Seven years later...

We Mourn the Commodification of Our Lady of Vilnius by The Archdiocese of New York

• September 13, 2013 - Hudson Square flip: Barnett’s Extell wants $20M for church site
• Massey Knakal listing for church property - "568 Broome Street offers the buyer an opportunity to develop an iconic structure in the heart of the newly rezoned Hudson Square area."
• Massey Knakal's 21 page color sales brochure for Our Lady of Vilnius: "568 Broome - HUDSON SQUARE DEVELOPMENT SITE FOR SALE
• Douglas Elliman listing for sale of the Our Lady of Vilnius Rectory - " Bring your architect to discuss the endless possibilities to create your dream home."

Tomorrow at noon, when we would normally have gone through the small red door at the right and down the steep steps to the church hall for Mass, let us unite in prayer of gratitude for having lived Our Lady of Vilnius, for having gotten to know each other and for having received spiritual gifts which will last our lifetime and beyond. Let us pray for and to our departed for their intercession in preserving the spirit of our parish within the Roman Catholic Church. Let us pray that against all odds our church will stand as a symbol of God's goodness in this material world.

Our Lady of Vilnius and Cinema Paradiso

This is Our Lady of Vilnius, 568 Broome Street, at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel.

This is Cinema Paradiso in Giancaldo, Sicily, from the 1988 film of the same name.

They resemble each other, no?  Our Lady of Vilnius was the only church designed by architect Harrison G. Wiseman, well known for designing movie theaters. Both Our Lady of Vilnius and Cinema Paradiso housed statues of the Virgin Mary.

At the end of the movie, Salvatore di Vita, once the projectionist and now a famous director, returns home  to Giancaldo for the funeral of Alfredo, his mentor and spiritual father.  As he processes towards the church behind the hearse, he sees that Cinema Paradiso, opposite the church, has fallen to ruin and is to be demolished within days.  One of the people told him that they had closed it 6 years ago because nobody came anymore... the economy, TV, video.  In the film the people stand in a crowd across the square and watch, some crying, as the theater implodes.

As I wept, I kept hoping that history could be rewritten for the little theater and that the fate of Our Lady of Vilnius is not yet sealed.  The church is being promoted as a "development site" by Massey Knackal.

Let us pray that it is purchased by someone who will love and preserve it and that it will not fall prey to the insidious commodification of everything.

Mary Help of Christians slated for Demolition?

A post by EV Grieve on Curbed NY, Counting Down to the End of Mary Help of Christians confirms the terse message from a parishioner that I received and blogged on May 16th of this year, Mary Help of Christians sold to developers???.

The parish of Mary Help of Christians was suppressed as a result of the archdiocesan "realignment" in 2007. Our Lady of Vilnius was suppressed at the same time, though mysteriously outside the "realignment" process.    Parishioners of  Our Lady of Vilnius, Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady Queen of Angels shared the pain of losing their parish and many members of their community.  We also shared the effort to stand up and voice our point of view to the blank wall of our archdiocesan hierarchy.

My heart goes out to the parishioners of Mary Help and all of those in the network of humanity that will feel and grieve this loss.  Let us pray.

Feast of the Assumption: One Year Anniversary of Jurgis Aleliunas Leaving Us

On the Feast of the Assumption we honor our friend, fellow parishioner and fellow Knight of Lithuania for his warmth, his faith and the example of his life.

A case for calling OLV country The Printing District

In today's New York Times opinion piece, Needles, Threads and New York History, Jean Appleton opposes the efforts of the local business improvement district to change the Garment District's name.  Ms. Appleton reviews the district's vital and colorful history concluding:

 "Doing so, however, would eviscerate the pulsating history of the place. It would pretend that the district was only ever about the final product, about the retail shops along Madison Avenue. Today “fashion” is the red carpet, Condé Nast, it is Schiaparelli and Prada at the Metropolitan Museum. The phrase “garment district,” by contrast, evolved from the blood and muscle of labor’s bodies.
Renaming the garment district would do more than offend our city’s history. It would dissociate this historic entity from its unique qualities and significance in the life of New York City. It would erase a vital part of New York’s past."

