Edvinas Minkstimas makes the world go away at the UN

Edvinas poses for his "paparazzi" during the reception

It was a rare treat to take MetroNorth to Grand Central on Friday to attend Edvinas' recital at the UN. After taking in the beauty of the Hudson and the industrial strength sights along the Harlem River, we left the terminal and headed toward the open sky over the East River. Once past the security check at the UN, a group of us were escorted on a labyrinthine path to the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, exactly like my seventh grade class outing. Below grade, the auditorium felt like a well-appointed cave. The audience was gracious and hushed before the concert began; many muted reunions and whispered "Labas" . My companion and I sat back row center, with a bird's eye view. I watched as acquaintances filed past without seeing us, like a child spying on an adult gala from the top of the stairs.

Once the program began, the world went away. It was boiled down to a young man, familiar yet distinguished by his talent, sitting at his instrument under the spotlight. He introduced each piece with some facts from its history and a brief remark about his connection to the work. He then sat down and paused, creating a moment of silence before stepping over the threshhold of each piece. I had a great view of his hands ranging along the keyboard like they had lives of their own. He played well and succeeded in building a bridge across time and space from the composers' hearts and minds to ours. I was pleased to hear Ciurlionis and Alkan for the first time, and I intend to seek out more of their works.

As Edvinas was taking his bows, this dapper and dignified young gentleman approached the stage and presented him with a bouquet of roses

After the performance I had the opportunity to greet people that I had met at Our Lady of Vilnius, but have not seen for some time. It was a pleasure.

Kudos to the U.S. - Baltic Foundation for sponsoring this event and the patrons and sponsors that helped make it a reality. It was a privilege to participate in this living demonstration of the power of art to transcend and unite at the United Nations.

Edvinas Minkstimas Recital At United Nations Today

An array of amazing people stuck, like iron filings, to the magnet of Our Lady of Vilnius. One of them was Edvinas Minkstimas. In our enchanted basement that time forgot, Edvinas played for weekly Mass, gave a recital and shared himself with us, as an artist and as a person.

Today he will play a wonderful program at the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium of the United Nations. I hope to be there to enjoy the music, chat with Edvinas and see some of the beloved faces that have recently become less familiar.

Our Second Al Fresco Feast

This crucifix was salvaged before the rectory was closed. It travels with us everywhere. Yesterday, on the feast of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, Mother of Mercy, we set it up on our front stoop "Altorius" in the center of the top step, in what would be in direct line with the altar and tabernacle, had they not been removed.

I went in close, trying to capture its broken beauty. The vertical beam, behind the corpus had snapped off. We regularly reassemble it, carefully dovetailing the splintered ends. We never lose any, and they lock together perfectly. We then add the horizontal beam, which is notched. We gently tie the corpus to the cross with a piece of elasticized string, then reinforce it with Scotch tape.

I was so fixed on the cross that, when I looked at the shot, I was shocked to see it looming so large in front of the church. In fact, it is not. It is standing in front of a faded, tattered poster depicting the church 2 years ago, before it had closed. I thanked the Holy Spirit for the perspective.

Like the church, its red doors fading and its broken cross, so was Jesus. He died on a cross, broken. All of us at Our Lady of Vilnius feel this brokenness and humility. We feel empathy for Our Lady's love for her son and her sorrow at His death. We also rejoice in His resurrection.

In front of the church yesterday, in Lithuanian and in English, we prayed in concert with those celebrating the feast in Vilnius, aligning ourselves with the intention of creating a more merciful civilization.

After our prayers, we enjoyed each other's company and Rita's excellent kugelis. We thanked God for this place that brought us together and continues to teach us, even though we now gather outside.

Feast of Mother Mary at the Gates of Dawn

We invite you to join us.

Dear all,

November is particularly symbolic to the Lithuanian faithful, in that it is the month of Our Lady of Vilnius veneration in Vilnius.

Just want to remind you that we are having a special gathering in front of St. Patrick's tomorrow at 10:30 am. Later, as usual at 12:45 pm, we will meet at Our Lady of Vilnius for a special prayer and sharing of refreshments.

This year's theme is "Mother Mary - Merciful Mother of God". General prayer intention “To be brave witnesses of faith in the contemporary world” has been intended for the indulgenced octave of Merciful Mother Mary at the Gates of Dawn in Vilnius. The indulgenced octave of the Protection of Merciful Mother of God at the Gates of Dawn is the most famous traditional celebration in Vilnius Archdiocese. The octave is centered around the feast of Merciful Mother of God on November 16, the tradition goes back to the XVIII century.

As you may know a ruling of the civil court of the city of New York regarding ownership of Our Lady of Vilnius property has not been made. Recently new appeal to Vatican was submitted by the committee of OLV. Pray with us if you can't come.

Yours truly,

The Faithful of Our Lady of Vilnius, Ausros Vartu Parapija

Jonas Mekas Opening at Maya Stendhal Gallery This Evening

Tonight through February 21, 2009, the Maya Stendhal Gallery will host "Jonas Mekas: New Work". Details of the exhibit can be seen at ArtSlant. The artist's latest 4-monitor video installation, "Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR (2008) will be presented.

Mr. Mekas is quoted as saying:

"It can be viewed as a classic Greek drama in which the destinies of nations are changed drastically by the unbending, irrational will of one single man (Vytautas Landsbergis), one small nation determined to regain its freedom, backed by its fight against the Might & Power, against the Impossible."

Inspiring words. Words that encourage my unbending, bordering on irrational, will.

Mr. Mekas' biography and catalog of works can be read at Wikipedia.

I look forward to meeting this man tonight at the opening. I am trying to stave off an attack of the "I am not worthy"s.

Peaceable Kingdom

A New Mention in the Blogosphere!

Today I came across a mention of our parish in a post in Sergey Kadinsky 's CUNY Graduate School of Journalism blog. The post, Maspeth Church Keeps Lithuanian Rites focuses on Transfiguration. The most interesting quote in the piece comes from Bishop Baltakis:

"Baltakis agreed with Cardinal Edward Egan’s decision to close the West Village church. “When the Holland Tunnel was built, people were displaced, and only a small community remained,” said Baltakis. After many years of decline and an expensive repair bill, the church was closed. Vocal demonstrators have vowed to reopen it. “Most of the demonstrators were never from the parish,” said Baltakis.

