Ornate towers identify church

Pueblo-Spanish architectural style fills Albuquerque

St. Philip Neri – May 26

- Photo by Ted Fitzgerald Situated in old town Albuquerque, San Felipe de Neri Church houses the Stations of the Cross and two rows of hanging lamps.

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Albuquerque, N.M.

Fifteen years ago, on a break from their organized bus tour, three travellers sought to attend the 5:30 p.m. weekday Mass at the historic church dedicated to San Felipe de Neri in old Albuquerque.

Although the pastor had been called away on an emergency, the parishioners present were familiar with the procedure for conducting a Communion service in his absence. So appropriate readings, prayers and responses were followed by distribution of the Eucharist to the 10 people gathered at the front of the ancient nave.

Sacred atmosphere

The atmosphere of quiet beneath the age-worn ceiling and the aura of antiquity rising from the pleasantly cool, uneven red tile floor added to the feeling of sanctity in the thick-walled, windowless adobe church. Perhaps this was how Christians once felt, gathered in small groups in hidden, sacred places to participate in the Eucharist, strangers sharing common beliefs.

Dispassionately observing the little assembly, the church patron looked out from a large painting centred in a niche above the main altar. Dressed in black, the grey-beard saint holds a scroll and rosary in his hands and is flanked by complementary paintings of St. Francis and St. Ignatius.

Philip Neri was a prodigy, a figure that arose in a sixth century Rome that had fallen far from the precepts and teachings of Christ. He started an informal mission to the city, meeting with and attracting lay people from all walks of life to discuss theology and the Scriptures.

Apostle of Rome

He was later ordained and became known for his kindness, care of the poor, compassion and understanding of human nature, the Apostle of Rome.

With like-minded priests, he founded the Oratorians which soon spread worldwide.

Canonized soon after his death in 1595, Philip is the patron saint of the Catholic Church Extension Society, Rome and all priests.

Since that long-ago day of the Communion service, the Albuquerque church interior has been extensively restored with partial arches alleviating the old flat-ceiling standard Mission design.

It retains a simplicity interrupted only by the Stations of the Cross and two rows of hanging lamps the length of the nave. As a registered historical property, San Felipe still displays the original gold-trimmed reredos and main altar.

The parish was established in 1706, the same year the original town was laid out near the Rio Grande. In 1793, San Felipe was relocated with associated buildings, to occupy one full side of the central plaza and has been in continuous use ever since, with some 800 families presently registered there.

The church profile is an instantly recognizable symbol of the city, its ornate double towers at odds with the Mission-style nave, where it dominates North Plaza street. All parts of the church complex, its walled, open-air patios and low adobe wall pierced by arched gateways, exhibit the soft brown hues so typical of the Pueblo-Spanish architectural style maintained throughout Old Town Albuquerque.

Mass times now differ from those in 1991 so that weekday Eucharist takes place before noon in the bright, modern interior, with five weekend Masses. In addition to major celebrations of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Christmas time posadas and other liturgical events, an enthusiastic parish fiesta takes place each year close to the patron's feast day.

After an exploration of the several landscaped countryards attached to the church, the three 1991 pilgrims conveniently found themselves at the second major attraction of Old Town Plaza, the historic La Placita Dining Rooms. It's changed little and it's no accident that New Mexican fare somehow tastes more authentic and more delicious when savoured in Old Albuquerque.

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