The Pamphlet of The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. “Church History.” The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://www.catholicshrineatlanta.org/phpMap/history.php>
St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church. “Brief History.” St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church. eCatholic. n.d. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://saintmichaelcc.org/brief-history-of-st-michaels>
St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church. “Description of Our Church.”St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church. eCatholic. n.d. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://saintmichaelcc.org/description-of-our-church>
O’reilley, Ralph. Personal Interview. 18 April 2016
What do the structures of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and St. Micheal The Archangel say to you? The antique walk is unique and imprinted while the modern day journey is implemented and mixed in with the traditional. What does this mean? As I went through the Catholic Shrine, I discovered a very nuanced theme than the modern St Michael the Archangel. The Catholic Shrine depicts a more aged structure, a preserved antique church, bringing in an essence of modernism, but keeping its original tone. On the other side of the coin, St Micheal the Archangel has a simple yet elegant structure with a very modern day architecture. But what are we observing? Through this journey, we have seen similarities and differences in the way both churches are structured, but Overall from the history of both the Old Catholic Shrine and Modern Catholic Church, my experience of being Catholic, my experience in both churches, and the Roman Catholic Church in general has shown a profound evolution over the years due to different objectives, necessities, issues, and Vatican II that they had in the moment creating those different traditions, liturgy, rituals, structure in the built environment, and more, but even in all that change from centuries ago till now, the Catholic Church still persists the way it is meant to persist and what it stands for, and the root of its birth, all of its importance and meaning.
The History of St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church
St Michael The Archangel Catholic Church was founded as a mission in 1995. The first mass celebrated in 1996. The St Michael bought a house where they started to develop its masses, offices, and administration because of this rapid growth in community, in June 1996, the Archbishop changed how St Michael is known of being a mission into being a parish.
St Michael The Archangel’s Older Santuary (St. Micheal the Archangel Catholic Church. Church Tour. 2016. The old Sanctuary. Woodstock, Georgia) St Michael the Archangel which is now inside the temple but outside the Sanctuary.
With time, the construction of the real church was founded in 1999 and the first mass was January 1999. When the mass was being celebrated, the statue of St Michael the Archangel was place outside where the courtyard was located to protect the area since it was still under construction. The first house was originally for group meetings, religious education, and would later be the St Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and now gives to 120 families. Due to how they had 7 masses and because of the immense growth of the community of St Michael, they had the necessity to construct and remodel the church. The first mass in the new church was held July 10, 2015. The old temple is now used as a family center.
My experience in St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
St Michael is originally modern as it is. What does that mean? You see St Michael before and after, and it simply carries a modern theme; that St Michael wants to have a touch of an old church of before, possibly, but the church cries out modernism. On the outside I see how immense the entire church is compared to what It used to be. It was only one section and looked like a a little brick building that depicts a church.
St Michael’s Old Church area
On the inside though was an appearance that masses can be celebrated inside, but since the community of St Michael kept growing, the space was too tight, so there they thought of enlarging the whole place. So….
The Old Sanctuary is now a family center where all the activities are held, well most of them.Adoration, Chapel I did not want to take pictures inside to not be disrespectfulParish Offices
Now the church has that section plus the newer section where they transferred the sanctuary to the other side and the area of the brick building is now a family center.
The Prayer GardenThe New SanctuaryEntrance Doors of the New SanctuaryThe Sanctuary DoorsThe Baptismal Fountain and to get Holy Water; it looks like a relative to the one back then of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate ConceptionInside the New Beautiful SanctuaryThe Altar of the New SanctuaryThe benches and the art which was brought from Italy in the new Sanctuary
The Confession RoomThis room is for the babies that are crying so that parents can still here mass, and also if there is not enough space, maybe even for more purposes.The Choir sings up thereLa Virgen De Guadalupe
My trip to St. Micheal was relatively short. There is a lot I see but a lot that does not have too much; but in the history it has, changes can be seen. From the old sanctuary to what it is now a family center, the St Michael Statue inside near the Sanctuary, the breathtaking design in the interior of the new Sanctuary, thatdefinitely looks very alike to The Catholic Shrine but bigger and less decorated, but an elegant modern simplistic theme. It is a complex structure to describe, and it has a lot of art depicted. It made me feel comfortable and it felt extremely spacious then how it used to be. I remember when I used to go to mass in the old church, people had to stand, or go outside the sanctuary and sit on the floor where all the crying babies were at. It is a very nice experience, and the masses here I attend mostly are weekly ones and like the Catholic Shrine, the masses are very short during the week and hold the same things, so the structure might change but they function the same. I did notice how bigger St Micheal has become compared to the Catholic Shrine. That was my experience in St. Michael, I do not have anymore words for it.
