A big change as this 1930s Polish immigrant parish has been restored to its heritage splendor.
The Twin Cities are a Catholic wonderland. It has produced many prominent church figures. I myself was born there, as well as the great Fr. Z and Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the FSSP.
Do visit this special place if you can. Marvel at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis as well as the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. See, too, the church of St. Agnes, the Assumption, and so much more.
Dynamic new life is brought to these ailing parishes when the keys are passed to vibrant new religious orders:
http://www.fsspminneapolis.org/
Er, um, not to be knit picky, but I think I prefer the older blue sanctuary (not including the ceiling). The blue and white makes the sanctuary look bigger and I really like the large crucifix there. It's so refreshing to see a large Crucifix in a church. They've still got the Tabernacle. All they had to do was take away the free-standing altar and put in a better lectern, update the floor which they did. I'm glad to see they put the altar rail back.
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I think the new altar is a bit too much with all the statues and the embellishments. I prefer to have a statue of the Sacred Heart and St Antony of Padua nearer the pews, in a side altar maybe, because then you can touch their feet, light the candle, you know...!
The yellow colour scheme does look pretty though. Amazing what a change in colour can do.
Sorry, I hope I'm not being too knit picky.
The pseudo-Art Deco cross with attached retable did not match the neo-Romanesque church. Thus the change executed with great artistic taste.
DeleteIn and of itself, the old altar wasn't terrible, but like Anonymous said, it didn't match the Romanesque style of the church. With the elongated bodies of the figures around the crucifix, I actually think the altar might work quite well in the right Gothic-style church.
DeleteWhile I don't know that I was a fan of the old blue color, I do think that a different paint color would have been better in the sanctuary. The new color almost matches the altar too well, which slightly de-emphasizes the altar as the focal point of the sanctuary.
I'm knit-picking too, though. Overall, this was a much-needed transformation.
Not to worry ugly church art has passed its zenith.
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