Pillars & Foundations

Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, West Hartford, CT: Lectio Divina Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe.  Campus Description Holy Family Retreat Center is located in a bucolic suburb of Hartford Connecticut. Still decidedly urban the monastery and an expansive, mostly wooded grounds is seated amongst an idyllic upper middle class neighborhood. Forty-eight acres of grounds offer a refuge from the bustle to visitors as well as the people in the community, to which it is open. Trails meander through the forest, and visitors can appreciate thoughtful landscaping and features that include the stations of the cross, grottos and various statues of saints and Christ. One particularly striking feature on the property is a large landscaped labyrinth located on a clearing in the forest. I found it covered in snow on my visit, a...

MIT Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe.  Building & History Wikipedia has a good write-up on this unique building, noting not just the unusual windowless-cylindrical sanctuary, but the landscaping. In warmer months the round sanctuary is surrounded on the outside by a reflecting pool or "moat," as it seems to be described. The trees are a crucial part of the appearance of the building, London Planetrees, they create a natural buffer to the bustle around, while the irregular lighter bark stands in contrast to the dark tones of the brick. A stained glass entryway is perhaps the one part of the structure letting light in, and for someone perhaps only casually familiar with the mid-century modern era, this section of the structure seems to especially evoke that style. The a...

Old South Church, Boston, Massachusetts: New Year's 2019 Organ Concert Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe.  Building & History At the time of my visit, and writing of this post, the Old South Church Congregation is celebrating it's 350th anniversary! Many noteworthy historical figures have been congregants at Old South, including Benjamin Franklin who was baptized there, and Samuel Adams who once held Tea Party meetings in the earliest meeting house. Old South's website notes that the newest structure which is pictured was built in 1875 during the Gilded Age, and it is evident. It describes the architecture as Northern Italian Ruskinian Gothic. I definitely can see similarities in the eaves to some churches I've visited in Italy. If my photos (often blurry on the exterior- I don't get to Back Bay ...