Oh Cecilia! By far one of our favorite churches so far, hands down. Even though our visit was a couple of weeks ago (I switched to a new camera, that I don't know how to upload the pictures, which has delayed the blog a bit), every time I think about it, I still smile. Just a terrific place. And quite frankly, any church that has a sign as soon as you walk in the door that says, "If you are suffering from AIDS or love someone who is, you are welcome here" is a church that I am happy exists. In my opinion, that is true Christianity in a nutshell right there.
So we thought we would try something different, and we were up in the Bronx for a basketball tournament, so it made sense to hit Mass on the way back home. I looked up Sunday evening masses in northeasten Manhattan and chose St. Cecilia's. Cecilia is a special name for my family, it was my paternal Grandmother's name (who grew up in the Bronx incidently), my confirmation name and my newest niece's name -- and I have never been to Spanish Harlem, so I thought this parish would be a good choice.
When we showed up, there was a street fair going on in front of the Church. It was at the tail end of the fair, but you could tell there had been some really good food served earlier. There was a young man wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, imprinted with FATHER PETER on the back, who was being bossed around by several old church ladies. We went into the church which was pretty, on the plainer side, but open and calm. Just as an aside, we sat in the side pews -- I have NEVER seen such leg room in a pew before. Literally, when you stood up, you had to take two steps to get to the pew in front of you. If NBA players are ever looking for a church, this is the place for them. It was really remarkable. And I wish I knew the story behind why the pews were placed that that.
Father Peter came in, now dressed in his robes and said mass. He apologized that due to the street fair (which was a fund raiser for a new roof) there would be no music today but we could use the sounds of the street fair outside as our background music. Father Peter is lively and gives a great sermon. But my favorite part was at the end of the mass when he gave the announcements and asked if anyone was new to the church. One woman raised her hand and the whole church burst out in applause. He then asked if it was anyone's birthday...but no one raised their hand. He asked again, but still no takers (and for the record, I had a birthday boy (on the 12th) but he had just left to head to the restroom. After mass, we walked around to take some pictures and then stopped to say hello to Father Peter (it is obviously a close knit parish, so visitors were noticed and I thought we should say thank you). He might be the most adorable priest of all times. Father Peter is from Tanzania and my son and he were immediate fast friends. They talked about our visit to Africa, the Masai warriors and how high they could jump, the NBA, Le Bron James, the history of St. Cecilia's, Harrison Ford, the leaking roof and how many movies have been filmed on the street in front of the church. All in about 10 minutes. He was hilarious when he found out that my son's birthday was that week and told us that he LOVES when it is people's birthdays because the entire church will sign Happy Birthday. So fun...and very welcoming. We will definitely be back (and I mailed Fr. Peter a donation for the church roof fund. I just really loved this place).
Afterwards, two of the church ladies pointed us in the direction of some street murals. Pretty impressive. We stopped at the Harlem coffee shop and had a light dinner. I did see a couple of other places I really want to try out, so we will most definitely be visiting the area (and St. Cecilia's) again.
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