I visited Sergey's blog and commented. It would help if some other parishioners did the same. I personally don't know whether to contact Sergey about becoming a journalist myself or just sit down and begin to write my wildly original potboiler about the Catholic Church, "The Jonynas Code."

Father Vytautas Palubinskas Has Passed Away

For those who never met him, the man in this photo is Father Vytautas Palubinskas, Pastor of Our Lady of Vilnius from 1982 to 1989. I learned that he passed away on October 6th and that his burial took place on October 8th at "8 hours".

I never met "Father Vito" as the parishioners called him, but he is familiar to me from documents, photos and stories. Many parishioners kept in touch with him and visited in Lithuania, so it was a rare encounter with anyone associated with Our Lady of Vilnius when he was not mentioned.

The image of Father, left, was published on Wednesday, October 26, 1988 and accompanied an article published in the New York Post titled "Church Thrives, Even With Tunnel Vision." The article describes a church and a parish much as it was at the time of its closure.

Father Palubinskas is quoted as saying "If you add up all the groups, you have hundreds, maybe thousands of people connected with this church."

The following paragraph about Father Palubinskas is taken from "90 Years for God and Country," a warm and comprehensive account of the parish written by Dalia Bulvicius for the 90th anniversary of the parish:

"Father Vytautas Palubinskas 1982-1989
Affectionately known as Father Vito, he breathed fresh life into the parish. He is a great scholar, linguist and philologist with a great love of N.Y. City with its inexhaustible cultural riches. He at once made many improvements. After redecorating the church he "rescued" the beautiful stained glass windows from Our Lady of Angels Lithuanian church in Brooklyn which was about to close. They were created by the Lithuanian artist Jonynas. Father Vito installed six of the magnificent windows into the church, transforming it into a large "jewel box", gleaming with glorious colors. An electronic bell system was installed which fills the whole neighborhood with sacred music as it calls the faithful to church. the lower hall was turned into "Father Gurinskas Hall," where the dedicated and talented "Kitchen Brigade" has served many a delicious parish dinner.
When the pastor of Annunciation, the Lithuanian parish in Brooklyn, Father Jonas Pakalniskis retired, Father Vito was asked to take over. Father John is also associated with our parish. He was born in Manhattan on January 1, 1915 and baptized in Our Lady of Vilnius on January 17th by Father Sestokas with the name Jonas Leonardas. His parents were married here: Jonas Pakalniskis and Ona Dyglyte."

His passing was noted on the Bernardinai.lt website on October 8, "Mirė kun. Vytautas Palubinskas"

Father Palubinskas has passed on joining "hundreds, perhaps thousands of people connected with this church" who have also passed on. I think now of those who have gone since I arrived; Frankie Pretzels, Dalia Bulgaris, Danute Strout. I also think of Dalia Bulvicius, who I hear was a fine soprano and very nice woman. I think of Aldona Kepalaite, a parish legend. I think of my grandparents, my father and my aunts, all gone. All Saints and All Souls are not far away. I will pray for Father Palubinskas and all of the saints, living and dead, whose souls have touched Our Lady of Vilnius. I will ask those "who from their labors rest" to pray for us and to help us keep the spirit of this parish alive. It is very much needed.

Hey! Maybe we should hire these guys!

A friend pointed out this ad in an 83 page advertising supplement in the New York Times Magazine titled "Super Lawyers".

Wait...they look familiar

Living Under the Influence of Siluva: The Power of Positive Thinking

As the 400th jubilee year of the appearance of Our Lady at Siluva closes, world news and US news begins to approach the apocolyptic. In the midst of this, I am afflicted by a peculiar good cheer. Is this the power of prayer or the onset of insanity? Don't hesitate to comment.

Today the New York Times ran an Op-Ed piece by Barbara Ehrenreich titled The Power of Negative Thinking. In this thoughtful piece Ms. Ehrenreich identifies a near delusional optimism as contributing to the current economic situation, citing pundits and gurus who have led citizens and corporations down the primrose path with a simplistic interpretation of the Law of Attraction that implies that focusing on a goal and refusing to think about impediments guarantees a successful outcome. I think that she has made a valid and original point.

Despite my appreciation of the piece, I couldn't help myself from smiling on the trip to work as I contemplated all of the good that could come out of the economic crisis:

• Maybe the destruction of Our Lady of Vilnius will now be costly rather than profitable.


• If gasoline prices are unaffordable, I'll be able to ride my bicycle down the Henry Hudson Parkway to work.


• If I lose my job, maybe I'll be able to farm potatoes, beets and cabbage on the lawn of the coop where I live. They'll have to relax their aesthetic standards to permit subsistence.


• My local weekly is flooded with articles on the "deer problem". Look on the bright side! Venison! Venison zeppelinai!


• Maybe we will all become lean, strong and attractive by necessity rather than by narcissism and surgery.


• Housing may now become affordable for the middle class, working class and even homeless. I am going to read up on squatter's rights.


• Maybe kindness will prevail now that more of us feel vulnerable. Maybe people will lose the delusion of their own omnipotence and turn to the infinite mercy of God.
  

400th Anniversary of Our Lady's Apparition in Šiluva

In the 1500's, caught up in the momentum of the Protestant Reformation, the owner of the church property in Siluva became a Lutheran. At this time many Catholic churches were closed and confiscated. A parish priest at Siluva buried an iron chest with documents and sacred items.

In the year 1608 the Virgin Mary revealed herself to young shepherds; a girl with flowing hair holding a baby in her arms and weeping. The children ran to the Calvin catechist to tell him what they had seen. The catechist and the rector followed the children to the site where she revealed herself to them as well. They asked her why she was weeping. She replied, "I am weeping because people used to worship my son in this place, but now they just plow and sow."