The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Pg. 3) ~ https://sites.gsu.edu/lalvarez4/2016/04/22/the-catholic-shrine-of-the-immaculate-conception/
St Micheal the Archangel Catholic Church (Pg. 4) ~ https://sites.gsu.edu/lalvarez4/2016/04/26/st-micheal-the-archangel-catholic-church/
Comparing and Concluding (Pg. 5) ~ https://sites.gsu.edu/lalvarez4/2016/04/26/comparing-and-concluding/
Francis Arinze once said, “The Catholic Faith never changes. But the mode and manifesting this one faith can change according to peoples, times, and places.” (Francis Arinze ~ a short quote) What does he imply by this? Exactly what he says, the Catholic Faith will always stay firm, but the way it functions, the way it is structured, its infrastructure, everything else can change depending on the circumstances. In this research we look at one of the oldest Catholic churches in the Atlanta Area, The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and a more modern church, St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church. The churches will be demonstrating those changes that have occurred over the years not just in the internal area of the Church in its traditions, liturgy, rituals, and music, but also the structure of it due to the different objectives and necessities they have had including but not limited to: war, fire, a big part of Vatican II’s implementation, limited space issues due to growing population, and commodity.
The History of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Welcome to Atlanta’s Most Historic Church! (Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)The First Wooden frame Structure church (1848)
The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception used to be a plain Catholic Church in 1848 by Irish missionary Jon Barry. The first church was as it says on the history map, “A simple wooden frame structure similar to the construction of the surrounding buildings” (Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Church History Page) This would be the first Catholic Church in Atlanta and also first in North Georgia. By 1851, the Atlanta church being more of a mission than a “real” church became an official church and Father O’Neill became the pastor.
Father O’reilley (marked the city of Atlanta and the church)
By 1861, Father O’reilley became the pastor of the Atlanta Catholic Church and its missions. He was known to be a friend to everyone including both with the union and confederates; even after an explosion that occurred from one of the shells during the Civil War which damaged the structure of the church was used as a temporary hospital where the soldiers and those who needed a safe haven could go and he would help not only spiritually, but medically, and with immense guidance. At one point as I went to the Catholic Shrine, I found out more information from a Ralph O’reilley who told me how besides this part of its history, he said Father O’reilley even talked out Sherman before he was going to burn Atlanta so that the Catholic Church and the churches surrounding the area including the Capitol, city hall, and the court house would not be burned down since it says in the Pamphlet of The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception where, “If you burn the Catholic Church, all Catholics in the ranks of the Union Army will mutiny.” (Pamphlet of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)
The First Church built over the location of the Wooden Church Framed Structure (1873)
Ralph O’reilley told me how many Irish Immigrants were populating Atlanta at the time which was the first reason why they built it and the majority were Catholics, so the Church became a stabilizer for the community because it helped the people spiritually but also in many other ways as well. Father O’reilley was honored by the Atlanta Historical Society in 1945 since he was a hero for Atlanta in saving the churches and City Hall and in the same year, the Church was redecorated and designated a Shrine. “Normally churches become shrines because a miracle and more happens like in Fatima and other ones, but this one no, it was an exception due to all its history and importance since it was a “spiritual center, and a stabilizer for the City of Atlanta” as Ralph had told me.
There was even an academy (The Immaculate Conception Academy) that was finished and a complete renovation of the Shrine in 1951 due to a campaign that happened in the community. The official year being 1954 when it was said to become a Shrine.
Now due to the destruction of the Church, instead of fixing the church, they decided to build a new church right where the old one used to lay, and Father B Duggan became the new pastor since Father O’reilley became sick and died September 6, 1972; buried in a vault in the crypt area placed below the church, now being observed by people in tours although tours do not happen very frequently anymore as to what Ralph explained to me.
The Destruction of the Catholic Shrine due to the fire that occurred in 1982
On the other side of the story, Unfortunately, in 1982 there was a fire that destroyed a tremendous part of the Shrine. Even though this unfortunate event happened, they renovated and remodeled the Catholic Shrine.
The idea of Msgr. Grady and Donald Kiernan during the renovation of the Shrine was to, “Restore the original beauty of the church, while updating it where necessary to provide modern conveniences.” (Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Church History page)
The Pamphlet of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
My experience in the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Gothic, Brick Part of the Catholic ShrineThe Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
As I let my eyes rest on The Catholic Shrine of The Immaculate Conception, I could immediately capture how this beautiful Shrine illuminated its Gothic medieval themed exterior, constructed with brick, stone, and stained glass on the outside and interior windows of the Shrine, which gave a mixture of modern yet antique feel in general. But, there are two parts of the Shrine, one where there is an area where the offices of the shrine are in which you have to pass through some brick steps and ring a type of doorbell; from there, you can directly observe the originality of the church just through the design of the door and gate all together. As the man in charge opens the door, in this case Ralph O’reilley, he started to guide me down where the crypt was located with the bodies of Father O’reilley, another father and deacon, but I do not remember their names; he then started talking about the historic highlights about the whole church. I felt extremely horrified about the crypt, but I was able to take pictures of that part and the photos, and I was also able to get valuable information.
