St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church — Local services in New York

After discovering St. Vincent’s I feel as though I’ve been spoiled. It’s the perfect example of harmony between the novus ordo and the Latin rite. The Dominic’s do a phenomenal job with this liturgy (I say liturgy because it feels closer to that than mass - for those nerd out there)

As I do with all Catholic church’s I review them based on the GERM.

Architecture: When you first step foot into this space you immediately feel the sense of sacredness, reverence, and beauty. It is breathtaking for a first timer. The gothic tall ceilings with brilliant masonry, marched tasteful with the darker stain glass compositions. The details on the lighting and the sanctuary are stunning. Easy 10/10

Tabernacle location: Front and center the entire focal point points your eyes toward heaven on earth which is represent by the tabernacle. 10/10

Kneeling: Everyone kneels during the appropriate times of consecration. No issues here. 10/10

Reverence: It is obvious goign here and one of the main draws for me personally is that this place cultivates a space for reverence. And everyone follows that. The people that come choose to be here. That alone says enough. 10/10

Community: This is possibly the one thorn of this place. Though it is improving fortunately. Due to the people that are drawn to this place it is a mixed bag of latin mass goers and those who can appreciate the latin mass but have less of the attitude. As I have seen in the past and is the case here these things mix as well as oil and water. While there both in the same cup they don’t sync. This is not a fault of the Dominicans but rather just a natural evolution in the correct step of what they are trying to build here in creating a synergy between both worlds while we are still in the turmoil of the post Vatican 2 era. With all that said the Dominicans offer a post mass social coffee hour for the noon and 6pm masses where there is a lot of young adult turnout which is amazing. So all in all right direction but needs work: 8/10

Homily: Almost every homily I’ve heard here has been more than above the average homily. What I most appreciate is that they actually follow the germ and only preach about the readings and gospel, yet make it relevant today. I mean they are Dominicans after all they know there stuff. 10/10

Kiss of peace: It still exists, but only sometimes. I’ve found they do skip over it which is a relief personally. If it does happen it’s don’t silently and with reverence. 10/10

Total score: 68/70

I’ll end this with this:

“God cares about the details. In the sacred liturgy, the details matter because they express the holiness of God. When the liturgy is celebrated in a dignified fashion, validly and licitly, it has the ability to teach us much more about God than human words ever could. This was the case for the Israelites, and it is still the case today. Poorly celebrated liturgy teaches us poor theology. God shows us that he deserves the best from us in life by requesting the best of what we have for divine liturgy, whether art, ornamentation, or music. He deserves this because he is God.”

God is smiling on...

I absolutely love and adore this Church. It's beauty is breathtaking in every way, especially for later/ evening services and Vigil Mass (my personal favorite). All the staff, from the Clergy to the Laity are always so wonderful, genuine and kind too. Throughout my life I've moved around a lot, attending many different churches both Catholic and protestant, and this is the first Church I have attended where I truly, immediately felt at home since the church of my youth. The same church where my parents were wed, where I was baptized, and took my First Communion. Of course that church will always have a very special place in my heart, and so will St. Vincent Ferrer. I can't possibly say enough nice things about it, and I consider myself very blessed to be in it's...

Amazingly beautiful old church, looks like an old European-style cathedral, with stonework and wrought-iron gates on the side chapels, a friars' chapel right next to the altar (you can observe the friars praying there), a huge carved reredos, an exquisite Rosary altar, gorgeous stained-glass windows - you could spend months just studying the symbolism there... and most importantly, a staff of priests of the order of St. Dominic, who present a 100% orthodox Liturgy; This church...