Saint Clement's Eucharistic Shrine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint Clement's Eucharistic Shrine is a historic Roman Catholic shrine located on Boylston Street in Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts.[1] It is dedicated to the adoration of the Eucharist.[2] It was designed by the renowned collegiate and ecclesiastic architect Ralph Adams Cram.[3] Saint Clement's, as the church is more commonly known, is a part of the Archdiocese of Boston, and is host to the Oblates of the Virgin Mary.[4]
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[edit] Oblates of the Virgin Mary
As columnist Charles A. Coulumbe put it, "St. Clement’s Eucharistic Shrine [is] under the aegis of the Oblates of Mary the Virgin."[5] The Oblates of the Virgin Mary, which was officially founded in 1827 by the Venerable Bruno Lanteri, is a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary which trains young men to become priests and monks.[6] The Oblate community is located nearby in the Our Lady of Grace Seminary, and members of the Oblate community participate in the masses, often helping out the priests as lectors and altar servers.[7]
[edit] Design and features
Saint Clement's is built in the Gothic style, and was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, the architect most well known for his gothic style, especially for his hand in the development of "Collegiate Gothic".[8] He was also known as being the head of an informal architectural movement known as the "Boston Gothicists."[9]
Against the back wall of the Tabernacle is a reredos in the form of a triptych, which is used during Eucharistic adoration. On the right and left of the center panel of the triptych are angels holding censers, which are copies of those done by Fra Angelico, the Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Below the angels is inscribed the Latin words "HIC EST PANIS QUI DE CAELO DESCENDIT ECCE PANIS ANGELORUM FACTUS CIBUS VIATORUM", which translates to "This is the Bread which came down from Heaven behold the Bread of Angels made the food of pilgrims."[10]