The news of this event spread. The faithful were convinced of the authenticity of the apparition. Catholics realized that they needed to have possession of the documents that would help them reclaim their church. An old blind man mentioned that he knew something about them, recounting the story of the church in Siluva. He led Father Kazakevicius, a priest charged with investigating the apparation, to the rock where Our Lady had appeared. The old man's blindness was cured and the iron chest buried by the priest of Siluva was exhumed.

The restoration of sight to this blind man was the first of many miracles and healings associated with this holy place.

Please join us on Sunday in another holy place as we pray for Our Lady to help us in our darkest hours as she helped the faithful at Siluva. We will be gathering at 10:30 AM across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral to pray, to honor the apparition at Siluva and to share the story of Siluva with anyone who will listen. At 1:00 PM we will gather in front of Our Lady of Vilnius church and pray that it will once more be a home for Our Lady and a place where the faithful gather for Eucharistic celebration. Please join us in spirit and prayer if you cannot attend.

Celebrating Lithuanian American Heritage

.... and letting my freak flag fly!

It is a beautiful clear day in the suburbs of western Westchester as Lithuania prepares to square off against Argentina for the Bronze Medal in Olympic basketball on the other side of the world, Beijing, China.

My 1992 Lithuanian Bronze Medal T-Shirt is one of my most prized possessions. In 1992 my father, afflicted with metastatic cancer but nonetheless capable of having a good time (I think that this toughness and resilience is a Lithuanian thing) sat in his living room and witnessed this extraordinary event in Barcelona.

Lithuania itself was newly independent, their basketball team took the country out media obscurity in America and stood on the medal podium respendent in tie-dye courtesy of Jerry Garcia.

It was Lithuanian, it was American, it was funky, jubilant and elevating: in short, it was very "Our Lady of Vilnius."

I have requested the intercession of Our Lady to influence the outcome of basketball before without good outcomes, but that was for Irish Christian Brothers schools. I am going to pray that this team that symbolizes my heritage, in the same way as Our Lady of Vilnius parish does, triumphs once again for the bronze, stands on the international stage and brings to the attention of all the merit of small nations. May we do the same for our parish and all small parishes. Amen!

Lithuanian-American Mariel Žagunis Wins Gold in Women's Sabre!

This picture is from Athens, not Biejing, but I like it because Mariel looks like she's decked out for Jonines, very Lithuanian.

Thank you, Mariel, for once more bringing my sport and my ethnicity onto the podium !

All of us at Our Lady of Vilnius are with you in spirit and will keep you in our prayers when we gather tomorrow in front of the church.

Really worth archiving...really

This photo is from Frank Lynch's blog,Really not worth archiving...really. I do not know Mr. Lynch and I have not yet explored his site to the extent that I would like to, but I thank him very much for strolling down our dead end block and noticing our plight.

Because our Lithuanian flags are flying and mostly Lithuanians are gathering in public to pray and spread the word, it is easy for the public to perceive the loss of our church as very circumscribed, but it is not. Like ripples from a stone plunked into a still pond, the consequences of loss spread out to affect many, even those who we think are anonymous and impervious, walking down Varick Street or sitting in their cars waiting to enter the Holland Tunnel.

Thanks again to Frank Lynch. Let's get to know him by visiting his site.

A Reflection on the Price of the Pearl

A reader commented on my post from last Sunday. I thought it was well worth bringing to the fore:

"Way, way back in first grade Sister Mary Alacquoe was answering the questions of a classmate who told how every Wednesday afternoon he answered the door and there was a very polite lady from Jehovah's Witnesses. The woman always carried a Bible and would stand at the doorway reading and quoting scripture in an effort to convert this little six year old parochial school student.

I'm reminded of Sister's response - "anyone can quote scripture to their own advantage" - when I read here about Cardinal Egan's talk about the "pearl of great price." It's a powerful image - to think of a precious, luminescent, lustrous pearl embodied in the tapestry, the altar, the crucifix. We are transfixed by the beauty before us and so is Cardinal Egan. However, we all should focus on the part of that lovely phrase which is not so easy to understand or visualize - the "great price."All of these items were purchased at an economic price - they did not materialize out of thin air. They were paid for by long hours of immigrant work, some of it surely rewarding and much of it simply gruelling labor to raise and support a Catholic family. Out of the currency gained by this labor further sacrifices were made by these working class people for their church, for the glory of God, to honor St. Stanislaus Kostka, to remember Our Lady of Vilnius. What item of clothing was not purchased? what toys were not bought? what entertainment was passed up? what vacations were shortened or not even taken? so these good people would have a church worthy of their aspirations and a place to meet and be a community of God's people.

The Cardinal can talk all he wants about the altar of sacrifice. The real altar of sacrifice in this matter is labor of the people who actually purchased these "pearls of great price."

Cardinal Egan Gazes on a Pearl of Great Price

Update: 4/28/2025 - I always seem faced with decisions to take the high road or the low road.  Whichever my choice, I regret the road not taken.  When Cardinal Egan asked, "Why is this parish a pearl of great price?" it wasn't a rhetorical question.  He scanned the church for raised hands.  At the time, the rejoinder that occurred to me was "Because of the 7 buildable lots on the corner of Warburton and Washington.  Now I regret not standing up and saying it, though a lot of people in the church and my good Catholic ancestors would have been mortified. -

In the image to the left St. Stanislaus Kostka gazes upon the child Jesus. This textile art of embroidery and applique was once the standard of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish, borne aloft in parades. When the parading days were done, this work adorned the wall between the sacristy and the altar of the church. This morning it hung on the southern wall of the Church of St. Matthew. The church of St. Stanislaus Kostka was closed in 2005, more than a year before its official suppression as part of the archdiocesan realignment. The altar, some statues, some sacramentals and some stained glass now reside in the Church of St. Matthew, the larger parish that once shared the same geographical boundaries.

Today Cardinal Egan came to visit the parish of St. Matthew and gaze upon the remnants of St. Stanislaus, the artifacts and the people as well.

At 10:00 AM Father Fernan stood at the foot of the driveway awaiting the Cardinal's arrival. The St. Stanislaus "Society" as we are now called, was having our weekly coffee social in the rectory meeting room giving us a bird's eye view as the sleek black minivan rolled up and turned into the driveway.

