From One Extreme to the Other

Making Time for Church

As few would doubt, I probably do not spend as much time in church as I should. I definitely support the various religious institutions. But, as yet another personal flaw, I am just not the consistent church going type. However, on a recent blog mission with my 9th grade English teacher, we made an effort to improve my church attendance record. We took the time to visit two popular churches in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Not surprisingly, PugsleyTonks attending two services probably would not make for an interesting blog post. However, bear with me. This story of two churches is going to take you from one extreme to the other.

St. Anthony’s Chapel

St. Anthony’s Chapel is a small Catholic chapel that has been serving the Troy Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh since 1880. Next obvious question…why would PugsleyTonks travel to Pittsburgh to visit this chapel? Well…oddly enough…other than The Vatican, this chapel contains the single largest collection of Christian relics in the world. Clearly, I am not going to travel to the Vatican anytime soon. So, why not head to Pittsburgh to see the world’s second largest collection of Christian relics.

For the record, I want to make it clear with my readers that my poor church going habits do NOT apply to my 9th Grade English teacher. He is the best of men and a vital and active participant in his local church. Anyway…

Unfortunately, as this was a functioning church, I was forbidden to take pictures once I entered the chapel. So, I have to rely on some existing internet photos to try to give my readers some idea of my visit to this impressive collection. The collection was the passion and life’s work of the church founder, Friar Suitbert Mullinger. Currently, the collection totals over 4,000 rare and sacred artifacts…

As this was an active chapel, they did not think it appropriate to hang a bunch of labels so that stupid tourists could fully understand what they were looking at. There were books available that guided you through the collection. But, the books we kind of complicated and we were not willing to decipher the text. Instead, we took the lazy approach and just asked to Docent to point out the really heavy hitting relics. Remember, I could not take photos. So, you will have to just trust me that the Docent showed us relics that he said were the following…

• A decorative cloth that contained bone fragments of all 11 disciples
• A pendant like item containing a piece of Mary’s veil
• Something that contained fragments of the “true cross”
• A golden challis that had a thorn from THE Crown of Thorns
• A fragment from the Last Supper table
• And various skeletons and bones from several Saints

I am unworthy and unqualified to make any judgements on the authenticity of any of the artifacts. I will merely pass along that the Catholic Church has certified the authenticity of all the relics. Whatever you want to believe, it was a very interesting and impressive collection. I highly recommend it for those interested.

Now for the Other Extreme

So, as my topic is “from one extreme to the other,” we shall use St. Anthony’s Chapel as one end of the spectrum. Now, its time for another church visit to travel to the other end of the spectrum. On the the extreme opposite end of the piety scale, I give you The Church Brew Works…

Sadly, in 1993, the Diocese of Pittsburgh underwent some major reorganizations and consolidations. Consequently, the St. John the Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh), was closed down. This parish had been serving the local community since its original construction starting in 1902. While the parish was no more, the church building was not yet done “serving” the community. New owners purchased the church and painstakingly restored its interior. The original floor, lights, columns, pews, stained glass windows, etc. etc. were brought back to an impeccable condition. However, beyond just restoring the church, the new owners added some touches of their own. Yep…the new owners added a restaurant and brewery…

I apologize in advance to my readers that may be somewhat offended by this post. However, think of it this way…after this church was no longer a place of worship, an abandoned building serving no purpose remained in the neighborhood. Rather than tearing down its beauty, someone restored it to its original condition. As opposed to wasting resources on a new restaurant/bar, they conserved resources by repurposing an existing structure. Lastly, perhaps the stained glass windows and other divine reminders may serve to effect the current patrons in some unknown, positive way. If none of that thinking appeals to you, perhaps you just need to lighten up a bit.

Wrap It Up

I hope you have enjoyed…or at least tolerated…this ride on the Church piety spectrum. I think there is little doubt that you have been taken from one extreme to the other. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “From One Extreme to the Other” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here was a past post continuing the Catholic theme https://travelingwithpt.com/hunchback-monk-of-alabama/

If you wish to do a pilgrimage to St. Anthony’s Chapel here are the details https://pghshrines.org/about-st-anthony-chapel

If you are more of the Church Brew Works type, here you go https://churchbrew.com/