As I have already mentioned, I spent the past weekend away from campus to preside at the wedding of James and Tess Caputo. James was a junior in my section when I was an R.A. in Siegfried Hall during my senior year at Notre Dame. I was honored to be invited to preside at his wedding in Philadelphia.
I hope there will be pictures to come from the wedding and reception, but for now, here are some shots of the lovely and historic church: St. John the Evangelist. This downtown parish was the original cathedral of the diocese of Philadelphia . . .
and so it was the cathedral church from which St. John Neumann, the sainted bishop of Philadelphia, was buried. His mitre is displayed in the church's nave:
It was also the church in which St. Katherine Drexel prayed to the Blessed Mother (at the altar below) as she was discerning her vocation. Drexel went on to enter religious life and use her family fortune to serve African American and Native American Catholics.
This altar was the only part of the original church to survive a fire that killed four fireman. These men are memorialized in a garden just outside the church.
After spending the wedding weekend with James and Tess' families, I spent Sunday enjoying the lovely Philadelphia weather with Scott Cullen. We took a long walk around the city, over the Ben Franklin Bridge and into Trenton, New Jersey.
While there, we had these great views of the USS New Jersey:
Later in the evening, we rewarded ourselves with dinner at Tria's Cafe and dessert at Naked Chocolate. It seems that Philadelphia has quite the culinary scene and Scott was happy to give me a tour of the kind of places I so miss from my time in Portland. As always it was wonderful to share good food, drink and conversation with Scott.
My travels were, however, only just beginning . . .
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