Cardinal Egan and his retinue alit and, after greeting Father Fernan and joshing with Father Smyth, they all piled back in and visited St. Stanislaus at the Cardinal's request. I wished that I could have been a fly on the wall at that event, but sanity prevailed and I stayed with my friends at coffee instead of tearing down Whitman Street to head them off at the pass.

I went over to the church early to get a good seat. Some journalists were roaming around taking photos of the St. Stanislaus patrimony, so I decided to do the same thing myself. This is a photo of the altar of St. Stanislaus, now ensconced in an alcove that once housed Father Smyth's confessional.

The Cardinal gave a very smooth homily, beginning with the rhetorical question of why the parish was a pearl of great price. Of course cynicism led my mind to wander to the minivan's ride to the church of St. Stanislaus on Main Street with a possible side trip to the spacious lot housing the rectory on the corner of Washington and Warburton, but I opened my heart to the Cardinal's message as he went on to explain the importance of the pulpit, where the Word is preached, the altar where the Sacrifice is offered and the front door by which we leave to do His work as members of the Mystical Body of Christ. I held my small icon of Our Lady of Vilnius in my hand, the same one that accompanied me to two courtrooms and the Pope's Mass at Yankee Stadium. Danielle, to my left, pointed to the icon and said, "Maybe that's your sacrifice." Well maybe it is. The parishes of Our Lady of Vilnius and St. Stanislaus Kostka are my sacrifice.

No one could doubt the value of the Cardinal's words, but he spoke in generalities, from a perspective where all parishes are pearls of great price for the same reason. Those of us who are very up close and personal see pearls of even greater price than the Cardinal can behold. I wish the Cardinal would ask us real questions, not rhetorical questions. I wish he had come before the closings, not after, to examine all of these pearls born of a grain of sand each with their spectacular beauties and their unique flaws. I wish that one of these luminiscent gems could still live and glow and kindle fire in hearts. Cardinal Egan gestured towards the altar and stained glass from St. Stanislaus, referring to them as "remembrances"

Can we save Our Lady of Vilnius from becoming a remembrance? Can the Cardinal come to see the beauty of this tiny pearl?

Vermont Pharmacy: The "Our Lady of Vilnius" of the Apothecary World

Yesterday's New York Times Metro Section featured an article by Kareem Fahim, Filling in a Few Blanks in an Old Brooklyn Real Estate Mystery. The store in many ways reminded me of Our Lady of Vilnius. I actually felt a pang when I saw that wood framed screen door because it was so much like the one on the back of our rectory. Even the title resonates. I suspect our church and the rectory harbor some real estate mysteries of their own. Here are some quotes:

"Dust has settled on a generation of clutter",

"The shuttered pharmacy could be a location in a film about some mysterious cataclysm — killer spores? aliens? — that emptied a 1950s town, or it could be a scene from a blighted city, the commercial casualty of a Main Street abandoned by shoppers and hope.

Instead, it is a curiosity. The longtimers seem to know more about the place than they let on, about the eccentric homeopath, Mark Stein, who owns the building and is still seen visiting. The new residents peer into the windows and move on, knowing little about the puppeteers who helped run the place; or the gunrunner who worked as a clerk in a pharmacy that occupied the space before; or, in much earlier days, the British gentleman-thief with a taste for diamonds who lived upstairs. No one seems to know exactly why it shut down.

It’s frozen in time,” said Franco Ficili, the president of La Societa di Pozzallo, a cultural club for natives of a Sicilian town that sits across the street from the pharmacy. “I’m here 30 years. He just closed his door. What he does in there, I have no idea.”"

Mr. Fahim's imaginative and poetic take on this pharmacy could well be applied to our church and rectory. I wish that he would turn his gaze here and plumb our mysteries, too.

Encouragement from the Traffic Jam!

This morning at work I received a business e-mail from a colleague. After the business part, there was a postscript:

"I saw the vigil in front of Our Lady of Vilnius on Sunday afternoon as I was driving into the Holland Tunnel - very pretty, with all the bright yellow, red & green flags! Best of luck to you all!"

- John

We Need Heroes. We have Them.

Today MSN.com" brought my attention to a review of the new Batman flick "Dark Knight." In this review Justin Chang of Variety.com states:

"Using five strongly developed characters to anchor a drama with life-or-death implications for the entire metropolis, the Nolans have taken Bob Kane's comic book template and crafted an anguished, eloquent meditation on ideas of justice and power, corruption and anarchy, and, of course, the need for heroes like Batman -- -"

...or Jesus Christ or anyone who is moved to action in the name of justice and compassion. I am happy to stand with my family of heroes as we continue to struggle against all odds to preserve our piece of Gotham's past, present and future. Feel free to join us.

Idoneus per Cardinal Egan

The Latin Mass is receiving a lot of discussion in Catholic forums online. A piece titled "Summorum Pontificum" One Year Later (Part 1) addresses many of the issues raised, among them competence to say the Latin Mass, as below:

"For example, "Summorum Pontificum" says priests must be idoneus, "capable, competent" to say Mass with the older book. Idoneus, a technical term, refers to the minimum requirements for competence, not to expertise.

Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, a distinguished canonist in his day, correctly stated that idoneus, as far as the Latin language is concerned, means that the priest must be able to pronounce the words properly. That is the minimum."

Cardinal Egan is quoted in the media as stating that Father Sawicki was not fluent Lithuanian. This statement is, at times, listed among the reasons for closing Our Lady of Vilnius.

Is "idoneus" different for a priest saying Mass in a vernacular that is not his native tongue? Is fluency required? Why should that case be any different from the Latin Mass.

Please discuss. Inquiring minds want to know.

Another Friend in the Blogosphere

We have another friend in the blogosphere, Suzannah B. Troy, artist and cat lover. Suzannah is a prolific blogger who documents her life in the city in an exuberant and open manner. Her blog first came to my attention on May 11 when she commented on the "stolen church" story in her post Church "stolen" sold and it evokes feeling for me of Cardinal Egan selling the Churches like a bake sale, feels like a crime, read on. It kind of evoked that feeling for me as well.

