You’re on the DEV Site — NOT the LIVE Site
Archdiocese of San Francisco
Catholic San Francisco learned about the exhibit and visited on Dec. 13 a few days before it closed. The exhibit included a collection of museum-worthy Marian statues, paintings, icons, stitchery, mosaic, and more on temporary loan to the parish from parishioners themselves. The art was organized and curated under the theme: Mary in the Mysteries of the Rosary.
This year’s Walk for Life West Coast Mass will feature something special: a newly-composed choral setting of the Mass, written to showcase the clear voices of the St. Brigid School Choir, following in the tradition of Gregorian chant but with a contemporary and Renaissance flair.
As the mother of the Redeemer, Mary shared in the suffering of her Son in a unique and unrepeatable way. Throughout her life she live
Aside from the hot sun beating down and a cold glass of lemonade, few images evoke the sweet season of summer better than the dim lights of a movie theater with popcorn in hand.
This year has seen the release of a wide variety of great films, from family-friendly heartwarmers to raucous summer blockbusters. There’s even been a couple of spiritual films that powerfully portray the love of God and the beauty of the Christian faith.
Catholic statesman, lawyer and friend and adviser to the king St. Thomas More was a fierce defender of the faith against the Protestant Reformation in Europe.
Longtime director of music and cathedral choir director Christoph Tietze arranged a special Jubilee Concert April 3 to commemorate five decades of sacred music at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
In a letter to the local church community at Smyrna penned in the year before his death, the early second-century martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch writes, “Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude (of the people) also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
Father Arturo Albano’s responsibilities as rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral seem as towering as the holy dwelling for which he was chosen caretaker.
Luke the Evangelist tells us that young Mary of Nazareth gave her fiat without reserve when she learned from an angelic messenger that God intended to favor her as the mother of the Messiah. But as she “pondered what sort of greeting this might be,” the angel added some welcome family news: “Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son, in her old age,” he said, “for nothing is impossible with God.”
Cathedral architect Pietro Belluschi visualized his San Farncisco project as an all-encompassing work of faith, integrating the fine arts and architectural elements to achieve a unifying and uplifting structure of contemporary splendor. Architectural Digest magazine recognized this in 2017 by naming the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption one of the 10 most beautiful churches in America.
Standing in the charred ruins of the church in which he had recently been installed as the fifth archbishop of San Francisco on the morning of Sept. 8, 1962, Joseph T. McGucken announced that we would build a new cathedral. The moment was providential. There was a spirit of confident optimism in the air.
Looking up into the modern “rafters” of St. Mary’s Cathedral 50 years after it was dedicated, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone marveled at the structure designed and constructed by chance in the years following the meeting of the Second Vatican Council from 1962-65. “It’s bold, it’s imaginative and it perfectly expresses what the Church has been discerning for a long time now, since the world moved into this modern era,” the archbishop said.
Like many great cathedrals throughout the world, San Francisco’s was built to honor Mary’s unique role in God’s plan for human salvation. Her model of discipleship as expressed in Scripture offers inspiration to all Christians and is the unifying theme of the seven Marian shrines of St. Mary’s Cathedral.
For the first 1,000 years of Christianity, the Church remained essentially united throughout the Eastern and Western parts of the Roman Empire. However, by the middle of the 11th century, for reasons as much cultural/political as theological, the sees (particular churches) of Rome and Constantinople were no longer in full communion. What a tragedy!
The beauty of the universality of the Church is that people around the world celebrate the holiest days of the year with rich traditions that stem from a society steeped in Catholic faith. Centuries of fusing Holy Week and Easter customs to local resources and cultural traditions have produced a patchwork of unique liturgical traditions, blessings, art, recipes and more.
Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is the principal Christian celebration. It can be easy to over sentimentalize.
It would be a mistake to write off all movies that deal with the biblical story of salvation and related narratives as unwatchable rubbish. In doing so, you’d actually be depriving yourself of some rather uplifting and powerful films that are well worth your time; some even rival the staying power of Mel Gibson’s masterpiece “The Passion of the Christ” (which is one film that should certainly be watched every year on Good Friday).
The windows of St. Isabella Catholic Church in Terra Linda in Marin County form a series of meditations from Palm Sunday to the Ascension.
Juliette Totah, now 93 and living at St. Anne’s Home in San Francisco, was born in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah. Like other Arab-speaking Catholics, her Easter memories and traditions remain rooted in the Holy Land.
The parking lot of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Daly City is now something of a permanent gallery for the artwork of priest-in-residence Father Rey Culaba.
One of three large, impressive windows in the church, the window of Pope St. Pius X was designed by G. Stephen Walsh Studios in Dublin, Ireland. Handwritten letters between George Walsh and Msgr. (then Father) Michael Fitzsimon reveal the collaborative process between California and Dublin of design, approvals, shipments and installation.
Jesus sent his disciples before him across the Sea of Galilee. That evening, the boat carrying the apostles was tossed about by wind and waves. Just before dawn, Jesus appeared to them, walking on water and told them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Twenty years ago, Peter Jackson wowed moviegoers around the world with his adaptation of the first installment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Ring.”