Old Saint Mary's and Parker Avenue Surprise
Next, I asked what everyone wanted to do. Nico mentioned the Exploratorium, but that did not go over well. I mentioned that the first Cathedral of San Francisco wasn't that far. Both Maria and Nico agreed, so we hopped into the car and drove towards Chinatown. The church is right next to the shopping district of Chinatown and has a statue of the Holy Family with Asian facial features. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the doors were closed. We were a little disappointed, but decided to make up for it, by visiting some other parishes. Our first choice was to head to Star of the Sea (and maybe visit Father Illo), but changed our mind and decided to go first to St. Ignatius, a rather well off parish, right adjacent to the Jesuit University of San Francisco, which is located on Parker Avenue.
We had Christmas music playing on the Pandora, so we were all in a good mood. I had warned both Maria and Nico that St. Ignatius is a very well off parish. The wealth surprised even me, as we walked in and were almost overwhelmed by the immensity of the interior and what we saw. It was QUITE impressive!
As we were exiting the church, I pointed out to Maria that there was a Carmelite Monastery "just down the street." I suggested that we walk to it, but Nico insisted that we drive. We climbed into the car pulled across the street to start driving when Nico asked pointing across the street, "Doesn't that say Carmelite Monastery?" Imagine our surprise to see the Cristo Rey Carmelite Monastery directly across the street from the very well off St. Ignatius Church.
Maria was VERY happy to be able to pray inside of Carmel and see the statues of Carmelite saints. The contrast was pretty stark, since the monastery (at least the chapel where we could enter) was small, somewhat dark and very prayerful. It was exactly what you would expect from something Carmelite!
Maria was VERY happy to be able to pray inside of Carmel and see the statues of Carmelite saints. The contrast was pretty stark, since the monastery (at least the chapel where we could enter) was small, somewhat dark and very prayerful. It was exactly what you would expect from something Carmelite!