| State: | New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Address: | 94 Ridge St, City of Orange, NJ 07050, USA |
| Postal code: | 07050 |
| Phone: | (973) 674-0110 |
| Website: | http://stjohnscatholicchurch.net/ |
Beautiful church. A professional organist! And singer! Lovely people. Profound sermon.
St. John's in Orange has become our family's parish. Over the last four years we have had a tremendous spiritual welcoming and support in coming to St. Johns. The church is supported by an incredibly faithful staff of Priest led by Pastor Father George. They truly want salvation and for everyone who enters the doors at St. Johns to love Our Lady. Truly a beautiful church to be a part of and look at. We feel incredibly at home with the bi-lingual experiences of our favorite Easter and Christmas vigils, along with the special feast days of our Saints celebrated by American and Latino communities.
My Grandmother grew up in Orange with her family and all of them worshipped at St John's Church. She and a few members of her family are also buried in St John's Cemetery. We decided to go to the Church last Saturday afternoon to attend mass and visit my Grandmother's grave site. A very special experience.
When I moved to the area around this church. I was fascinated. I had to walk past it alone. OMW. Seeing it upclose - It was really eery looking but rather historical looking. I had to look for the dated it was built. Wow 1851 or so. No wonder. Beautiful the church is but now it's not so eery.
The most beautiful church I have ever entered. I went to school at St. John during middle school. We had the pleasure of going there for mass regularly. In addition, I was lucky enough to be one of the first altar-girls there. I was in this church every morning for the 7 am and 8 am masses, most Saturdays serving at weddings, funerals, and evening mass, and Sundays from 8 am until 1 pm for all the morning masses. I love this church! The architecture is in the Gothic Revival style, with gargoyles adorning the spire. Inside, there are colorful stained glass windows along every wall. The altar section is too beautiful for words. It features wooden carvings of angels carved right into the panels. One of these carved panels is a hidden door that opens into the sacristy, the room where the priest prepares for mass. To the right of altar is the tabernacle, where consecrated hosts are kept after Mass and where you can kneel for Eucharistic meditation or Adoration. At the back of the church, there is a gallery overlooking the church featuring a historic pipe organ with enormous pipes. As a child, the sound of the school choirmaster accompanying a soprano soloist to "Ave Maria" on that organ made my soul soar higher and higher. Back then, the regular priests were Father Patterson, Father Bradley (Father "Okay" because he finished every sermon with a suggestion on how to apply the readings to our lives that week, phrased as a question, and ending in a grandfatherly, "Okay?"), and Father Gonzalez. They were so nice. Always a smile to greet their parishioners. Every memory I have of this church is comforting and positive. I only wish I could find a comparable church and community in Texas where I live now.