Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Really Beautiful Space

Gentle Friends, on Saturday while driving around we stopped at a place I pass every Saturday on my way over to the Richmond to a couple of my go to thrift shops.  It's the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey.  It sits on the corner of Parker and Fulton streets...

.... I think it is often overlooked since directly across the street on the corner sits.....

... St Ignatius Church, part of the USF Campus.  You can just see the Monastery in the lower left corner.  

On the wall of the Monastery is this plaque...

...  the web site is not very informative about the building so the plaque is about the only info I could find.  

The doors are open until 4:30 pm so you can just walk in any time.....  

and a quick visit is well worth taking trouble to make as it is a great space in a busy city....
....just to the left  of the narthex is a chapel to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here's a snap looking down the nave towards the alter....
.... the columns along the nave are fluted with Corinthian capitals.  There are other more decorative with high relief carving columns both in the narthex and around the alter and look like this...

 ... also with Corinthian capitols.  The alter is covered in a Balanchine...

... the solomonic columns also have Corinthian capitols and decorated with gilded leaves and vines.  The Easter decorations were still up.  While we were visiting the sisters (from behind gates to the right) started singing a Latin Angelus, which added immensely to the our time there.  Here's a Latin Angelus sung by the Daughters of Mary...


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There you go sports fans.  A lovely place to visit for contemplation and a break from our busy lives.

Take care,
edgar

12 comments:

  1. one one....beautiful! Thank you for taking me there.....

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  2. How beautiful, thank you for sharing.

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  3. Wonderful!!! Thanks for the tour and the inspiring Angelus :)

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  4. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your lovely photos.

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  5. how beautiful :) we were in the York minster (UK) last year when the choir broke into evensong and it sounded divine in there :) love mouse xxxx

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  6. Wow! It really is quite lovely!

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  7. What an exquisite rendition of the
    Angelus, Edgar. Thank you for putting a peaceful end to our
    busy day. May your rest be sweet.

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  8. So beautiful! Altar area looks like a mini-St. Peter's in Rome! So lovely!

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  9. The Angelus gave me goosebumps (a UK expression meaning it raised the hairs on the back of my neck) Hope you know what I mean. THank you for posting this,

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  10. What a beautiful and inspiring church. My son and I had a similar experience in Assisi - we were visiting the basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi when the monks began singing somewhere in the building - it was beautiful and almost otherworldly. Something we both remember 16 years later.

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