A Friend in the Blogosphere

Our story, complete with pictures is featured in BrianC's blog, "My Tears Spoiled My Aim." Friday's post, titled Our Lady of Vilnius tells our whole story complete with pictures.

Salient quote:
"One of my favorites in the category of "small parish churches" is Our Lady of Vilnius, founded in 1905 to minister to the city's Lithuanian population. Like so many small churches throughout the five boroughs, this parish serves as a focal point for the neighborhood, even long after much of the local Lithuanian population has moved elsewhere. Located on Dominick Street in Soho, it sits just opposite the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, and for years I've noticed it with curiosity as we've left the city for destinations far afield."

Though not gone, we are close to forgotten by the media and by those who do not believe in miracles. Thanks BrianC for noticing and valuing what we, too, hold dear. Now I have another blog to visit when I feel like my sensibility is going extinct.

Sanne

Sanne Spetter, my friend and colleague for 20+ years passed away last Sunday after holding a mucosal melanoma at bay for 2 years with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, sheer will and love for her family and friends.

Born a Jew, hidden in a Christian household in Holland and subsequently reunited with her father, an Ethical Culturist, in the United States, Sanne was well educated regarding the world's religions and endorsed the best in all of them while belonging to none. Nonetheless, while enjoying a period of remission and recovery, she accompanied me to Our Lady of Vilnius on February 18, 2007, the next to last Sunday Mass before our closure. She sat by my side during Mass and later shook the hand of Father Eugene Sawicki who had kept both of us in his prayers throughout her illness. She witnessed first hand the place that had become so important to me and saw the people I had described in anecdotes.

Though she did not attend our church I see her as very much present there: in the prayers of the parishioners during Masses that I requested, in the constant prayers and support extended to me by Father Eugene and Joy McAleer during her illness, in the old and worn little building that symbolized many of the values that she upheld. Sanne had an uncanny ability to "tell it like it is" articulating views that were true, descriptive, crisp, live and often screamingly funny. What I will miss most is the good laughs that we shared, laughs that I doubt anyone else will ever provide.

Without the support of Our Lady of Vilnius, I doubt that I could have stood by my friend and witness the severe ravages of her illness. Without Sanne's support, I doubt that I could have sustained my efforts on behalf of Our Lady of Vilnius. Sanne will remain in our prayers and I hope that she will continue to help us and our parish.

A Voice from the Past, or is it the Present?

Last month a box of what others considered detritus was salvaged from Our Lady of Vilnius Church. Many voices speak and sing from these clippings, manuscripts and bulletins. This is one of them, speaking on Sunday, July 27, 1997:

"Instead of raising your voice in the newspapers, raise it before the Tabernacle"
-Council on Unnecessary Letters to the Press; St. John Marie Vianney.

"But I would say, after rasing your voice to the Lord in the Tabernacle it would do no hurt to raise your voice in the letters to the newspapers on behalf of the people of God and against the injustices imposed upon them by the City Fathers. A voice raised on behalf of the people is itself a beautiful prayer. It goes straight to the Heart of God.

The Lord says: "Pray Always." When you walk the streets pray for the people. When you wait a half hour for a bus and feel sick from the heat (because the rich and powerful have last week decided to cut bus service still further while giving more money to the Real Estate and Wall Street types) pray for the sick...all need your healing prayer.

St. John Vianney continues:

"I often think that when we come to adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we should obtain everything we want, if we would ask for it with a very lively faith and a pure heart."

Bulletin: The summer is here arranged for our enjoyment. Despite all the surrounding nonsense we can rely on the promise of God that, in the long run, all will be well. If we are breathing and complaining, that's a good sign. We are still sharing in the greatest of God's gift, the gift of life. So make the best of it. Like the design says on my T shirt: "Dont worry, Be Happy." The Lord is always with us. We are always in His Heart."

Cheers!"

Update your resumes!

Employment Opportunity in the Archdiocese of New York

Found on CatholicJobs.com:

The Archdiocese needs an assistant to the director of the Development Office.

Lost and "Lost": The Sacred and Profane

Is ABC's "Lost" Our Lady of Vilnius' parallel universe? Can I learn from watching it, or will it just make me unhinged?

As I was scanning the front page of today's New York Times Arts section, Gina Bellafantes's article, Philosophy, Mystery, Anarchy: All Is ‘Lost’ caught my eye. What with Our Lady of Vilnius and all, I watch very little TV. Despite the show's being ABC's blockbuster hit for 4 years, I never even heard of it, but "Philosphy, Mystery, Anarchy?". The shoe seems to fit.

"Lost,” ... denies us the satisfaction of ever feeling that we might confidently explain, to the person sitting next to us at dinner, that we have a true grasp of what is going on — of who among the characters is merely bad and who is verifiably satanic. To watch “Lost” is to feel like a high school grind, studying and analyzing and never making it to Yale. Good dramas confound our expectations, but “Lost,” about a factionalized group of plane crash survivors on a cartographically indeterminate island not anything like Aruba, pushes further, destabilizing the ground on which those expectations might be built. It is an opiate, and like all opiates, it produces its own masochistic delirium."

Replacing a some of the author's words can give us something like this:

"Lost on Broome Street” ... denies us the satisfaction of ever feeling that we might confidently explain, to the person sitting next to us at dinner, that we have a true grasp of what is going on — of who among the characters is merely bad and who is verifiably satanic. To watch the Save Our Lady of Vilnius Committee try to save the parish is to feel like a high school grind, studying and analyzing and never making it to Yale. Good dramas confound our expectations, but “Lost on Broome Street” about a factionalized group of parishioners in a culturally indeterminate archdiocese nothing like the archbishopric of Bing Crosby's "St. Mary's", pushes further, destabilizing the ground on which those expectations might be built. It is an opiate, and like all opiates, it produces its own masochistic delirium. "

Calling anyone in a masochistic delirium: Wake up, smell the Starbucks and please help us preserve our heritage as New Yorkers, Roman Catholics and lovers of humanity!

