St. Ignatius Church is a historic
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
church in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
within the
Archdiocese of Baltimore. Established and administered by the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
, the church is dedicated to
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the order's founder. It is located at 740 N. Calvert St in the
Mt. Vernon neighborhood, north of downtown Baltimore, and is considered the city’s center of history and culture.
History
In 1852, the new Archbishop of Baltimore,
Francis Kenrick
Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 or 1797 – July 8, 1863) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia (1842–1851) and the sixth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of ...
, asked the local Jesuit Provincial to open a new college in response to petitions from the newly elected, anti-Catholic
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
party to ban Catholic teachings from public schools in Maryland. As a result,
Loyola College opened its doors in 1852 and moved to its former location on Calvert and Madison streets in 1855. St. Ignatius Church was originally built to accompany the adjoining Loyola College, at 700 N Calvert, prior to the college’s move in 1922 to an Evergreen Campus in North Baltimore.
The church opened on August 15, 1856 on the Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary. On 20 September 1857 the chapel of St
Peter Claver
Peter Claver, SJ ( es, Pedro Claver y Corberó; ca, Pere Claver i Corberó; 26 June 1580 – 8 September 1654) was a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary born in Verdú (Catalonia, Spain) who, due to his life and work, became the patron saint ...
was dedicated, where Masses were provided for the black population. This congregation in 1864 obtained its own parish church,
St. Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 15 ...
.
Major renovations were carried out in 1870, the transparent glass windows replaced with new stained glass. New pews to seat about six hundred people were added. A ceiling painting of the Assumption of Mary by
Wilhelm Lamprecht was added. The following year, the newly renovated church was decorated for the public celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of
Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
's election to the papacy; gaslight illuminations were installed for the occasion but could not be used because of adverse weather.
In 1968 a series of protests in support of the
Catonsville Nine
The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic activists who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, they took 378 draft files from the draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland and burned them in the parking lot.
List of the N ...
was held at the church.
After World War II the church had seen a sharp drop in the number of parishioners as many city residents moved to the suburbs. This led the church to “refashion their mission and ministry” in the 1990s to bring Catholics back to Mt. Vernon. In 1991, the church underwent a $1.7 million renovation to separate the sanctuary from the entrance to give parishioners a place to gather before and after mass.
![Saint Ignatius Church Stained Glass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Saint_Ignatius_Church_Stained_Glass.jpg)
Architecture
St. Ignatius Church was built by
Louis L. Long, a prominent Baltimore architect, from 1853 to 1856 with the assistance of Henry Hamilton Pittar. The building is in the Italianate style featuring Ionic columns, heavy
modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...
ed cornicing and a broken pediment. The base of the building is
rusticated while the rest of the exterior is brick with tall, frosted glass arched windows along with blank brick arches. The top of the church is adorned with a golden cross.
The interior of the church is modeled after the mother church of the Jesuits, the
Church of the Gesù in Rome, taking on a similar late Renaissance/Baroque style. It features multicolored ornamental trimmings, Corinthian columns and stained glass windows of 17 different colors added during the 1870 renovation to replace the original frosted glass.
Ornate ornamental plasterwork tops Ionic columns originally painted by
Italian immigrants
The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy.
There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended in the ...
. The plaster was restored to hues similar to those used in the mid-to-late 19th century during an extensive restoration of the church in 1999. This renovation, supervised by Michael V Murphy of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, cost $1.7 million and took six months. The restoration used a gradient effect on paint colors complementing the stained glass so as to draw the eye up to the ceiling.
Featured art
Saint Ignatius church has a free standing altar built by a South Baltimore company featuring hand-carved wood Ionic columns mirroring the external architecture. Behind the main altar, the church features a painting of
St. Ignatius' mystical experience outside Rome at La Storta by
Constantino Brumidi
Constantino Brumidi (July 26, 1805 – February 19, 1880) was a Greek-Italian-American historical painter, best known and honored for his fresco work, Apotheosis of Washington, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Parentage and early life ...
.
The church’s ceiling was painted by Wilhelm Lamprecht, a German artist, and depicts the
Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
. Two paintings are displayed on the wall of the church opposite the stained glass, both by a Mexican Jesuit priest. The paintings are of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the Patron Saint of Youth, who died of the plague in 1591, and Our Lady of the Way, Madonna della Strata. On each side on the altar, there is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Ignatius.
The entrance of the church contains a lifesize crucifix that was removed from the sanctuary after Vatican II.
The pipe organ was built and installed by
W. B. D. Simmons, a Boston firm, in 1857 and was restored in 1987.
[Lois Zanow and Sally Johnston, ''Monuments to Heaven: Baltimore's Historic Houses of Worship'' (2011), p. 43.] In 2010, it underwent of full renovation, rebuild, and restoration by Patrick J. Murphy and Associates.
Community services
Saint Ignatius Church strives to connect with the community on a spiritual, emotional, and physical level. Members facilitate ministry groups for young adults, young couples, LGBT community members, and interfaith/ecumenical dialogue. In 1991, Saint Ignatius opened a tuition-free middle school for boys in the Baltimore area. Originally, Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy was connected to the church but it moved to Federal Hill in 2011. The church also sponsors a community outreach program called "Elizabeth’s Closet" that collects and distributes maternity clothing to expecting mothers. Saint Ignatius partners with various programs in the Baltimore community to promote peace and justice.
List of pastors
#
John Early John Early may refer to:
*John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator
*John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
*John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate
*John Early (comedi ...
(1852–1858)
#
William Francis Clarke
William Francis Clarke (March 19, 1816 – October 17, 1890) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who held several senior positions at Jesuit institutions in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Born in Washington, he descended from several ea ...
(1858–1859)
# Joseph O'Callaghan (1859–1863)
#
Anthony F. Ciampi
Anthony Francis Ciampi (born Antonio Francesco Ciampi; January 29, 1816 – November 24, 1893) was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church and member of the Society of Jesus.
Early life
Antonio F. Ciampi was born on January 29, 1816, to ...
(1863–1866)
#
John Early John Early may refer to:
*John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator
*John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
*John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate
*John Early (comedi ...
(1866–1870)
#
Stephen A. Kelly (1870–1877)
# Edward A. McGurk (1877–1885)
# Francis A. Smith (1885–1891)
# John A. Morgan (1891–1900)
# William P. Brett (1900–1901)
# John F. Quirk (1901–1907)
#
W. G. Read Mullan
William George Read Mullan, SJ (January 28, 1860 – January 25, 1910), was an American Jesuit and academic who served as President of Boston College from 1898 to 1903 and President of Loyola University Maryland from 1907 to 1908.
Early life an ...
(1907–1908)
# F. X. Brady (1908–1911)
# William J. Ennis (1911–)
See also
*
List of Jesuit sites
References
Citations
Sources
*
Further reading
*Breihan, John, Ph.D., “Civil War Baltimore Italianate Styles.” Loyola University Maryland. Lecture. September 25, 2014.
History St. Ignatius Catholic Church, accessed 11 December 2014.
*http://st-ignatius.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/anniversary.pdf
*http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-12-11/news/9912110269_1_roman-catholic-church-ignatius-jesuit-church
*http://baltimorearchitecture.org/biographies/louis-l-long/
Saint Ignatius Church – Explore Baltimore Heritage
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Ignatius
Jesuit churches in the United States
Mount Vernon, Baltimore
Religious organizations established in 1856
1856 establishments in Maryland
Italianate architecture in Maryland
African-American Roman Catholicism
*
Italianate church buildings in the United States