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Exterior of The Church of the Blessed Sacrament ~
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photographs for detailed view
 Main
Door
Over the main door of the church is a large relief modeled
after a Raphael fresco in the Vatican, The Triumph of the
Eucharist (The Disputation of the Sacrament). This is a
companion piece to Raphael’s The Triumph of Philosophy (The
School of Athens) depicting Plato, Aristotle and other Greek
philosophers debating in the courtyards in the Acropolis.
Raphael was honoring the twin medieval sciences of theology
and philosophy in his frescoes, made about 1509. The
original that inspired the upper part of our relief, is
described by Pierluigi DeVecchi in the Complete Works of
Raphael:
At
the top of the lunette is God the Father, and below, within
the large aureola, is Christ with Mary, St. John the Baptist
and the Holy Spirit. The consecrated host over the altar is
the link between the Church Triumphant (in heaven) and the
Church Militant (on earth) and is the focus of the
composition. It is contemplated by, on the semicircle of
clouds of the Church Triumphant, Peter, Adam, John the
Evangelist, David, Stephen and Jeremiah on the left; and on
the right, Judas Macabeus, Lawrence, Moses, Matthew (or
James the Greater or the Less), Abraham and Paul. On the
concentric earthly semicircle is a crowded Church Militant:
to the left, Fra Angelico, the architect Bramant, Gregory
the Great, Julius II, Jerome and, to the right, Ambrose,
Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Innocent III, Bonaventure, Sixtus
IV and Savaronla. The two
lower strips of figures of unidentified clerics and laity
are not in Raphael’s original.
 Exterior
Statues
The exterior statues in the upper towers and to the sides of
the Rose Window are unidentified, but, to the left of the
steps as you enter, are Philip Neri (the founder of the
Oratorians, the order of Cardinal Newman), Francis de Sales
(the humane post-Reformation bishop of Geneva), John Vianney
(the Cure of Ars and patron of parish priests), John the
Baptist de la Salle (the founder of the Christian Brothers);
and to the right, Alphonsus Ligouri (Redemptorist priest and
renowned moral theologian), Francis of Assisi (founder of
the Franciscans), Charles Borromeo (post-Reformation
cardinal and bishop of Milan) and Vincent de Paul (French
“apostle of charity” and founder of the Sisters of
Charity). Directly above are Mary, Queen of Heaven and
Christ the King.
Side Doors
The Saints in the tympana (the space within the arches) over
the left and right entries are the Dominican Thomas Aquinas
(the Angelic Doctor) and the Franciscan Bonaventure (the
Seraphic Doctor). They have been called the “two olive
trees and two chandeliers shining in the house of God.”
They represent, respectively, the Aristotelian and Platonic
influences in medieval theology. Over Aquinas’ image are
the well-known works in Latin from one of his many hymns:
Adoro Te Devote Latens Deitas (Devoutly I adore thee, hidden
God) and over Bonaventure’s image are the Latin words:
Semper Te Sitio, O fons vitae (Continually I thirst for you,
O font of life).
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Interior of Church of the Blessed Sacrament ~
Windows
Entering the church, the saints in the upper
clerestory (second story) windows on your right are Jude and
Simon, Philip and Bartholomew, Peter and Paul, Thomas and
James the Less, Andrew and James the Greater. Below these,
in the centers of the trefoil windows, are various
Eucharistic symbols: the bird and the grape theme (the
faithful being fed by the Blood of Christ), the Crucifixion,
the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Sacrament.
In the upper windows on the
left, from the front of the church are Clare and Thomas
Aquinas, Catherine of Siena and Bonaventure, Luke and John,
Barbara and Matthias; and in the trefoil windows below, from
the front, are: the pelican (Pie Pelicane is referred to in
the sixth stanza of Aquinas’ Adoro To Devote, and is a
reference to the popular medieval myth of the pelican who
pierced its own heart to feed its young), the Agnus Dei (the
Lamb of God), a host over a chalice, the IHS (a monogram of
the first two and last letters of the Greek, for Jesus
Christ and also an abbreviation, in Latin, for Jesus, Savior
of Humanity (Iesus Hominum Salvator). The image in the last
window is of three stalks of wheat (the Bread of Life).
 The
Sanctuary
The Mary and Sacred Heart statues, standing above
beautiful gold-mosaic and marble altars, and backed by rich
red brocade, are by Samuel James Kitson. The floor of the
church is terracotta, green and blue tile, as are the steps
leading to the altar; the altar itself is inlaid with the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and
Omega (symbolizing Jesus as the fullness of wisdom) and the
Latin Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) the words
of the angels in Isaiah which are used in the Preface of the
Mass. Delicate red mosaic pillars support the altar table.
The painted shields of the upper sanctuary wall surrounding
the altar are of some of the saints in the canon of the
Mass. Above the altar is an ornate baldachin (canopy).
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four Gospel writers,
grace the base of the stone pulpit.
Tapestries
The three tapestries behind the altar (the
generous and special gift of Eugene Wood and his wife) are
American, hand woven, and depict the high priest
Melchisedech blessing Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20); the
Crucifixion; and Abraham arriving at the site of the
sacrifice of Isaac, with two servants and the substitute
sacrificial ram in the lower section. In the upper
section, Abraham, about to slay Isaac, is stayed by an angel
(Gen. 22:9-13)
 Rose
Window
The spectacular Rose window was a gift of the
Heide family. Mostly non-representational, it does depict,
in a wide circle, twelve angels playing musical instruments
and, in the center, a chalice with a host. The designer,
Clement Heaton, was an Englishman who worked for 30 years in
Switzerland before coming to America in 1912. His studios
and glass kilns were in West Nyack, New York. He also did
six of the clerestory windows and seven of the lower
windows.
-by Rosemary O'Connell; research by Donna Wandrey. |
