Thursday, August 24, 2006

Mary Help of Christians, Aiken SC

I went with a friend to nearby Aiken, SC yesterday and visited his home parish, St. Mary Help of Christians. A truly beautiful 19th century structure ... the apsidal mural is particularly gorgeous, with the symbols of the twelve apostles. The parish has outgrown the church, and most Masses are in a large hall across the street. Daily Mass and at least one of the Sunday Masses (I think) are still celebrated in this beautiful church.

I had no idea that the title of "Help of Christians" was given after the victory at Lepanto!

And can someone enlighten me: what's up with these compartmentalized baptismal fonts?

 
 
 
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6 comments:

Sean said...

The baptismal font compartments: just a dealer add-on to jack the price up. Notice you still can't get a decent cup holder...

Or maybe it's something else.

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Hehe ... one thought is that it's for keeping the oils and cloths handy.

My first thought on seeing a similar font at STM was: "Hmm, it looks like an old Indian Railways dinner tray ... " which had separate compartments for rice, dal, rotis and so on.

Anonymous said...

See, that would make sense. I was conditionally baptized last week (long story--I'll tell you all about it tonight), and I was impressed that Fr. Tebalt managed not to drop anything what with all the oils and cloths and books and nowhere to set them down.

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Conditionally Baptized? So many years after your reception into the Church? I can't wait to hear this!

Anonymous said...

In the not too distant past, the "used " baptismal water - if that makes any sense - had to be kept apart. You should notice a hole in the bottom of the "used" section where the water is allowed to flow into consecrated ground.

The font in your photo also shows the remnant of a lock for a font cover. Again, in the not too distant past, the baptismal water was supposed to be protected from profanation, hence the font cover, and in many cases, the font was set within a gated baptistry.

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Xiucai -- many thanks for that explanation!