This is St. Mary's Church located in Indian River. It was built in 1902. The architect was William Harris a famous PEI church architect. This is supposedly his most famous church on PEI. This beautiful church sadly isn't used much anymore except for a 9:00am Sunday Mass. The Blessed Sacrament is not even reposed in this church anymore. The church's main function is now as the home of the Indian River music festival, a series of concerts held over the summer.
The altar and sanctuary are very stunning all made out wood, possibly even hand carved.
This is a very beautiful church it's really too bad it can't be used to its full potential.
5 comments:
Stunning....I love how the sanctuary lamp is in the middle. I also like the side altars with there Tabernacles. The Blessed Sacrament is only allowed to be reserved in one spot since Vatican II. Priest's used to be allowed to say private Masses at the side altars. But now only one Mass may be said in the church. Beautiful statuary....Do they still have the old style confessionals??
Oh...I just skipped over the post about it not being used much anymore....very sad....
I actually had a typo in there The Blessed Is Not Reserved in this Church anymore. They may have the old confessional but they aren't located in the main church perhaps in the area that the public are not aloud to enter.
I recently visited from the US and was awed by St. Mary's Church. It was decommissioned and is now in the hands of a charitable organization which is much in need of funds to keep the church in good condition for the various musical events hosted there. The exterior has been beautifully renovated recently and now the interior is in need of help. Recently attended a concert there and saw large areas of paint peeling from its walls. This church is an example of splendid architecture and incredible craftsmanship of the people of PEI. Charitable contributions to The Friends of St. Mary's Church, Box 671, Kensington, PEI, C0B 1M0. are now tax deductible.
I can't tell you the date but many years ago, my parents attended mass here to hear an announcement about a meeting after mass to discuss the demolition of this church. My parents, not from this parish, and one other couple from the parish were the only ones to meet with the bishop after mass. I won't go into details but can assure you that this church is still standing due to the hard work and lobbying by my mother. Due to the design, the acoustics are part of what saved the church and brought forward the concerts that help to maintain it today. In honor of my mom, Laura Davis.
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