When a church is newly built, desecrated, or in a major way restructured, it must be blessed in a solemn way before worship can take place within. There are different levels of blessing, including dedication and consecration.
Today the church called Old St. Patrick will be consecrated with the old Pontificale Romanum.
His Excellency Robert Finn, Bishop of Kansas City will do the honors.
Last night I stopped in at the church with friends who are hosting me here in KC.
At that point there was a lot of work to be done, but I was getting done!
A lot of the work on the church has been done by volunteers.
Cleaning the street before the ceremony.
Things still need to be assembled. I am told the confessionals were built yesterday.
A bishop’s cathedral from the 20’s has been resurrected.
Some pray.
The heavy cleaning will really get done now that the sisters have arrived in their work habits, with lots of rags and buckets.
The church is a real gem, after its $1.5 million dollar restoration.
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The windows are stunning! I hope they are covered with plexi-glass so that rock-throwers will not damage them.
Wow, that is awesome.
The Institute of Christ the King gets results!
I’m pretty sure those are the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles – a newer, but traditional order.
For those ladies looking for an order that uses the the 1962 Missal, this is one to explore. They once had a beautiful blog that gave you a glimpse of life in their monastic world, but Mother felt it was a distraction. The blog showed their work on tradtional vestments, their trip to Ephesus. There were many pictures with Bishop Finn visiting. He certainly understood the power of having such an order in his backyard.
Father Z, I should have known you’d be there. I have been following this labor of love on the internet for over a year or so. These Catholics are fantastic people and very fortunate to have a Bishop, like Bishop Finn. Haec dies quam fecit Dominum in exultemus in ea! Tom
For me, the most beautiful photos were of the cassocked priest walking the sidewalk outside and the habited nuns getting ready to roll up their sleeves. Those photos were dessert for my Catholic eyes. Thank you.
The “Roamin’ Roman”, who as a student in Rome a couple of years ago and blogged on it with hundreds of photos and descriptions, joined the order of Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles last June. Being still a novice, she no doubt was on the work party.
The apostolate of this contemplative order is praying for priests. And apparently cleaning for them, too.
Pray for her and her intentions.
I had the fortune of being in St. Patrick’s a few months ago while it was still being renovated. Truly a beautiful church, and I hope to one day get back, now that it will be open for worship. I hope there will be plenty of pictures of the consecration.
Compare this to the new Cathedral in Oakland, CA, which looks to me for all the world, like an unfinished nuclear reactor.
Another great renovaton job by the Institute – and remarkable what they were able to accomplish (thanks to a lot of volunteer work) for so little coin.
Yet another church dedicated to the classic, traditional Mass!!! Brick by brick, Father!
Ray from MN:
I tried to get FrZ to help clean, but he disappeared before I could get him a rag.
What an encouraging sight to see a Catholic church restored to its proper beauty, and young habited sisters and priests, especially in this difficult time.
May the faithful of Kansas City always take their faith to heart and be spared the fate of the Archdiocese of Boston, where the loss of faith led to the parish closures that provided some of the furnishings for the restored church.
It isn’t just the novices on the work party. My younger sister is the one carrying the buckets. Not only do they do a great job cleaning, but they make beautiful vestments and just came out with a brand new CD, Echoes of Ephesus. I love seeing them on your site. I hope you got a chance to meet a few of them. They are some of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met (not that I’m biased or anything). Bishop Finn has been such a blessing to that diocese.
Maeana