Beautiful..... minus the red carpet and operating table. Funny how close we are to beauty yet so far away. I have not attended Mass there so I don't know how the liturgy is formed or how the music is. I see we do have some Winona readers that might know... and perhaps would want to comment? St. Stan's was used as the Cathedral while the current cathedral was undergoing renovations. It is the ethnic Polish church as you may have guessed. Parishioners are currently seeking minor basilica status for this church. Check out the rest of Br. Stephen's photos below.
5 comments:
I live in Winona but attend at St Mary's Parish.
The red carpet at St Stan's isn't as obvious when you're sitting in the pew.
As for the altar, unless the Church is doing the extraordinary form, where else would it go? Ok, it's a simple altar for sure. Obviously added after vatican II.
Very, very polish parish, proud of their space. There is some technical reason it cannot be the Cathedral in town. Standard liturgies.
Thanks IC for the feedback!
A high altar can be used in either form, not just the extraordinary form. It's one of the misconceptions about the new Mass that there is a requirement to face the people - there is not even if it is the de facto norm. The ordinary form of the Mass can have the priest face toward God instead of the people during the Eucharistic prayer and the sacramentary gives instructions where he is to turn and face the people. The situation is not unique to St Stan's, many places in Europe with even older churches inserted a table in between the high altar and the people. Since Catholic churches are designed with altars in mind - so the whole experience is consistent - it does not make sense to insert things after the fact which take away from the organic harmony. Well anyways, it's a beautiful church. I've attended St. Mary's before and found it to be the most solid parish in town.
Agreed on your last statement. ;)
Do go to St Stan's sometime. It is a beautiful space, no question.
I'm curious. Why do you say "it is the ethnic Polish church"? I have attended there with my grandparents, but am not in the area. How can you say that just by looking at a photograph? I'm writing a paper on my culture, and this place along with my grandparents factor a lot in that.
American churches were originally all ethnic parishes. There were German, Polish, French, etc. This parish was built by Polish people and had Polish speaking priests. You should contact the rectory as they probably have some old parish directories with more history of the church. There's a little bit online:
http://ststans-stjohn-winonamn.4lpi.com/
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