.   Jesus wants us in His inner circle (great...Jesus has a clique too.).  It will cost everything (most cliques tend too).  It is your choice.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells at the Consecration.  At Communion, everyone stood and stayed standing until everyone was back in their pews.

Pictures:

St. Vincent de Paul

Found in the Parish Hall

The same statue, but with the children reversed,

is in the choir loft, where a rose window would be.

Our Lady of Fatima

I love how the majority of these scenes have sheep.

St. Vincent de Paul - Dutzow

View From the Back Pew

That Jesus creeped me out all through Mass.

Jesus didn't seem in proportion...

Baptismal Font and Easter Candle

Horns!  The Candle has horns!

or

The Claw...the Claw is my master...

Mary

St. Joseph

The Eighth Station

Jesus Comforts the Women

In the back was a case with some historical items

I thought this was rather interesting.  

Apparently this parish raised/donated a total of $5000 to build the Cathedral.

An enormous sum back in the day.

Stained Glass Windows: Under each window was the name of the saint depicted in the window and who they are the patrons of.  I always find it interesting which saints are chosen for the windows.  Is it the most popular, the most recently canonized, or something more practical, the favorite saint of the one donating the window?

Immaculate Heart of Mary

St. Isidore the Farmer

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

St. John comforting Mary

St. Gertrude of Nivelles

Patron saint of cats

St. Catherine of Alexandria

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Theodore 

died 306

Invoked against storms

(can't find anything online)

The Holy Family

St. Gregory the Great

St. Veronica

Patron Saint of Photographers

Links:
St. Vincent de Paul Website
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Vincent de Paul - St. Louis

Happy Feast of St. Blaise!
There's still time to find a 5 pm (or later) Mass and get your throat blessed if you forgot!!!  St. Blaise is the patron saint of throats because he saved a little boy from choking on a fish bone.

I went to St. Vincent de Paul near Soulard for Mass today.  Mass was at 12:05 pm which was perfect because I could go on the way to school.  I have passed this church everyday for years but have never gone inside!  St. Vincent de Paul is run by the Vincentians aka Congregation of the Missions and is one of the oldest churches in the city of St. Louis.  Much of the original artwork is still present.  Interesting there were plaques on nearly everything which said "Pray for ..."  This parish focuses on social justice concerns, especially care of the poor.  They have a soup kitchen and a sandwich window.

Father had us sing an opening song, Gather Us In and a closing song, Holy God, We Praise Thy Name along with singing all of the Mass parts.  We sang them a capella.

Because St. Blaise is a martyr, I expected Father to wear red vestments, as the red represents blood shed for Christ.  It's why Cardinals wear red.  However, Father wore green (because it is Ordinary Time) vestments (with the stole outside the chasuble).  The Feast of St. Blaise is an optional memorial, but Father used the prayers for St. Blaise today.  I'm sure it was an accident/oversight on Father's part.

The homily was about taking risks.  It is easy to find the reasons why not to do something new, but very hard to find the reasons to do something?  We need to be open to the new.  We are in the midst of living our own Gospel, we can still write the ending.

For the Eucharistic Prayer (which was EPII), Father had the congregation come and gather around the altar.  I did notice Father forgot to use a corporal on the altar. This is technically not allowed, as it blurs the line between the clergy and the laity.  When I was in grade school, Father had us come up so we could see what was going on.  I did speak to one priest who used to do it and then stopped.  He started it because he thought it would encourage community.  What happened was half the congregation would come up and the rest would stay in the pews which didn't build community like he thought.  So he stopped.   During the Mass, there are a variety of "secret" prayers, prayers the priest says quietly.  There is one at the Gospel and one at the washing of hands, for instance.  Father said all of these prayers out loud.

After Mass, Father blessed throats!  Fr. Z gives the word of the blessings here.

Pictures:

Mary Grotto

Miraculous Medal

This is a little Marian grotto along the side of what used to be the school.

It seems rather forgotten.

There are bushes planted around it, but no way to actually get to it.

This is a cross in the main entry way.

Wer ausbarret bis ans Ende wird selig

Whoever Holds Out To the End Will Be Blessed

There are a series of dates that run down the length of the Cross.

The first date I can clearly make out is 1852.

I'm thinking the dates correspond to epidemics that raged in St. Louis.

There was a big cholera epidemic that ended in 1852.

There were also epidemics in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, all of which have dates on the cross.

The last date ends in 8.  It could be 1908 or 1918...

If you know why the dates are on there, let me know :)

Thanks to my plurk friends for help with the German!

View From the Back Pew!

The Angel of the Lord and Jesus

in the Garden.

A scene from the life of St. Vincent de Paul.

Window

Many of the images at the very top of the windows have faded out.

I saw remnants of a pelican in one and a crown of thorns in another.

I'm not sure what the symbol used to be in this window.

At the bottom is my photoshop work.

St. Vincent de Paul

Mary

I think the nun kneeling maybe St. Louis de Marillac.

She founded the Daughters of Charity to help St. Vincent de Paul.

FYI:  I'm currently sitting in Marillac Hall, at what used to be Marillac Collge,

but is now UM-St. Louis.

Painting outside Parish Center

Links:
Website of St. Vincent de Paul
Pictures from Rome of the West
Society of St. Vincent de Paul in St. Louis