St Malachy’s Catholic Church

The Monsi was a Filipino so it was so great catching up with him. The place has wonderful interiors and has a very home-​y feel. Great sermon and great songs.

Father Baker is perhaps the sharpest mind on 49^th Street (and no, not because Morgan Stanley is located on 48^th Street). Receiving Reconciliation through the Pastor of the Church was refreshing, to say the least. I can’t wait to hear him preach! Father Baker looks so young, but he’s got to be brilliant to be running things!
I shall return!

This is my Broadway Sanctuary. Its location is ideal on West 49^th. The theater in front currently runs the Book of Mormon — perhaps a symbol of how Faiths co-​exist and remain mutually respectful of the other. St Malachy’s is quiet despite never being empty. On a weekday afternoon, there were at least eleven people just sitting, kneeling, praying, visiting. And a welcome treat was that someone was practising glorious music on the pipe organ.

I went to church on my birthday. Which all of my friends find highly entertaining. I sat my secular humanistic bottom on a smooth, polished wooden pew and experienced all of the bells and smells of a Catholic Mass.
I am highly critical of the Catholic Church. But something happened at St Malachy’s — I call it growing up. I sat listening to the high drama of the pipe organ, watching the animated faces of the chorus, surveying the mixed crowd of multi racial and multi sexual parishioners. I’d actually venture to say that this is a Catholic church 2.0, and maybe in celebration of my birth, I am Anna 2.0. Maybe it is time to lay down the hatchet and go our separate ways.
I set my judgments aside and saw it for what it was — a group of people trying to make the world a better place. Trying to connect with a deeper meaning. Granted, I am still not down with the ceremony and magical, misogynistic thinking that the church symbolizes — but I do see hope for the future. A woman’s voice taking part in the mass, a young girl bringing the cross in the procession, the Priest giving communion to ALL of his parishioners who came to the altar.
And at the end of the mass, The priest beseeched all visitors to come back to the church «We need you more than you need us». St Malachy’s has deep roots in the Hell’s Kitchen community, and they are indeed the Actor’s Chapel. Look at it this way: Each week, they are offering free religious theater, (donations gladly accepted). You’ll spend an hour listening to some music, shake the hands of the people next to you and listen to a man in robes minister to his flock, trying to make the world a better place.
I don’t buy into the tenents of the Catholic Religion, but I am learning to try and see some good in every situation, and St Malachy’s does have a lot of good to share in a world that needs as much good as it can get.
Oh, and why did I go to Church on my Birthday? My BFF & husband had their daughter christened. Theirs was that beautiful baby in the white silk gown who didn’t cry at all during the hour long mass.
The moment that made me realize that it was time to forgive and move on — in the last musical medley of the Mass, the parishioners burst into «Happy Birthday». For a split second, I was horrified, thinking that K or her husband had slipped someone a $ 50 and this was the worst practical joke ever but I quickly realized that I shared a birthday with the Priest and I smiled at the coincidence.
On my way out, I shook the priest’s hand, wished him a Happy Birthday, and stepped out into the glorious sunshine of a beautiful Spring day. I am happy to report that the church didn’t collapse and I didn’t burst into flames the second that I stepped outside. For a split second, all was right in the world.

There is a lot of history here as the 100+ year old St. Malachy’s is perfectly blended in as one of the most subtle churches along the west side of Manhattan. It is dubbed as the «Actor’s Chapel» for its endorsement of the actors in the nearby broadway theaters and of the performing arts in general.
With exception to the European pastor, I have always been impressed with the pastors here as they have been entertaining, witty, and very lively during their sermons. The place may look small from the outside but easily fits a solid crowd of perhaps 200 – 300. Their choir is decent, but don’t appear all that frequently. Whats certain for sure is they definitely have money as their song pamplets are printed out the DAY of, in color, with legible fonts, and a decent layout. I hope they recycle because that stuff is by no means cheap. Beats using a cheap ol psalms book I suppose.

Founded in 1902, this impressive church, located in the heart of the theater district, is commonly known as the Actors’ Chapel. Referenced in the final scene of «The Boys in the Band,» it is here that Joan Crawford wed Douglas Fairbanks, Pat O’Brien served as an altar boy, and performers regularly light candles on opening night. The parish is home to Encore Community Services, an organization that provides the elderly living in Clinton (the newly fashionable name for Hell’s Kitchen) with much-​needed services and support.