Our Lady of Hungary

Sat in the south west side of South Bend is this pretty church. Constructed in 1949, it's a very iffy time in church architecture. Thankfully the exterior was spared much of the ugly modernist trends that were beginning to appear.

Atop the tower is a statue of Our Lady of Hungary. With such a specific name as this, there is little guess work in the nationality of the original parishioners. This view also shows that the church roof could use some tender loving care.

The church has a very traditional cruciform shape. Another traditional element is the bell tower and baptistry. In the sixties there was a design movement to have church, bell tower, and baptistry all separate. (As has been mentioned before.) This can be seen at the front of the church. In churches built in the 19th century, the bell tower is directly in the center of the of the roof, right at the front. This deviation is not new, but distinctive; especially when one sees the baptistry directly opposite the tower. Again, it's not a revolutionary, or original design, but it is distinctive.

Despite having been mentioned as a different church, it features many traditional elements. (Part of what makes it interesting!) Traditional elements include, the cruciform shape, the three door entrance, (a reference to the book of Revelation), the rose window, the large transept windows, (seen later), and the stained glass. (Also seen later).

To the side of the bell tower is an altar to Saint Michael the Archangel, and dedicated to those who died in World War II. This is a huge hint to the age of the neighborhood. This area of South Bend is just at the edge of gridded streets, and the winding roads of sixties subdivisions. In short this is the post-war neighborhood, where many a baby boomer was born. To the right of the church is a school, which still operates today. That only adds evidence of the neighborhood being post-war. The school was likely chock full of baby boomers at one time.

Upon seeing the exterior. It does look very traditionally Catholic. What adds to the intrigue are the windows along the nave. Look at the difference between the two. The top ones are very slender and conservative in size whereas the lower windows are arched and broad. Point being: they don't match, and this is another sign of modern design as older churches place high value on architectural conformity. Indeed, it is unsatisfactory to gaze upon two sets of windows that are very dissimilar.

The cornerstone only corroborated the era of construction. Note also the polygonical stone uses for the exterior. This type of stone is common on any structure from the fifties and early sixties. In fact many single story, ranch style homes constructed in this era use this type of stone construction as does the bell tower of the local church of Saint Stanislaus.

As is the case with many parish churches, the current building is not the first. This is the case for the church as the original was outgrown by the congregation. Some churches go through three or four church structures before settling on an appropriate design and size.

Behind the old rectory was this lovely grotto to Our Lady of Guadalupe. This gives a strong hint to the present day ethnicity of the parish.

The church was dedicated in 1949, but in 1962 these multicolored murals painted by Father Peter Prokop were added. The priest was a native of Hungary and his work took over a year to complete. Before this, the church was a very plain white color, but after the frescos were added a triptych was added as well. A triptych is a lavishly painted three panel fixture that can fold inward. On the inverse side of the triptych is Our Lady of Sorrows, and they are folded in during lent. 

This mural is of classic 1960's thought processes. The saint depicted is Emeric, and in Latin the name translates to Americus. It is believed by some Hungarians that Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer and the namesake of the Americas, was named after the saint. Thus according to Father Prokop, Saint Emeric is automatically the patron of the United States, (without any consecration, dedication, or even approval from the Vatican!)

Although there is some instances of creative license in the church, the transept windows were particularly interesting. They are the saints of the First Eucharistic Prayer, the only Eucharistic prayer at the time. In order of mentioning they are Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James,

Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, Jude, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John, Paul, Cosmas and Damian. Then, later in the Mass, Saints  John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia are prayed to specifically. As one can see in the above window, many of the aforementioned saints are found in the above windows. I can safely assume the others not found, are a part of the opposite window.

The baptismal font is not original to the sanctuary, there would have been a separate room for the font. Also the angels each have musical instruments, reminiscent of the nine choirs of angels. (but there's only six?)

The answer to my previous question is above. The three angels on the left carry musical instruments, while the angels on the right carry instruments of adoration: mainly, a thurible.

