Saint Cecilia's Catholic Church in Brooklyn

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Saint Cecilia's is a Roman Catholic church located at 84 Herbert Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. It is named for Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.

[edit] The church

The church was built in 1891. The outer stone used for the construction is limestone. It is most notable for its illuminated copper bell tower which can be seen from the nearby Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

It has the ability to seat over 800 people. Although through its first hundred years the church was regularly filled to capacity, the church is losing parishioners to old age and relocation. The parish no longer draws such great crowds. But, the church is standing its ground and slowly regaining its former glory.

The church property consists of a school, the church, a chapel, the rectory, a convent, a brothers' house, a gymnasium and priest housing. The school is celebrating its centennial this year. Saint Cecilia's chapel was formerly a baptismal area, but due to the Vatican's reformed rules to bring baptisms closer to the church community, the baptismal font was moved to within the church.

Notable pastors were Msgr. McGoldrick. and Msgr. Parks. Cardinal Arinze visited Saint Cecilia's Church, drawing many people from all over the tri-state area.

[edit] Restoration

Saint Cecilia's undewent a restoration project during the 1970s. The church was restored to its former paint scheme. The project was directed by Msgr. Parks. The artists who worked on the church came from Italy. Saint Cecilia's has a painting of Saint Cecilia. Some of the paintings on the walls are "3 Dimensional" using slight crevises and "bumps" to mark out the painting of Saint Cecilia. All around the church is "3 Dimensional" Marble translations of the Crucifiction of Jesus. The stained-glass windows within the church have scenes of Saint Cecilia playing the piano to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ and many more religious scenes.