A Deu$ ex Machina Descends for St. Brigids

After a long fight, after numerous press releases enumerating the reasons for closing the parish and demolishing the church, after an hour's worth of wrecking ball that destroyed much beloved stained glass, apparently all is forgotten by the archdiocese as an anonymous donor steps forward with a $20 million endowment for the parish and the school.

I read all about it in the New York Times article Donor Gives $20 Million to Revive a Historic Church by Sewell Chan. Salient quote:

"In July 2006, a day after demolition work began, a State Supreme Court justice issued a temporary restraining order halting the work. But in February 2007, the lawsuit was dismissed, a ruling that was affirmed on appeal. In January of this year, the plaintiffs, appealing yet again, got permission to bring the case to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

Marisa A. Marinelli, a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight who has been representing the Committee to Save St. Brigid’s since 2006, described Wednesday’s announcement as a “very positive development,” but said that the committee members had to learn more details and have a discussion before deciding whether to drop their pending appeal."

Seven other news outlets have picked up this story. Students of spin, or those who are seeking pronouncements not uttered by Joseph Zwilling, might want to read them all:

Anonymous donor saves NYC's St Brigid's Church

St. Brigid's Church Saved by Anonymous Donor by Junia Mink at "eNews 2.0."

Donation Saves Church (Update) at "Gotham Gazette"

St. Brigid's saved from wrecking ball by anonymous $20M donation by "New York Daily News" writers Christina Boyle and Corky Siemaszko

St. Brigid's Church Saved by Anonymous Donor at Gothamist

Manhattan Parish, School Saved by Multi-Million Dollar Donation at NY1

St. Brigid's Church is saved at "The Irish Echo"

The blogosphere has begun to weigh in with a post on "Shrine of the Holy Whapping." The post, $20 Million Later, St. Brigid's (NYC) Saved mentions Our Lady of Vilnius, saying "Whether or not the organ, or anything else, is still in place is uncertain, since the archdiocese had already begun to disassemble the building, and the Archdiocese of New York did some pretty serious pre-demolition work to other parishes slatted for controversial closures, such as Our Lady of Vilnius."

The post also has links to the history of St. Brigid's and its contents.

dotCommonweal has picked up on this story with David Gibson's post, Saving St. Brigid. At this point the forum is focussed on Cardinal Egan's sudden transfer of many pastors throughout the archdiocese. I hope that some of the regulars can bring some observations back to the point at hand. I also wonder if this development will cause any whispering in the loggia.

Stay tuned.

Dalia: Celebrating a Life

Dalia's life was celebrated by her fellow parishioners on the steps of Our Lady of Vilnius yesterday. The picture, taken when Dale was about 20, displays all the beauty of her spirit.

In Remembrance of Dalia Bulgaris

Last night I received the sad news that Dalia Bulgaris had passed away earlier in the day. I knew that, within the past week, she had become gravely ill, but I always hope for the best, at least the best from my perspective. I always expected her to recover and once again be in our midst. After I got the phone call from Rita, I got an announcement and a call for prayers that Mindaugas had sent out to all of us.

Saulius Simoliunas left the following comment on a previous post to this blog:

"Dalia Bulgaris died before noon on May 3, 2008, leaving us and her numerous grateful students, who later became accomplished scientists. We will aiways honor and cherish her memory."

I was not able to attend the gatherings today at St. Patrick's Cathedral and on the steps of Our Lady of Vilnius and I am sorry that I missed the opportunity to stand among my fellow parishioners and pray that Dalia's soul be at rest in God.

Though her illness prevented her from being present with us over the last few months, she was always with us in spirit. She expressed her sorrow at the closure of Our Lady of Vilnius, saying that she felt like an oddball in the mainstream parishes but felt at home at Our Lady of Vilnius. She had expressed something that many of us felt. I was proud to be her fellow oddball. She was intelligent, sensitive, kind and genuinely good.

As we pray for her soul, let us also ask her to keep helping us and our parish as she did in life.

My kind of Pope!

"Benedict’s kindness toward the strays of Rome is already the stuff of Vatican legend. His house in Germany, its garden guarded by a cat statue, was filled with cats when Benedict lived there full time before he was posted to the Vatican in 1982. "

This is a quote from today's "New York Times" article titled Cat Lovers Appreciate Soul Mate in Vatican. Normally I will curl up on top of the Times for a nap or bat a paw at it while it's being read, but today I nearly shredded the paper in my enthusiasm for this article. Please read the rest of this inspiring story.

Papal Blessing

A miniature reproduction of the Our Lady of Vilnius altar icon attended Pope Benedict XVI's Mass at Yankee Stadium and received the papal blessing offered at the end of the Mass.

Our Lithuanian-American chorister held up the little icon as the Holy Father paused briefly before the choir in his popemobile.

The archdiocese closed our church but we are still present, still hopeful, still faithful and still part of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Danute: We mourn another passing

Grazina called yesterday and left a message that Danute Strout had passed away. We had visited her in the hospital last Sunday, realizing the gravity of her condition.

Danute had been living with cancer since I first met her three years ago. Sometimes she wore a wig, sometimes her own hair. Sometimes she had a rattly cough. She did not let these things diminish the pleasure she took in life. She joined in our protests and social gatherings and graciously offered us hospitality. She was very proud of her heritage and was eager to share its riches with initiates like me. I remember sitting across the table from her last spring in Kenny's Broome Street Bar as she spoke enthusiastically about her upcoming vacation in Lietuva.

Last November, after our committee to save the church had met, Danute invited us to her home for a snack. She proudly served us her zeppelinai and mushroom gravy, hardly a snack but more of a special occasion meal.

I will miss her smile, her fortitude, her kindness and her love of life. Whenever we gather she will always be with us and in our prayers.

Benedictus Qui Venit

On April 30, 2007 The New York Post carried a brief item by Dan Mangan: "POPE WANTS TO SAVE N.Y. CHURCH: LITHUANIA PREZ." The item begins:

"Pope Benedict XVI wants to see a lower Manhattan church shuttered by Edward Cardinal Egan reopened, according to a European head of state."

