St Ignatius Church, The Carmelite Chapel and Monastery of Cristo Rey and Sts. Peter and Paul Church (Lots of Snaps)

Gentle Friends, the last three places we visited I'll wrap up in today's post.  After St Dominic's we headed out to St Ignatius Church.  Built by the Jesuits it is the fifth and grandest St Ignatius yet built.  Architect Charles Devlin starting drawing pans for this church in 1909.  It was built between 1910 and 1914, and dedicated on August 2, 1914 - this landmark sits on a hill at the corner of Fulton Street and Parker Avenue - the towers can be seen from most of the city.

Often referred to as “Jesuit Baroque,” the architectural style of St. Ignatius Church is eclectic, drawing inspiration from the Italian and Spanish Baroque, the works of Sir Christopher Wren and Greek and Roman classical principles.

.... the general layout of the nave is based on the ancient Roman Basilica, or law court building.  The focus of the nave is the sanctuary, which here takes the form of a semicircular, semi-domed space, or apse.    This space is separated from the nave by the chancel arch springing from grouped free-standing columns.  The centerpiece of the sanctuary, the ploychromed white oak baldacchino or canopy over the High Altar was added in 1949, as was the altar itself, along with the marble floor and communion rail...........

Joseph chapel has a graceful carved reredos bearing a Carrara marble statue of the saint

______________________

Across Parker Avenue on the  Corner is the Monastery.....  the compound was built in 1927 and exemplifies the Spanish Revival architecture common to the 1920's......  The chapel itself is much more ornate, featuring heavily carved stone columns and other details.

.....  the 20 Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of Cristo Rey are cloistered and lead a secluded life of prayer, contemplation and penance.  They abstain from meat year-round and do not leave the monastery compound except for medical treatment.  They alternate praying the devine office in English and Spanish, as they are bilingual due to their history.  The community was originally founded in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1695, and relocated to California in 1927 as a result of religious persecution.  In more recent years they merged with the Carmelite's from a monastery in Kensington, California which closed.

......  we got there after Mass was over and the incense was still lingering in the air and let me get these great snaps of the nave and sanctuary.....  above the altar is a baldachin with Solomonic columns, reminiscent of the baldachin in St Peter's Basilica in Rome.  On the wall behind the altar is a sculpture in high relief of a windswept Jesus with outstretched arms in front of a golden aureola and accompanied by putti.....

______________________

The last Church we visited was over in North Beach, Sts Peter and Paul Church.

Saints Peter and Paul Church was originally located at the intersection of Filbert Street and Grant Avenue. Built in 1884, the church was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire. A second smaller edifice was built at the site. Construction of the current house of worship began in 1913 and was finished in 1924

The church is served by a group of Salesian clergymen sent to minister the parish's large Italian immigrant population.  Some of the highlights are: the High Altar carved from Italian Carrara marble, the gorgeous stained glass windows, a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta and the twin spires that are 191 feet tall.

... the is a replica of the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in one of the side chapels....

__________________

That wraps up our playing tourist and seeing some of the larger Churches here in the City.  I hope you enjoyed it - thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar