A memory from May 22,2016

Today's memory is from May of last year. We gathered at the steps to participate in the   NYLC's Sacred Sites  program.

 

There was music and readings. I made several of the "sacred stars" , created for the original event one year ago, with the help of Anthony and our photographer captured the moments and the people. 

I brought one of the signs that I have made for Founders Day . As New York City tears down it's architectural history and builds itself anew, I find myself feeling less at home here as it's streets become less familiar to me with each passing day. Landmarking is one way to preserve what little now remains of what once was. After everyone had placed candles on the steps, we combined them to spell out words that best conveyed the moment. This is something that I have done several times since the night of August 22nd, 2015 and I do it to send a message of hope to those that pass by . I have always hoped that these simple words might help someone or encourage those that see them to go forth from this spot feeling more love, joy and hope. 

I think that there are numerous ways in which a sacred site can impact the lives of those who live near it, rely upon it and just happen to be passing by. A reminder of LOVE may seem simple but in our day and age and city, perhaps it is life saving to see this word. Maybe it feeds someone soul. I'd like to think that these words have the potential to inspire. I know leaving these words behind does soothe me and does express my wish for our world at large. 

Each night , for hundreds of nights, the faithful have gathered to pray for a miracle. In person or by phone (a modern day miracle, in and of itself) .

Interested? Try doing what I sometimes did: rosary in your pocket, listening via ear piece , phone on speaker/mute, as you wander about your day. The voices of others drift in and out as your awareness shifts from the here and now to the place and the past .

Mementos

I love holidays. They are often all that distinguishes one day from the next. I left this at the steps in honor of those , past and present, who hailed from Ireland and helped to create this city, country and church of ours. 

Green

A very belated wish for a happy Saint Patrick's Day. 

Rest In Peace

A thought that I came across & now ponder as we face the future. Perhaps this will hold true. 

Beautiful tokens left at the steps made for this lovely still life. The hearts may have been scattered by me. They would have been the last things that I left there before this house became, for me, the home of others and in a very real way, no longer mine to love, visit, pray at or feel any sort of connection to . R.I.P. 

The final moments & those that have followed...

One day I will finally get around to sitting down and writing out how the last moments of Our Lady Of Peace unfolded. For now, photos will do. This was the sight that greeted us when we headed back over to make sure as was well there.

My heart felt a bit broken by the idea that this would have been the very first night that Our Lady Of Peace would not have been open to all until 9p.m. . The simple fact that Fr. Daly kept the church open from 7a.m. until 9p.m. was incredibly important to me. 

I found the votives depicting the Virgin Mary that I had lit during the vigil the night before and we added 2 new ones that I had made: one with my grandparents and one with the image of OLP :if I had one regret it was that we did not open the wooden doors as we left. The altar was no longer visible , nor was the painting of OLP. We also left a thank you card to everyone for all of their hard work. 

Since I was not sure what would happen next , I took some photos to capture what was still visible. 

Concerned that the lights might soon be turned off, I tri

ed to capture my great grandfathers name one last time.This was the best that I could do.

Along with the small stained glass windows under which we had all walked so many times in the last 2 days . Suddenly the smallest things seemed important simply because they might not be visible tomorrow.

We spoke with many folks who stopped by to pay their respects. Most were both saddened and shocked that such a beautiful church had been closed. 

Worn out and weary, we took one last photo and left. It was after midnight :we had officially rung in my husband's birthday at OLP. 

As time has passed , the steps have evolved and changed. We try to bring things that signify what OLP has meant to us. 

For me, the loss of our Shepard was almost as great as the loss of OLP itself. As  tribute to him, we left a photo along with a prayer for priests and some candles wrapped in clovers. 

The following weekend we left lights of LOVE for all. 

My original sketch called for the words "Love", "Peace" , "Hope" ,"Grace" ,"Joy "but I quickly learned that much more than  50 tea light candles would be required to legibly spell that many inspiring words. And Love seemed to be  the most important element to life that night. 

We returned this past weekend to celebrate mom parents 56th wedding anniversary. I would like to think our visit will bring the blessing of happy and healthy years to them both. 