Office and crypt area of the Catholic ShrineThe Ancient Door with a gate on the outside with a hole through it and the button to call someone to open the doorCreepy Crypt
The Comparisons
(Before) The older version of what used to be the lights or candles, the time Is very unknown since I could not see it on the picture itself
(After) The lights now, are very Gothic, elegant medieval themed
(After) The Sanctuary now; Ralph said the altar became detached, and the gate was taken out during the 1950’s since Vatican II had become implemented so now the Priests were preaching without turning their backs and it was in the native language of the people, it was as Ralph said, “Instead of the Priest leading us towards Christ, this time we are working with the Priest to get to Christ.”
(Before) The Sanctuary; Ralph told me there was a gate that separated the people and the priest and in this time the priests had their backs turned and had the masses in Latin It was as Ralph said, “The Priest was leading the congregation and we were following him towards Christ.” This was before The Council of Vatican II occurred
(Before) The Virgin Mary then(After) The Virgin Mary now(Before) The Place where the old organ was(After) Is a beautiful art design and some pillars that I see on the sides that look like metal(Before) The baptismal fountain was more elegant, and it was where you got the holy water(After) The baptismal fountain is less elegant then what it used to be but is more modern and is also used to get holy water(Before) The Confessional Box as they used to call it(After) This is called the Reconciliation Chapel where you confess your sins as was the confessional box before, but now it is just a room not a box
As you see what I have seen so far that the Shrine has gone through a lot of change in itsstructure, and some of its liturgy over the years for different reasons. The beauty of this place impacted me when I came inside, and even the nature of this church came out to me as such a marked theme of being ancient and Gothic with a touch of medieval but modern as well. The only thing I know that has not changed is the way a Catholic Church is supposed to function, and somepieces of art of the Stations of the Cross have been restored and Ralph also told me about the statue of The Virgin Mary and Jesus that has been restored as well.
Having visited The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception always gave me a feeling of peace, like I was in a safe haven and I felt that essence like I was in a very historic church. I only needed to see the outsidedoors and I immediately thought it was ancient. I also thought it was a beautiful masterpiece the whole church, maybe not so much on the outside, but the inside is marvelous.
I was able to go to Mass here which was at 12:10 during the week. Only few people went, and I went with my mother. The priest was an old man who had a very calm voice. The homily he have was very short, but that is expected during a weekly mass. The only thing that surprised me was how the Priest sat on the benches just like us, in the way I depicted was to have respect for the area of the altar. Overall I had a great experience in The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
This is one of the art pieces that have been restoredA beautiful image of the Virgin Mary that moved me deeply as I stood there
More images (In general that I took)
The Saints are displayed on the roof part of the interiorThe entrance from the insideThe (Detached) Altar
What is it about the Catholic Church we do not know about? Do we understand its meanings and tradition and transformations? In this Built Environment Analysis I will be comparing and Contrasting; what traditions and transformations one of the oldest 19th century catholic churches in the Atlanta Area and a more modern catholic church in a Suburban area contain. I will also be analyzing why those traditions and transformations are important to us and what it really means, since many do not know what is embedded or misunderstand different concepts of the Catholic Church.
T: The lack of Marta in the built environment of the suburban area of Woodstock to the Atlanta metro area creates difficult circumstances when traveling. (suburbs not want marta to take away poverty)
As I started to gaze at the site ……immediately on the main website….. http://www.atlantasymphony.org/
Observances
Musical
Artistic
I see a calendar
Entertainment
Seems formal
Chamber recital event going to happen
the march music madness where the prices are a lot lower than normal
Robert Spano (he looks weird, just creepy) will receive a “Champion of NEw Music Award”
The decorator’s house
Dinner and a concert
Many links to other sites (CONCERTS & TICKETS, PLAN YOUR VISIT, LISTEN & WATCH, EDUCATION & COMMUNITY, ABOUT, GIVING, Q) The links to other places stand out so the people would search into it and know it is there without becoming confused.
Plenty of information to go to if confused
Søndergård Conducts Berlioz, Ravel, and Debussy
Thoughts
Why does it have to start so intense…I guess to grab the audiences attention….those being maybe…professional musicians, people who want to be entertained by music, someone wanting to do something different then they would normally do in their life, educators, those music students.
A lot of options ..different concerts you can choose to go to for different experiences
Its expensive
The links to other places stand out so the people would search into it and know it is there without becoming confused and also many things stand out to grab the attention of people in general so they attend these concerts and events at least that is what I think
Anyone can go, but I would suggest not bringing small children it is not made for them
My experience
I went one time and it was very formal(I wore a fancy dress), its serious, with insanely good musicians; where real, live music is played, different good experience
In BUY Tickets it shows March Concerts with a conductor who will perform and a chamber recital and where to buy the ticks and the time
In CALENDAR it literally shows what event/concert is happening/is going to happen, what time and day, it even links to the event itself, the music, and the program’s notes, someone talking about those pieces, and more.
These are the conductors and musicians (it talks about who they are, what they play, and what they have done and are doing)Mission Statement and History (how they want to bring out those that are talented and make them better basically and just how they began)Contact Information (just how to contact them (Atlanta Symphony)
![20160401_141048[1]](https://sites.gsu.edu/lalvarez4/files/2016/03/20160401_1410481-15j59zf-e1459569272794.jpg)
