St. Ambrose

Hello Again!

Because of my schedule, I attended Good Friday Service at St. Ambrose on the Hill.  As usual, I got lost. I found Missouri Bakery Co.  They have the best cookies.

As I was taking pictures, one of the older men came up to me and asked what I was doing.  I was like, taking pictures for my blog.  He then cuts me off and tells me that this is the Holiest Day of the Year for us.  (uhm, solemn, yes.  Holiest, uhm...I thought that was Easter...).  Furthermore, this is not a tourist venue and it is inappropriate and rude and he didn't like it.  Uh.  Ok.  I'm more stunned by this little tirade.  Given that he had words with me in the nave, thereby creating a scene he accused me of creating, I was not amused.  Why is it that it is always those of the Vatican 2 generation that give me grief?  It's always the older middle age people that question me.  Well.  I had contemplated joining St. Ambrose since it was my Oma's parish and I'm Italian.  Perhaps not.

I will say the altar boys didn't look like ragamuffins :).  They had cassocks on that were the right length, pressed and they all had shiny black shoes.  It was rather refreshing.

St. Ambrose is a lovely church.  It is very Catholic.  And very Italian.

As it was Good Friday, there was a solemn entrance.  Father sang the opening prayer and the prayers between the intentions.

There were nuns!  And the sisters did the readings.

Music was accompanied by a piano.
Adoration of Cross:  Behold the Wood; Were You There
Communion:  Ubi Caritas

Father's homily started off with talking about last June when he was in Rome and had to come home because his Grandmother was dying.  It became time for family to look inside.  What is really important?  Time to reconsider and to regroup and where our priorities lie.  Today is no different.  We commemorate the death of Christ, a loved one.  It is a good time to think about what is important.  Barabas.  Son of the Father.  The people cry out and grasp for something that seems to fulfill them.  Cry out for real fulfillment.  That fulfillment is being crucified.  We chase after the wrong thing.  We let the real son of the Father die.  Beauty of day is that the real son of the Father dies for us.  The ones who handed him over, for our sins.  Where do our priorities lie?  Do they lie with the world or the one who loves us and died for us.

Pictures:

View From the Back Pew

Two Cardinal Coat of Arms on the Wall.

Not sure who.

I suspect one is Cardinal Glennon...

St. Ambrose

St. Dominic

I've never seen him with a Church

St. Rosalia

St. Fara

This was in the vestibule.

It was in Italian.

It's pretty awesome.

Station VIII

These were on the arches.

Different Beati I think

I don't know what Mites means

The Holy Family

St. Anne

Jesus and Children

St. Anthony

St. Margaret Mary Aloque

St. Francis?

Behold the Wood Of the Cross

On Which Our Salvation Hung

Links:
Website of St. Ambrose
Pictures (and here) from Rome of the West

Corpus Christ Procession at St. Ambrose

I vaguely remember as a child around 10 going to my Oma's house who lived on the Hill (the Italian area of town) to watch some religious procession.  I think it was the Corpus Christi Procession.  I remember being totally disinterested in it at the time.  I'm sure it had to do with them not allowing people to park on the street so we had to walk and I probably had to carry either my sister or my sister's stuff (who would have been a toddler).  That or I just didn't get it at the time.  I seem to remember it being a big deal though.  Therefore, when I saw that St. Ambrose was holding a Corpus Christi Procession I was totally there.

I have to say, us Italians do it right.  Out of the three processions I walked in, this was the best.  The feeling of the neighborhood was much different as well.  The Cathedral is in the Central West End, an area of town that isn't especially Catholic.  At one point during the procession, someone slammed their front door as we processed by.  Some drivers were irritated by the closed streets.  There were lots of strange looks directed at us.  It was rather an uncomfy feeling.  At the procession in Ste. Genevieve, it was rather low key.  Some of the tourists looked a little confused.  For the procession at St. Ambrose, people came out to meet us on their porches or gathered at the different altars.  Flags, Italian and American, were flying from houses.  It was a much more cheerful, somber mood.   Even better, there were cookies and water afterwards!

As the Blessed Sacrament processed out of Church, we sang Pange Lingua.

Front of the Procession

From the Church to the First Altar, we recited the a decade of the Rosary and sang To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King.  When we arrived at the Altar, we sang Tantum Ergo (in Latin) and then said the Benediction prayers in a mix of Italian and English.

The First Altar

From the First Altar to the Second Altar we said two decades of the Rosary and sang Make Me A Channel of Your Peace and Praise to the Lord.

The Second Altar

At this Altar, we sang T'Adoriam Ostia Divinia (Latin?  Italian?).  There was Benediction at each altar.  As we processed to the Third Altar, we said the fourth decade of the Rosary and sang Holy God We Praise Thy Name.

Benediction at the Third Altar

At this altar we sang, Vi Adoro Ogni Momento, and had the Benediction.  From here we processed to the Church saying the fifth decade of the Rosary and finishing the Rosary.  We sang God Father Praise and Glory and Pange Lingua.  

Once in the Church we sang Mira Tuo Popolo  and then said the Divine Praises in Italian.  The festivities ended with Laudamus Te.

At the Church

The Best Picture of the Day.

Links:
Pictures from Rome of the West

Viva San Guiseppe!

Hello all!
Did you know that I'm 1/4 Italian?  Yup!  Unfortunately my Italian grandfather died before I was born, so I don't know very much about Italian traditions or Catholic Italian traditions.  Apparently, St. Joseph and his feast day are really big in Italy.

Today (3/21) St. Ambrose, the Italian parish, hosted a festival of sorts in honor of St. Joseph in the school cafeteria.  There were lots of yummy baked goods and food.  The highlight was a Mass in Italian for the Feast of St. Joseph.  Everything but the homily and the intentions was in Italian (or Latin as Mark informs me).  The Mass parts were chanted in Latin.  Let me just say that everyone spoke really fast in Italian.

The hymns:
Entrance:  Parce Domine (maybe the Introit for the feast)
Offertory: T'Adoriam
Communion:  O Capo Insanguinato
Meditation:  Vi Adoro
Closing:  Lodate Dio

It was pretty awesome.  There were close to 200 people there.  Most of them were my parents age or older.  It would be sad to see this tradition disappear.

Father's homily spoke to the tradition of St. Joseph.  Apparently, St. Joseph Altars used to be set up by orphans, as St. Joseph is the patron Saint of Orphans and they used it be in homes.  The tradition started when there was a famine in Sicily and the people prayed to St. Joseph.  Father wasn't sure why they prayed to St. Joseph, as he's not the patron Saint of rain.  My guess is that it's because St. Joseph was a Father and a provider.  Father then talked about how the tradition evolved to what it is today.  He also talked about the St. Joseph statue coming from an old Italian parish downtown that was razed for the interstate.  It is important to keep traditions and to keep the Faith.

Pictures:

St. Joseph Altar

This was blessed by Archbishop Carlson at an earlier Mass.

I was busy eating pancakes...

Close Up

Side Altar

A donated Cake.

Monsignor mentioned that by baking and donating cakes,

the baker would receive the intercession of St. Joseph.

 

Various banners were hung around the Cafeteria.

Joseph most obedient was another.

Links:
St. Ambrose bulletin
Picture from Rome of the West
Info about the St. Joseph Table tradition