The inclusion of Our Lady of Vilnius Church on President Adamkus' agenda during his audience with the Pope was confirmed on the Lithuanian government's web site.

Today Pope Benedict XVI arrived in New York. During his 3 day visits he may pass very closely by our unassuming church nestled in its side street. The Holy Father might have glanced out of the helicopter carrying him to the UN and unwittingly seen the roof of Our Lady of Vilnius.

As I blog, my television is tuned to coverage of the Holy Father's visit. On EWTN Father Richard Neuhaus was explaining why the Pope addressed the UN in French saying that the Holy Father recognizes that "...Man is dependent on culture. Culture is dependent on tradition." EWTN then went dark, so I turned to CBS where Pablo Guzman was offering some historical information on St. Joseph's Church in Yorkville, where Pope Benedict will attend vespers this evening. Mr. Guzman stated that there is a German Mass on Sunday followed by a coffee hour.

A native New Yorker, I am more of a skeptic than a cynic. As irrational as it seems, I have really been waiting in joyful hope for this papal visit. As noted above, we have a Bavarian Pope who believes in the importance of culture. A church that holds Mass in the mother tongue and has a coffee social is hosting him.

I feel a certain electricity in the air. This will be a weekend that many Catholics will converge. Everyone who values the unique culture of Our Lady of Vilnius should pray early and often throughout the Papal visit that the Holy Spirit blows the dust off of this archdiocese, renews our faith and influences the powers of this archbishopric to honor the values expressed by Our Holy Father.

Pray for the survival of our parish and our church!

Valio! Valio! Valio! and "long years" to Pope Benedict from the steps of Our Lady of Vilnius

This Sunday, when we gathered, we celebrated the birthday of Deacon Vytas, whose presence is always so welcome and inspiring.

One of our parishioners also reminded us of the birthday of Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday. As we sang and toasted and wished Vytas "long years" in Lithuanian, we also wished the same for Pope Benedict and included him in our prayers.

Satyagraha and Our Lady of Vilnius

When I am not standing in a holy place singing "Marija, Marija," I sing in two choruses. The leader of one of them also works for The Metropolitan Opera, so we have been privileged to hear some technical detail of the chorus's preparation for Philip Glass's "Satyagraha." In today's New York Times, Anthony Thomasini reviews this production: "Fanciful Visions on the Mahatma’s Road to Truth and Simplicity". This opera is based on a period of Mahatma Gandhi's life when he set about helping Indians in South Africa achieve human and civil rights. The word sanskrit "satyagraha" has been translated to mean "reality force" or "truth force": another way of standing in a holy place, and perhaps the only way.

Let us all aspire to be "SATYAGRAHI," as described below:

A) A satyagrahi (one who practices satyagraha) must be willing to shoulder any sacrifice which is occasioned by the struggle which they have initiated, rather than pushing such sacrifice or suffering onto their opponent, lest the opponent become alienated and access to their portion of the truth become lost.

B) The satyagrahi must always provide a face-saving "way out" for the opponents. The goal is to discover a wider vista of truth and justice, not to achieve victory over the opponent.

I will strive for the above AND, I'm going to the opera. It's sung in Sanskrit. Maybe it will help me with my Lithuanian!

Come Stand With Us in the Holy Place

As the anticipation mounts for the visit of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, we continue to gather on Sunday and pray for the restoration of our parish and of our church. We assemble at 10:30 AM across the street from the main entrance of the Cathedral of St. Patrick. We sing, we pray and we communicate.

Afterwards we head downtown to Our Lady of Vilnius, 570 Broome Street, where we ask Our Lady for her mercy and protection. Afterwards, we share refreshments and enjoy good fellowship.

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place."

-Matthew 24:15

We invite you to stand with us in the holy place.

Ellen Halloran's vision:The Half Drowned World

The image above does not do justice to the original painting that will remain on display at the Ceres Gallery on West 27th Street until April 19th.

At last evening's opening Ellen graciously received friends and other viewers as she stood in the center of the gallery, bemused at seeing her own work literally in a new light: matted, framed and hung with an elegant symmetry on the pristine white walls.

These works were painted, mostly from memory, of Peru's Amazon region. The images, rich in sky, water and reflection conveyed, at least to me, a feeling of serenity, solitude and spaciousness amid the "precarious contingencies" that the artist mentions in her notes.

This post is not off the topic. Ellen is one of the many who have been drawn to Our Lady of Vilnius and whose sensibility has contributed to the richness of this special parish.

Ceres Gallery
547 West 27 Street, Suite 201
(between 10 & 11 Aves.)
New York, NY 10001
212-947-6100

hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 12-6
Thursday 12-8

Palm Sunday, 2008: A Reflection

"Then Jesus said to them,


"This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.""

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

March 2, 2008: Still Standing

The church is still standing and so are we!

On Sunday, March 2, we gathered in front of the church as we have been doing every Sunday since it was locked on February 26, 2007. Eucharistic minister Vytas led us in prayer and gave us his very effective words of inspiration in Lithuanian. Rita came prepared with two pots of a hearty soup and Mrs. Aleliunas brought the homemade cheese that she usually brings to our Vyciai meetings. It is now a treat to see Mr. and Mrs. Aleliunas, not a weekly event. They are inspirational by their mere presence.

At the most recent meeting of our Save Our Lady of Vilnius Committee, a member stated that it is rumored that the church has been demolished, that it had been announced on a Connecticut radio show.

Here we have evidence to the contrary: the church is standing. We are not only still standing, we are still praying, still working, still hoping and, one year later, we are still inspired.

Concert Tomorrow at Paul Hall

One of the joys of Our Lady of Vilnius, even though we worshipped in the basement dancehall, was the presence of Edvinas Minkstimas. He shepherded the ad hoc choir through the Lithuanian liturgy and coaxed a beautiful Communion meditation out of our battered and yellow-toothed grand piano every week.

It was marvelously incongruous to have a musician of his calibre creating beauty for our liturgy in a barroom that time forgot.

