Thursday, July 23, 2009
Posted By:
Magda Nakassis
Photo:
Magda Nakassis
Franciscan Monastery
It's hard to imagine a monastery with a robust press office. And it's even more difficult to imagine a monk who self-advertises. But how on earth did I go so long without even hearing about the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America? Just around the corner from the monumental Basilica, this monastery sits on a quieter, leafier street in Brookland. But once you find this block of Quincy Street NE, Mount St. Sepulchre stands alone in its beauty. Its colorful gardens and Byzantine-style church are simply stunning. The Rosary Portico or Cloister Walk surrounds the church and manicured garden, with 15 chapels devoted to Jesus and Mary. In a small valley adjacent, statues and reproductions of Holy Land shrines fill acres of secluded gardens. Below the church (a copy of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem) are catacombs with passageways leading to the chapels. And throughout, smiling, bearded monks in brown robes and sandals wander the holy, peaceful grounds. Are we in DC?! Pilgrims have been coming here since the church's dedication 110 years ago, and yet I only just discovered it. I marvel that such a treasure could keep quiet for so long, and yet--it is a cloistered monastery...
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