St. Dominic's Catholic Church is a historic parish in the

Lower Pacific Heights Lower Pacific Heights, also known as Upper Fillmore, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, between Pacific Heights, the Fillmore District, Laurel Heights, and Japantown. The neighborhood is centered on the commercial corridor of Fi ...

neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, located at the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets. The parish was established by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

in 1873, and the current church, built in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style, was finished in 1928. Exterior view of St- Dominic catholic church 2013-10-19 14-56

In addition to a large parish membership, St. Dominic's Church has one of the most active young adults groups in the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unit ...

. The Church gave its name to

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

's hit 1972 studio album, ''

Saint Dominic's Preview ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...

''.

Parish history

Dominicans first came to

in 1850 when Bishop

Joseph Sadoc Alemany Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P. ( Catalan: ''Josep Sadoc Alemany i Conill''; July 3, 1814 – April 14, 1888) was a Spanish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of San Francisco from 1853 to 1884. He previously served as the first Bishop of M ...

and Fr Sadoc Francis Vilarrasa and Mary Goemere arrived from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

via several other appointments in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Bishop Alemany, who in 1840 completed his studies in sacred theology in Rome at the College of St. Thomas (the future

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

), had been appointed Bishop of Monterey and invited Vilarrasa to accompany him to

. The

was created in 1853 and Archbishop Alemany was its first incumbent. The first Dominican

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in San Francisco was established in 1863 at Van Ness and Broadway to provide a center for the friars who were given charge of the new parish of Saint Brigid. The Dominicans served there until 1875 when it was transferred to diocesan clergy. During this time, Dominicans served the parishes of St. Francis of Assisi and Notre Dame des Victoires as well. In 1863, the

paid $6,000 for the city block bounded by Steiner, Bush, Pierce and Pine Streets. During 1872 and 1873, Fr. Vilarrasa and the Provincial Council approved the expenditure of $25,000 to build a priory and a church. The first Saint Dominic's, a small church at the corner of Bush and Steiner Streets, was blessed on June 29, 1873. The Priory of Saint Dominic was formally established in 1876. By 1880, it was apparent that the church was too small for its rapidly growing congregation. Plans were drawn for a much larger church to be built of brick on the same site. The first church was moved to a location on Pine Street where it served as a parish hall. Although the cornerstone of the second church was laid in 1883, years of financial hardship followed and the church did not open until 1887 and was not completed for several years after. It served the parish until April 18, 1906. During the months following the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

, parishioners gathered for

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

outdoors until, in October 1906, a wooden church opened on the Pierce Street side of the block. This "temporary" Saint Dominic's was to remain in use as a church until 1928 and as a parish hall until the 1960s. Work did not begin on the fourth Saint Dominic's until 1923. After construction was finished in 1928, the new church, designed by Mr. Arnold Constable, was blessed by Archbishop Hanna. Even then, work continued for many years as the building we know now was brought to completion at the time of Saint Dominic's centennial celebration in 1973. The current, gothic-style church shows both English & French influences in its design and construction, leaning more towards the English. One of the most notable extant French influences is the semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

at the western end of the church. The

Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) ...

of 1989 destroyed another of the primary French features: the beautiful octagonal "lantern" of Saint Dominic's tower. The tower itself was severely damaged, but was repaired and strengthened during the two months the church was closed. Much of the decorative work on the ceiling beams of the church fell during the quake and the remainder was removed for the safety of the parishioners. As early as 1984, engineering tests had determined that the church was seismically unstable. Work began immediately to find a solution and a way to pay for it. The Saint Dominic's Preservation and Restoration Project began its work in 1986. By June 1991, sufficient funds had been raised to begin the construction of nine

flying buttresses The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall out ...

that rise from concrete piers deep underground and soar to connect at a ring beam that girdles the church at the roof line. This

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

concept was found to be the best solution to a late 20th-century problem. But the cost was in 1992 dollars: $6.6 million. Parishioners and friends from around the world confirmed the importance of this Church by raising all the needed funds. Construction was completed in July 1992, and Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco dedicated the new Saint Dominic's Church on August 1, 1992.

Sources

''First Archbishop of San Francisco''

External links

St. Dominic's Church, San Francisco

Western Dominican Province
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Dominics Church, San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Roman Catholic churches in San Francisco Religious organizations established in 1873 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 Buildings and structures destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Dominican churches in the United States

Parish history

Sources

See also

External links