What makes a common trip to a church a meaningful religious experience? Which part of this trip influences a person to reconsider where he or she stands in life: the church’s location, its architecture, its history, the people who made the church what it is, or is it something that works on an entirely different, more personal level? Each church holds specific meaning and memories to those whose lives were touched by the place or the people connected to the place. In the case of St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street in New York City, it serves as a sanctuary from the loud and busy city around it and a place of remembrance for a heroic priest who captivated a nation. As you walk down 31st street you quickly approach a sunken back, beautiful church called the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi. It appears to have a main celebration hall on an upper half as well as a quiet, basement for private prayer on the lower half. After admiring the detailed, yellow-orange exterior with meticulous murals of Jesus and cherubs on the spire, you enter through heavy wooden doors. As soon as you come inside, the art and architecture is overwhelming. Your eyes automatically fixate on the alter that is surrounded by a large, stunning depiction of Jesus and His endless love and joy for His people. Tall marble columns give structure and align the pews throughout the hall. The design of this church can simply be described in one word: beautiful.
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian preacher and friar born in 1182 that went on to found the Franciscan Order. St. Francis originally became inspired to live a life of poverty after hearing a sermon of Matthew 10:9, in which Christ tells his followers to abandon their material desires and possessions in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Francis began preaching and by 1209 had a strong following of disciples. His one general rule was “to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps” and was given permission by Pope Innocent III to establish his Franciscan Order. Saint Francis dedicated the rest of his life to one of complete poverty with his Order and revolved his life around Christ until his death in 1226. In 1228, he was declared a saint by Pope Gregory IX and became the patron saint of animals and the environment and the patron saint of Italy, a title that he shares with St. Catherine of Siena. A Hungarian Franciscan priest named Father Zachary Kunz founded St. Francis of Assisi Church in 1844. At the time, he was a pastor at St. John the Baptist Church down the block on 30th Street, until a dispute between the parish’s lay trustees and the bishop forced the bishop to close its doors. Fr. Zachary did not want to rid the community of a parish, so he petitioned to the bishop and was able to open the church in its current location and dedicated it to Saint Francis of Assisi. The church underwent a renovation in 1892 and became the church seen today. The church worked to accommodate all parishioners and began the “Nightworker’s Mass” that allowed workers to still have time to celebrate mass despite their grueling work schedules. St. Francis Church also became the first in the United States to hold a daily mass as late in the afternoon as 12:15 PM. During the Great Depression, the church acted to serve the poor and hungry and continue to do so every day. When World War II struck, the church began serving masses for only members of the armed forces at 3 PM every day. The church remains to be a central place in New York City for a variety of charitable works. Here is where we are introduced to one of the most significant figures and symbols of the church in recent memory. Father Mychal Judge was assigned to St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City in 1986, where he worked until his death. Father Judge became chaplain of the New York City Fire Department in 1992 and devoted all of his time between his parish and his beloved fire department family. Father Judge was considered by many to be a living saint due to his extensive commitment to various charitable causes, such as helping those struggling with alcoholism, having known from earlier personal experience the perils of such a disease, as well as the poor, sick, hungry, and those suffering from AIDS. He became an ambassador for these causes and used his position in the parish of St. Francis Church to spread his word.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Father Judge was in his room at St. Francis of Assisi Church when a friar informed him of the horrific events occurring downtown. He immediately changed out of his holy habit and into his firefighter’s gear and raced out the door to aid his city at whatever cost, without hesitation. Upon arrival to the site, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani asked him to pray for the city, and he made sure he administered the last rites to people lying in the streets. He then entered the lobby of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, where he continued to pray for every person he saw and administered the last rites to anyone he could. At 9:59 AM, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, sending an avalanche of debris flying into the North Tower, killing Father Judge. It is said that he was repeatedly praying to himself “Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!” just before he was instantaneously killed by a blow to the head. His body was discovered by an NYPD lieutenant and was carried out by him along with two firemen and two bystanders and photographed to become one of the most hauntingly significant images of the most famous day in our country’s recent history. This simple photo is one of the most recognizable symbols of such a dreadful day, and this photo is etched into the mind of every American to lay eyes on it.
Father Judge’s lifeless body was carried to St. Peter’s Church nearby, where he was laid on the altar with his chaplain’s helmet and badge on his chest. His funeral was held on September 15, 2001 at his parish of St. Francis of Assisi Church with an estimated 2,800 people present, including President Bill Clinton and his family, to pay their respects to a humble man who did all in his nature to help the lives of thousands and died in the process. Father Mychal Judge sacrificed his own life and ran into the building as thousands of others were running out. He would do anything and everything for his people and his city, and did all that he could until the tragic end. He devoted his life to Christ and ended it in the same way he promised he would – by caring for the wellbeing of others before himself. Father Judge was 68 years old when he passed away, but his legacy will live on in the lives of those he touched during his time here on Earth and the beloved church he left behind. The work that Father Judge accomplished at St. Francis of Assisi Church and on September 11th will remain meaningful in the minds of not only Catholics, but in those of New Yorkers and the country as a whole. The church serves as a gathering site to remember his life and his sacrifice. St. Francis of Assisi Church is a sanctuary in its own right and transforms a person from the hectic, loud and always moving feel of the city into a peaceful refuge to collect one’s thoughts in complete and utter silence. One would never believe he or she was in the heart of New York City as soon as the doors of the church are opened. The place holds a certain aura of serenity that anyone who visits the place can agree upon – it is a calm paradise in the center of a concrete jungle.