We no longer have our retro dancehall, but you can hear Edvinas play tomorrow:

Paul Hall, Juilliard School of Music
144 W. 66 Street, West of Broadway
6:00 PM

Follow Edvinas' career on his new website, complete with blog, www.minkstimas.com

Today we have been closed for one year

Above is a video of the candle light vigil that took place on the evening of our closure last year. Please watch, remember, pray and offer your help and support to our cause.

A Sad Anniversary Approaches

Our church was abruptly locked on Monday, February 26, 2007. When I heard that Father Eugene was scheduled to meet with the Cardinal on that morning, I suspected that the archdiocese would lock the church after the noon Mass, so I took the day off and went down there. I had the privilege of being among the first worshippers locked out of the building.

The following was presented in the Sunday bulletin of February, 25, 2007, the last Sunday bulletin. Father Eugene put this verse before us in the spirit of "a thought, a prayer for Lent:"

"Don't tire of your world, Master.
Don't wash your hands of your children,
shaking us off as hopeless,
worthless.
Give us one more chance,
and yet another,
and another.

How your heart must sorrow as you see our need:
our selfishness and sinfulness,
cruelty and degradation,
indifference to your commands,
contempt of your love.
If our hearts sicken over the daily news,
what must you feel?
You who hold the world in your cupped hands,
bending over it lovingly:
listening, yearning,
challenging to better ways...

Yet spiteful arrows pierce your heart daily;
your malicious children spit up in your face...
Father-God, forgive your world:
go on forgiving your children.
Don't leave us to your own devices,
to our self-made hell,
don't cast us away,
flinging us like unwanted playthings
into the chill of outer space.
We have no merits to plead;
our very wickedness must speak for us.
We need you.

O God, forgive your world:
give us one more chance.

Flora Larsson
The Hodder Book of Christian Prayers
(Hodder and Stoughton, 1986)

Send me your "Gippers"!

The picture above was taken at a family wedding in upstate New York in 1985. From left to right are my father, my aunt Ann and my aunt Helen. They were all born in Manhattan to Lithuanian immigrants who were among the first parishioners of Our Lady of Vilnius.

Among my proudest possessions is my father's First Holy Communion prayerbook. Stuck inside of it is a holy picture with Lithuanian text on the back. It tells of a parish mission conducted at Our Lady of Vilnius in 1926.

People who love football, or the movies, or both remember Ronald Reagan as the dying Gipper, sending Pat O'Brien as Knute Rockne out to "do it for the Gipper."

Well, my father, who played semi-pro football in a leather helmet, is one of my Gippers. He died in 1992 at the age of 78. His two sisters, pictured with him, died within months of him and are also my Gippers.

My heart tells me to fight for this cause that sophisticates categorize as lost. I pray and work for the survival of this parish in the name of those who sacrificed to create it in a spirit of innocent faith, hoping to create a spiritual home for their descendants.

Who are my other Gippers? Blessed George Matulaitis, the parishioners of Our Lady of Vilnius, living and dead, and their descendants, some as yet unborn.

Fellow parishioners, please send me your Gippers!

Our Church and Parish in Need of Prayers

Please pray to Our Lady for her intercession in saving our church, in restoring our parish and in healing our sorrows and wounds.

We can unite in prayer and petition Our Lady to help and protect us. Every day at noon and every evening at 9:00 PM, wherever you are, please keep our intention in mind, say a "Hail Mary" and thank Our Lady for all the help that she has already given us.

Also, remember Blessed George Matulaitis who said Mass in Our Lady of Vilnius in 1926. Ask him for his guidance and protection as well.

Ash Wednesday, 2008

The picture above shows exactly what we are giving up for Lent. Our beloved basement hall was still open and Father Eugene Sawicki was saying Mass in his inimitable way on Ash Wednesday of last year. Elaine D. was there that day and she told me how moved she was to see the line of people spilling out of the hall onto the steps that lead to the side entrance.

Normally an attendee at the Sunday Lithuanian/English bilingual Mass, she was struck by the character and diversity of the people assembled. She described most of them as working people of the less affluent kind. Because the Lithuanians and Lithuanian-Americans have been most vocal, it is easy to forget the others now that the church has closed and they have sadly receded, resigning themselves to worship in other places, or perhaps, no place.

In addition to Lithuanian heritage, this church was a living monument to working class heritage. Longshoremen of the "On the Waterfront" era worshipped here with their descendants. Employees of the diminishing number of printing houses came here for lunch hour Mass. The little neighborhing tenements and brownstones all sheltered families who came to the little church next door or around the corner, regardless of their ethnicity.

What they came to was a small church as comfortable and modest as their own homes. They came to worship in a church founded by Father Shestokas, who was a longshoreman before he was a priest, and, I hear, while he was Pastor, as well. Father Eugene Sawicki continued the legacy of the working priest until his retirement from the FDNY. He remained "down to earth", easy to talk to and with a wicked sense of humor. From his un-pulpit under the dancehall's disco ball he emphasized the mysterious presence of God in our daily lives and the dignity and value of our souls, of us.

This is something that no one should have to give up.

Exile On Fifth Avenue

Against all odds, we continue to gather across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral to pray, to commune, to make our presence known and to cast our story, like a message in a bottle, across the street before the faithful that stream out of the cathedral.

There is disagreement among us about doing this. Will we make the Cardinal angry? What good will it do? Those of us who gather do it because it does good for us.

We gather with each other and strengthen a bond. The vast bronze door opens and we can see straight down the center aisle to the altar. We know that the Lady Chapel lies beyond, a modest alcove in the grandeur where people bring the pain and questions in their hearts before Marija. Our voices, such as they are, mingle, rise in singing "Marija, Marija" and travel down that aisle towards Our Lady, joining those of the many who kneel, and have knelt, before Her.

People look up at us, startled. Some of them come over to talk and accept our brochure. For nearly a year we have gathered before the colossal Atlas, who, with inanimate patience, bears the world on his shoulders as his unseeing eyes gaze down the aisle with us.

We are exiles, marooned across the gulf of Fifth Avenue. We wave our flags with pride in our heritage, but also in distress:

"Please look at us! Hear us! Understand us and help us!"

There are many hearts that resonate with these feelings. Please join us.