The side altar of the Sacred Heart and the remnants of the communion rail. One hallmark of churches built after the 1940's is the emergence of the table altar. The thought process being 'if Christ celebrated the first Mass on a table, should our altar not be a table as well?' The sad part is that the altar is stripped of all furnishings and sits vacant and empty, Mass has probably not been celebrated in over two decades, and this hints toward the problems of this modern day parish  

The mural above the Sacred Heart altar is also of the same devotion. To the left of Jesus is Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, the French nun who witnessed the apparition of the Sacred Heart. During the early 1600's, Jansenism was a heresy taking strong hold of the educated church. Mainly, Jansenism was a denial of free-will, of God the Father being this angry father figure set on catching the sinner in the act and banishing the terrible soul to Hell, and encouraged an almost brutal competitive side of Christians making forgiveness an impossible goal. It was under these circumstances that Christ appeared to Sister Margaret Mary and greeted her with the phrase, "Behold the Heart that hath loved so many men." This completely destroyed the Jansenistic narrative in a way only God could. Rather than combatting the heresy head on, it's explained and presented in a way that it cannot be argued or disputed. Devotion spread quickly and soon the Jansen heresy was all but forgotten.

Above the crossing was this lovely IHS, Greek for the first letters of Christ, is a common Christian symbol. The only thing marring it is the giant ceiling fan making a visual blemish in an otherwise beautiful symbol.

Another image of the Sacred Heart with two symbols of Christ the lamb of God and the pelican. The pelican is an unusual symbol that I have described before: it's a medieval superstition that if a pelican cannot feed it's young it will pierce it's own flesh to feed it's young on its own flesh and blood. Although in modern times this has been proven to be false, it is a classic Christian symbol. 

Although this time period has many unique facets in church architecture and design, the best by far is the stained glass. Mixed with polygons and colors, there is the saint in question and surrounded are symbols of said saint. What makes a true challenge is when the saint is left unlabeled. Then, hours upon hours can be spent trying to determine the identity of the saints.

The Stations of the Cross were very simple and most likely from the original church.

In the rear was this lovely inscription, rose window, and organ chambers. The organ is one of the best in the city and the acoustics only enhance the wonderful instrument. It was so disappointing then, that Mass was only attended by about 30 people, in a church that can seat several hundred people. 

This here is where the baptismal font used to reside. The symbolism on the gate is lovely, the fish, the seashell, and the alpha and the omega symbolizing the perpetual character of baptism. And the blue glow coming from the room symbolizes the waters of baptism. Unfortunately this room was filled with storage. What makes it even worse is all four confessionals were chock full of storage as well, (where are confessions heard now??) and finally the front offices of the parish are filled with stuff as well. This church is in desperate need of spring cleaning.

Saint Emeric is not the patron of the United States! That is Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception!

Saint John Eudes was a priest and writer of the 1600's who by extreme coincidence, opposed the Jansenists. This quote talks about about the beauty of the Mass, but I personally shudder to think of Saint John's reaction to the Mass the day these photos were taken. Of all the minor faults, the worst was the separation of the host (Jesus) during the Agnus Dei. Instead of gently breaking the host in half, it was elevated in another mock consecration and tore in half. Yes, Jesus was ripped in half for the world to see. Never mind the particles of Jesus that are now unaccounted for. It truly was a saddening sight to behold.

The narthex of the church in a traditional three door entrance built according to specifications found in the book of Revelation. The only thing confusing is why there are three entrance doors, but one door of equal size leading into the church. Needless to say, it is an interesting choice.

The carpeted sanctuary is not unique. Most churches renovate in the 70's have this. The wood paneling under the murals were likely added at the same time.

A close up of the triptych. On the rear side is Our Lady of Sorrows. It is, or at least was, dramatically reopened during the Gloria of the Easter Vigil.

It was nice to see the original altar still in place, but sadly devoid of any altar cloths or furnishings. The tabernacle veils and sanctuary lamps were a nice touch.