Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
District | Archdiocese of Washington |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Friary/Monastery |
Location | |
Location | 1400 Quincy St. N.E. Washington, D.C., United States |
Geographic coordinates | 38°56′15″N76°59′07″W / 38.9375°N 76.9853°W |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Aristide Leonori |
Type | Friary |
Style | Neo-Byzantine |
Groundbreaking | 1898 |
Completed | 1899 |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Added to NRHP | 17 January 1992 |
Franciscan Monastery and Memorial Church of the Holy Land | |
Coordinates | 38°56′15″N76°59′7.1″W / 38.93750°N 76.985306°W |
Area | 44 acres (18 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 91001943 [1] |
Website | |
www.myfranciscan.org |
The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America [2] [3] is a Franciscan complex [nb 1] at 14th and Quincy Streets in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C. Located on a hill called Mount Saint Sepulcher, [5] and anchored by the Memorial Church of the Holy Sepulcher, [3] it includes gardens, replicas of various shrines throughout Israel, a replica of the catacombs in Rome, an archive, a library, as well as bones of Saint Benignus of Armagh, brought from the Roman catacombs and originally in the cathedral of Narni, Italy.
The Very Reverend Charles A. Vassani (1831–1896) established the U.S. Commissariat of the Holy Land in 1880, in New York City. It was from this location that Rev. Vassani and Father Godfrey Schilling, O.F.M. (1855-1934) began to plan to build a "Holy Land in America" and a Holy Sepulcher. They envisioned building on a high hill on Staten Island, overlooking the entrance to New York's harbor. These plans were later dropped. Eventually the plans changed to a wooded hilltop in Brookland, Washington, D.C. In 1897, Fr. Godfrey purchased the McCeeney Estate in Brookland in order to found a monastery and church.
The six Brothers lived in the abandoned McCeeney house. After purchasing the site, Fr. Schilling visited the Holy Land and took measurements and photographs of the Holy Sites. In February 1898, ground was broken, and the cornerstone was laid on the Feast of St. Joseph.
Construction of the holy shrines, gardens, and Rosary Portico continued for several years. The Church was consecrated in September 1924, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its dedication. [6]
In January 1992, the "Franciscan Monastery and Memorial Church of the Holy Land" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [5]
In 2022, the Archdiocese set the site as the sole designated location for Sunday celebration the Tridentine Mass within the city of Washington. [7]
The Memorial Church of the Holy Sepulcher was designed by the architect Aristide Leonori. [3] The cornerstone was laid in 1898 and construction completed in 1899. The church's design alludes to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Its floor plan loosely resembles the fivefold Jerusalem cross. It was also built in the neo-Byzantine style, resembling Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. [nb 2] Some Romanesque influences were added to the design.
The Rosary Portico designed by John Joseph Earley surrounds the church. It contains fifteen chapels depicting the mysteries of the Rosary. Each chapel contains plaques bearing the Hail Mary in nearly two hundred ancient and modern languages. The Rosary Portico resembles the Cloister of St. John Lateran in Rome and Saint Paul's Outside the Walls. Various Christian symbols from the catacombs decorate the facade.
Attached to the Church is the neo-Romanesque Monastery. The Monastery grounds contain replicas of shrines in the Holy Land, a Lourdes grotto, and a replica of the Porziuncola.
Many artists and architects have contributed to the development of the site. [9]
The Library and Archives contain various materials on the Holy Land and the early development of the monastery, monastery life and a large collection of vestments.
A Lively-Fulcher organ was installed in 2003 [10] which replaced the Henry Pilcher Sons Opus 1481. [11] There are monthly recitals.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
A shrine to the Virgin Mary is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinations of pilgrimages.
Brookland–CUA station is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., on the Red Line. Service began on February 3, 1978. The station serves the Brookland neighborhood and the Catholic University of America (CUA). It is the focal point of an upcoming transit-oriented development project.
Northeast is the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It encompasses the area located north of East Capitol Street and east of North Capitol Street.
Brookland, also known as Little Rome or Little Vatican, is a neighborhood located in the Northeast (NE) quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is best known for its numerous Catholic institutions, including schools, religious communities, shrines, institutes, and other organizations built and based around the Catholic University of America.
The Via Dolorosa is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have taken, forced by the Roman soldiers, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—a distance of about 600 metres —is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. It is today marked by fourteen Stations of the Cross, nine of which are outside, in the streets, with the remaining five stations being currently inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Virgilio Canio Corbo was an Italian Franciscan Friar and professor of archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem.
Bartolo Longo was an Italian lawyer who has been beatified by the Catholic Church. He was a former Satanic priest who returned to the Catholic faith and became a third order Dominican, dedicating his life to the Rosary and the Virgin Mary. He was eventually awarded a papal knighthood of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
The Catholic Church in Israel is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, in full communion with the Holy See in Rome. The Catholic Church in Israel is divided into three main jurisdictions: the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, and the Salesian Mission. Each of these jurisdictions has its own responsibilities and areas of operation.
Portiuncula, also spelled Porziuncola or Porzioncula, is a small Catholic church located within the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli, situated about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Assisi, Umbria. It is the place from where the Franciscan movement started.
The conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques occurred during the life of Muhammad and continued during subsequent Islamic conquests and under historical Muslim rule. Hindu temples, Jain Temples, Christian churches, synagogues, and Zoroastrian fire temples have been converted into mosques.
Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo is a titular church in Trastevere, Rome. It is the official church of the papal order of knighthood Order of the Holy Sepulchre. A side chapel is dedicated to the Order and a former grand master, Nicola Canali is entombed there. It is located on the Janiculum. Since 1946, the church has been under the care of the American congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement.
The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre or Holy Community of the All-Holy Sepulchre is an Eastern Orthodox monastic fraternity guarding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other Christian holy places in the Holy Land, founded in its present form during the British Mandate in Palestine (1920-1948). Headed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, the brotherhood also administers the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, such as metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, hieromonks, hierodeacons, and monks.
The Custody of the Holy Land is a custodian priory of the Order of Friars Minor in Jerusalem, founded as the Province of the Holy Land in 1217 by Saint Francis of Assisi, who had also founded the Franciscan Order in 1209. In 1342, the Franciscans were declared by two papal bulls as the official custodians of the Holy Places in the name of the Catholic Church.
The New Church of the Theotokos, or New Church of the Mother of God, was a Byzantine church erected in Jerusalem by Emperor Justinian I. Like the later Nea Ekklesia in Constantinople, it is sometimes referred to in English as "the Nea" or the "Nea Church".
Brother Cajetan J. B. Baumann was a Franciscan friar and a noted American architect. Baumann’s designs were incredibly progressive, providing modern interpretations of Gothic architecture.
Aristide Leonori was an Italian architect and engineer. He worked mostly on religious buildings in Italy, the United States, and Africa, in a variety of styles.
Deir es-Sultan, literally the Monastery of the Sultan, is a monastery located on the roof of the Chapel of Saint Helena, which is part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. The Status Quo, a 250-year old understanding between religious communities, applies to the site.
Alberto Gori, OFM was a Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Custodian of the Holy Land.