Likewise, I think that the nondescriptive and nondescript moniker "Hudson Square" eviscerates the pulsing history of OLV country, aka The Printing District.  The parish is closed, the church can be demolished and the footprints of the longshoremen and print shop workers who came to worship on Broome Street can be wiped away.  I am sorry that there are people who view this as improvement rather than loss.

Valio! Valio! Meilutyte wins gold in 100M breast stroke!

Read all about it in The Guardian! I'm definitely going to watch the medal ceremony on TV this evening, in fact I wish there were some Lithuanians in my neighborhood so that we could gather in our local tavern.  When the anthem is played I certainly will sing along.  I am not high tech enough to give you the  bouncing ball, but here are the lyrics:

Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų,
Tu didvyrių žeme,
Iš praeities Tavo sūnūs
Te stiprybę semia.

Tegul Tavo vaikai eina
Vien takais dorybės,
Tegul dirba Tavo naudai
Ir žmonių gėrybei.

Tegu saulė Lietuvoj
Tamsumas prašalina,
Ir šviesa, ir tiesa
Mūs žingsnius telydi.

Tegul meilė Lietuvos
Dega mūsų širdyse,
Vardan tos, Lietuvos
Vienybė težydi!

English Translation:

Lithuania, my homeland, land of heroes!
Let your sons draw strength from the past.
Let your chidren follow only the path of virtue,
working for the good of their native land and for all mankind.

Let the sun banish all darkness from Lithuania,
with light and truth always guiding our steps.
Let the love of Lithuania burn in our hearts
And for the sake of our country, let unity blossom.

Thank you, Ruta and Ausros Vartu Marija for this wonderful achievement!

On NBC, Meilutyte rhymes with Kryptonite

And well it should.  Ruta Meilutyte plowed through the Olympic pool like a superwoman or aquatic Energizer Bunny in both the prelims and semi-finals of the Womens' 100 meter breast stroke.  She swims for the Gold today at 3:15 PM NYC time (8:15 PM London time) and it would be a real morale booster for all of us Lithuanians and Lithuanian/Americans in OLV country to see her atop the podium as the Lithuanian flag is raised and the anthem played.  Although I have been reproached for trying to get  Our Lady to influence athletic events in the past, I think that we should certainly place our hopes before Ausros Vartu Marija and ask for Her intercession.

Mary, is that you?

Recently trees in the metropolitan area have sprouted images of the Virgin Mary in the form of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  One, in West New York, NJ, appeared in the media limelight on Sunday. Another appeared yesterday in our very own archdiocese in a tree across from the shuttered Holy Cross Church in Sleepy Hollow.

A brief piece at archdiocesan-friendly MyFoxNY has spokesman Joseph Zwilling responding as follows:

"Joseph Zwilling, chief spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said this is not an official apparition. He added that people tend to see this image in various places but they are not endorsed by the church. But he concluded that people taking inspiration from these images is a good thing.

When asked about the closed Holy Cross Church across the street, Zwilling said the image would not cause the Archdiocese to take any action.

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19103211/virgin-mary-in-tree-in-sleepy-hollow#ixzz21ppPZVfe"

This brief statement includes the word "not" 3 times and the powerful poetry of the words "official" and "endorsed."    Interestingly enough, one of the "nots" referred to taking action regarding the the Holy Cross Church.  It would be interesting to see the full text of the question that occasioned the terse response.

When I am down and discouraged, I tend to see the faces of old friends in the middle distance on a crowed street or subway platform and my heart leaps.  As the person comes closer I see a stranger who bears a resemblance.  While I do not meet my friend, I am consoled the remembrance.  As the Feast of the Assumption nears I am happy that Our Lady is in the hearts and minds of so many people who hunger for her loving presence.

Attention all metro traffic reporters:  As you hover over the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, please take lots of video if the roofs of the waiting cars form a mosaic that looks something like this: