A
shrine reborn at Our Lady of Hope
By
Lou Baldwin
Special to the CS&T
Some traditions should never be allowed to die. One which did die, at
least for a time, was reborn Dec. 23 when Cardinal Justin Rigali blessed
the Shrine of the Holy Crib at Our Lady of Hope Church on North Broad
Street.
Accessible from an outside entrance in the church yard, the underground
Shrine, once among the most famous in Philadelphia, had been shut up for
some years.
The newly-arrived pastor, Father Efren V. Esmilla, discovered it and decided
it should be cleaned of its layers of accumulated dust, and reopened.
“I thought it would be nice to share the faith it represents,”
Father Esmilla said. “It was covered, and I wanted the people to
see it. We have a goal. We need to revive devotion.”
Former parishioner Betty Gwen remembered seeing it nine years ago.
“It still looked good,” she said. “When I was a child
I would visit it, and have memories of a holy place. I’m happy it
will be open more often so that people can see it.”
Many things have happened since Gwen was a child. For one thing, the parish
of her childhood no longer exists.
Our Lady of Hope Church, then Holy Child Church, was dedicated in 1930.
Of French Romanesque style in solid stone with oaken trim and pews, it
was a virtual cathedral, designed to last for centuries.
An architectural showcase on North Broad Street, it was visited in 1936
by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII. It was also a favorite
stop of Bishop Fulton Sheen whenever he was in Philadelphia.
The Shrine itself was opened in 1942 by Msgr. Charles B. McGinley who
served as Holy Child’s pastor from 1932 until 1967.
In the form of a diorama behind plate glass, it depicts the humble stable
in which Jesus was born, with scores of figures representing the Holy
Family, shepherds, townspeople and, of course, the magi. But because this
is dedicated to the Holy Child, the narrative continues on the left of
the di splay with the flight into Egypt and a domestic scene of the childhood
of Jesus in Nazareth.
Other devotional statues are placed in wall niches, and most prominent
is a reliquary containing a splinter of wood, which, according to pious
tradition, was taken from the sacred manger.
The Shrine, then known simply as the Nativity Shrine, was enormously popular.
For more than 30 years, a perpetual novena was held each Thursday with
a service both in the morning and in the evening. Every October, this
was transformed into a solemn novena held each Thursday until Christmas
with two services in the morning and two in the evening to accommodate
the crowds. A highlight of the service was the application of the relic
from the manger on the faithful.
On leaving the Shrine, there is a flight of seven ascending steps. The
steps were dedicated in remembrance of the seven sorrows of Mary, beginning
with the prophecy of Simeon and ending with the burial of Jesus. By tradition,
visitors would ascend the steps on their knees, pausing to pray and meditate
on each step.
“The Church would be filled, the chapel next door would be filled
too,” remembers Lucille Henry. “I’m glad to see it open
again.”
Why was the Shrine closed? For one thing the once-bustling parish, like
most other North Philadelphia parishes, gradually underwent a dramatic
change. A vast majority of the Irish and German founding families simply
moved away.
In 1993, Holy Child and its neighboring parishes of St. Stephen and Our
Lady of the Holy Souls, were suppressed. The new parish, Our Lady of Hope,
was created using the former Holy Child’s magnificent church.
A new parish develops new traditions. The Shrine fell into disuse. But
in all things there is an ebb and flow, even in the life of a community
of the Church.
There was a packed church for Cardinal Rigali’s liturgy during which
he visited the Shrine and the relic was venerated. The following morning,
one might have expected a sparse congregation for Sunday Mass, but that
wasn’t so. With most pews occupied, worshippers represented a microcosm
of the Universal Church. There they were: Irish, African-Americans, Germans,
Hispanics and Filipinos, in their Sunday best, all bonded into a single
community of praise.
For many of the visitors, the Shrine of the Holy Crib was something of
a revelation.
“It’s very pretty,” said Iris Camacho, one of the volunteers
who cleaned the Shrine. “I was surprised and I’ll visit it
again. This is my church.”
Vicky Fontanez director of Hispanic Ministry at Our Lady of Hope for the
past 11 years has witnessed the parish renewal.
“We’ve been blessed, Father [Esmilla] has brought a whole
community — Filipinos. They are very dedicated. People have not
been aware of the Shrine for years. This is a place where you can come
and reflect in peace.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.