Earlier in the week I had searched the church web site , looking through archived bulletins in search of prayers that might speak to folks as they stopped by the steps of OLP. 

Everything that we have left behind has been left with great love and with the hope that " God is indeed at work here" and that good will come of all of this. 

My grandparents wedding anniversary will be coming up soon. Married June 25th, 1930 in Our Lady Of Peace church, seen here on their honeymoon.

They settled in Queens, N.Y. and had 2 sons. I have many good memories of their garden , mainly of their fruit trees:they had apples, peaches, mulberries and pears. There was a magnificent magnolia tree that filled with blooms in early spring and would smother the lawn with it's petals. 

The lived opposite a school yard and to this day it is a focal point on neighborhood life. I can recall my grandmother saying that sitting at the window, watching the goings on was better than any t.v. show. 

I think I got my love of music from them. They loved to hum along to whatever they were listening to. 

My grandfather had been a New York City fireman. My grandmother had owned a dress making business before she got married. Perhaps I got my sense of duty from my grandfather and my fashion sense from my grandmother? Sadly, I did not inherit my grandmother's skill set and am disastrous with a needle and thread . 

They lived just down the street from their church and went every day. My grandmother explained that all they had to do was roll out of bed and there they were. 

We pay our respects throughout the year and I often imagine them to be at my side whenever adversity strikes. It reassures me to know that  I am not alone and that I have their DNA, their determination, their back bone ,their grit, their musicality, their creativity, their tendency towards frugality and resourcefulness , their ability to persevere. 

An overdue update: Since November 2014, Life on the 4th floor has been focused upon an effort to save Our Lady Of Peace church in NYC. To understand our involvement, you need to travel back almost 100 years : my great grandfather, along with many other Italian and Irish immigrants, helped to found this church.

When news broke that the Archdiocese of New York had released a list of churches scheduled for closure on or before August1, 2015, my mom called me and I headed over to http://www.churchofourladyofpeace-nyc.org/ to see how the parish  https://www.facebook.com/OurLadyOfPeaceChurchwas handling this news and to learn what I could do to help as I knew our family would want to lend a hand in any way that we could. I was thrilled to learn that every tool available  http://olpchurchnyc.typepad.com/my-blog/was being used  https://www.facebook.com/friendsofolp?fref=nf to get the word out ,including a online (and in church) petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/412/217/546/save-our-lady-of-peace-church-e-62nd-street-new-york-city/?taf_id=12731525&cid=fb_na . Since then, there have been many wonderful events held at Our Lady Of Peace to rally support : A MassMob https://www.facebook.com/NYCMassMob (sign up for their efforts to support churches in NYC :a new round of voting will begin soon) 

, a Founders Day celebration, held several years prematurely, to mark the churches 100th year , and 

The New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites open house weekend. 

There is more to come as the parish awaits word from the vatican , we hope for the best while preparing for the worst. 

In the words of my grandpa John (pictured in the photograph I am holding -shown  about to head off to World War 1 )  "Rome wasn't build in a day", " He who thinks he can can"  and "There is nothing to fear but fear itself". I am counting on my grandfathers words being right and I know they are all watching over us all as we work to preserve this wonderful church that so many call home .  

It's been a while!

Life on the 4th floor has been interesting .

There have been quick trips to places old & new.

Time has flown by as the  last  15 months have passed.  

And the moon has waxed and waned.

A summer came and went.

Fall dashed through. 

And we had our first winter that was not.

That troubles me.

the last to leave

If found, please return:

-and-

I've been told that , of all trees, an oak tree's leaves are the last to let go. They sit there, attached, through winter's storms & they are also the toughest to compost as they take the longest to break down. One small tree sits outside my kitchen window & last weekend I watched as leaves slowly took flight...

Here is another tree on the block-still full of leaves on this almost SPRING like day...

And then there was ICE...

We got hit with a wintry mix last night. Snow with freezing rain, forecast to hit between 3a.m. -6a.m.

As if on cue, I awoke at 4:30 and took my camera to the window. Everything was covered in a shiny glaze of ice. Had I been braver I might have thrown on a coat to go & look around for more sights & photos but I could not imagine that there was anything so amazing out there in the cold, wet dark that it would trump returning to the nice warm bed.