Saint Clement Eucharistic Shrine is a historic

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

shrine on

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Public Garden (Boston) ...

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

.Official Website
/ref> It is dedicated to the

adoration Adoration is respect, reverence, strong admiration, and love for a certain person, place, or thing. The term comes from the Latin ''adōrātiō'', meaning "to give Homage (arts), homage or worship to someone or something". Ancient Rome In class ...

of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. The shrine is a church of the

Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...

and is host to the

Oblates of the Virgin Mary The Oblates of the Virgin Mary (Italian: ''Oblati di Maria Vergine'') is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded by Bruno Lanteri (1759–1830) in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early 19th century. The institute is characterized by ...

History

In 1922 and 1923, the Second Universalist Society of Boston purchased land at Boylston and Ipswich Streets in that city and built a church for its congregation, which had been founded in 1817 with Hosea Ballou as its minister. Records of the Second Universalist Society attribute the "Church of the Redemption" to the architect Arthur F. Gray. When the congregation merged with the Arlington Street Church in 1935, the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...

purchased the building from the Massachusetts Universalist Convention in order to make it an auxiliary chapel for the nearby Saint Cecilia Parish. In 1945, Archbishop Cushing decided to separate it from Saint Cecilia Parish and designate it as a shrine for the adoration of the Eucharist, entrusting it to the

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are a Roman Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women founded by Mother Mary of the Passion (born Hélène Marie Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville, 1839–190 ...

. In the late 1960s, the Shrine was designated as a center for ministry to students. Since 1976, the Shrine has been in the care of the religious order the

, and the home of their house of formation "Our Lady of Grace Seminary".

Oblates of the Virgin Mary

The Oblates of the Virgin Mary, which was officially founded in 1827 by the Venerable

Bruno Lanteri Pio Bruno Pancrazio Lanteri, or simply Bruno Lanteri (12 May 1759 – 5 August 1830), was a Catholic priest and founder of the religious congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in northwestern Italy in ...

, is a Roman Catholic

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

dedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

which trains young men to become

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

s and religious brothers. The Oblate community is located in the attached Our Lady of Grace Seminary, and members of the Oblate community participate in the masses; seminarians often assist the priests as

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses. Academic The title ''lector'' may be applied to lecturers ...

s and

altar server An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringi ...

Design and features

Saint Clement Shrine is built in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

. Against the back wall of the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

is a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

in the form of a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

, which is used during Eucharistic adoration. On the right and left of the center panel of the triptych are angels holding

censer A censer, incense burner, perfume burner or pastille burner is a vessel made for burning incense or perfume in some solid form. They vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction, and have been in use since ancient times throughout t ...

s, which are copies of images by

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...

, the Italian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of the

Early Renaissance Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

. Below the angels are inscribed the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

words "HIC EST PANIS QUI DE CAELO DESCENDIT / ECCE PANIS ANGELORUM FACTUS CIBUS VIATORUM", which translates to "This is the

Bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

which came down from Heaven / Behold the Bread of Angels, made the food of pilgrims." The texts are taken respectively from the Gospel of St. John (chapter 6, verse 59) and from the Corpus Christi

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

'' Lauda Sion''.

Sources

External links

Official Website of Saint Clement Eucharistic Shrine

Official Website of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary
{{Coord, 42.3470, N, 71.0897, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Boston

History

Oblates of the Virgin Mary

Design and features

See also

Sources

External links