Downtown Philadelphia is a busy place a few blocks from Independence Square. But no one can be distracted by the hustle and bustle of cars, workers, tourists or other assorted pedestrians as soon as they spot St. John the Evangelist Church on South 13th Street.

Once you see the church, just seven blocks in a nearly straight line from Liberty Bell Pavilion and Independence Mall, you can picture the neighborhood as John Neumann and Katharine Drexel knew it when they came to St. John’s while working their way to sainthood.

 

St. Maria Goretti

During the World Meeting of Families, great crowds are expected to fill the church Sept. 24-25, when a third saint will “visit”: The faithful will be able to venerate the body of St. Maria Goretti — touring many states in a “Pilgrimage of Mercy”  (MariaGoretti.com). It is only the second time that the beloved saint — who was murdered defending her chastity — has left Italy.

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, the grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, which has stepped in to assist the tour, stated: “May the opportunity to reverence her relics demonstrate the power of Divine Mercy and forgiveness awaiting every one of us who takes the message of Jesus seriously to heart.”

 

Saintly Presences

St. John the Evangelist is celebrating its 185th anniversary.

So many special moments have occurred within its sacred walls. Exactly 163 years ago, the street must have been clogged with the horses and carriages of many worshippers who arrived at St. John’s to see Father Neumann installed as the fourth bishop of Philadelphia and reside for a time at this church.

The scene was much quieter a few years later, when Anthony Drexel’s family became parishioners. Daughter Katharine received her first holy Communion in 1870 and was confirmed here, too. As a young girl contemplating her vocation, she surely prayed before the Blessed Mother shrine altar, where the statue of the Immaculate Conception was blessed in 1857. And on May 7, 1889, this saint-in-the-making came to Mass with her family just before she left Philadelphia to head to Pittsburgh to start her religious formation with the Sisters of Mercy. (Later, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.) It’s not hard to imagine the pealing of the bells in the twin towers, balanced at either end of the façade like stately sentinels, that morning.

St. John’s exterior might look much as it did back then, but its interior is different than the 19th century one familiar to Philadelphia’s two saints.

The remarkable stained-glass windows are by the legendary studios of Franz Meyer of Munich. One window that immediately catches the eye is like a stained-glass snapshot of St. John, robed in red and white and holding an open book in one hand and a quill pen in the other. The elaborate Gothic ornamentation that frames the scene has two angels on pedestals serenading and inspiring St. John. The Favorite Disciple’s face glows with an ethereal expression, the most luminous part of the brightly colored scene, especially with the golden halo around his head. Near this window there’s a display box with the miter of Bishop Neumann.

 

Our Lady and Friends

The only statue to survive the devastating fire on the block in 1899 (the interior had to be rebuilt afterward, and later renovation was finished in 1990) was a glorious one of the Immaculate Conception. Bishop Neumann could have prayed before this particular statue of our Blessed Mother. In 1854, he was in Rome and present at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 8, when Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

This pristine image of Mary, wearing a gold crown, with folded hands in humble prayer, is enshrined in the left-side altar. Mary’s wondrous image is surrounded by an elaborately carved white marble Gothic reredos. The liturgical artistry stands out with a Gothic arch, highlighted with gold-leaf woodwork.

In front of where the original Communion rail would be, there stands a magnificent statue of St. John, carved of white marble and dating to 1904. The Evangelist has an eagle at his feet and again wears his visionary gaze into the future. In the position he’s placed, one is reminded of him accompanying Mary at the foot of the cross and being Mary’s protector after the Resurrection.

On the opposite side of the nave, the ornate right-side altar honors St. Joseph in a shrine that perfectly matches his spouse Mary’s. Both of these altars perfectly echo the splendid main altar — a vision of creamy white marble, richly carved and topped with ornate Gothic marble spires.

The San Damiano Crucifix above the main altar’s centered tabernacle is the signature that this parish church is, since 1991, under the stewardship of the Capuchin Friars.

Absolutely gorgeous woodwork, highlighted with gold lace-like designs, is a vision of brown and gold filling the sanctuary. It creates a fitting background for the sizeable altar. For the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, the newer altar in front blends beautifully with the old. It presents yet another vision in white marble, with its prominently carved frieze of grapes and the twin images of the Two Hearts — Jesus’ Sacred Heart and Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

At the rear of the church, the Byzantine icon of Our Blessed Mother draws not just the Slavic worshippers who visit St. John’s, but many people for private prayer and veneration.

 

Church Firsts

Philadelphia may be a city of prominent “firsts,” but St. John’s claims “firsts” of its own. After it was officially dedicated on Passion Sunday in 1832, the church held the American premiere of Mozart’s Requiem Mass in 1834; was designated the Proto-Cathedral in 1838 and remained so for 25 years; welcomed the first Sisters of St. Joseph to arrive in America in 1847; and when the Great Depression began more than 80 years later, fed 700 people a day.

The small, neat masonry churchyard directly next to the stone church has historical roots, too. Thomas Penn-Gaskell, a Catholic convert and the great-grandson of William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, is interred there.

St. John’s remains a very active parish — and holds an additional surprise. Below the main church, there’s a full lower church with Eucharistic adoration that has been going on six days a week for more than 40 years. Such devotion is one reason why this church named in honor of the Beloved Disciple has been going strong for 185 years, always ready for more saints-in-the-making — and to offer welcome to St. Maria Goretti.

Joseph Pronechen is the Register’s staff writer.