Tour the Building

The map at the bottom of this page will help guide you.

The Sanctuary

Start your tour at the altar rail gate and face the High Altar (1). The altar is of white Vermont marble, 10 feet 4 inches long. It was brought to this building from this parish’s previous church building on West 40th Street. Depending on the season or feast being celebrated, the altar may be covered with a silk frontal, whose color and decorations convey something of the season or feast. This altar is used for all Sunday masses.

At the center of the altar is the tabernacle (2), which contains the consecrated Eucharistic bread. We reserve the Blessed Sacrament, mainly for the Communion of the sick. The Rector, or another priest, regularly takes Communion to those who cannot be present with us at the Sunday celebrations of the Holy Eucharist.

The altar itself is surmounted by a limestone reredos (a word that means “behind the back”) (3). This reredos contains a statue of St. Mary the Virgin (4) and of St. Ignatius (5). Like the altar, both of these marble statues were brought from the old building.

Behind the reredos and against the wall are panels of angels that were stenciled by Alison Risso-Gill Dodd (a member of the parish) and Jill Tajiri in 1991. The design of the angels was taken from the altarpiece in the Lady Chapel.

Above the High Altar is a stained glass window (6) depicting the Adoration of the Lamb [Revelation 5]. Christ is represented by the Lamb on an altar, and the Holy Spirit is represented by a dove. Both are surrounded by saints and angels. You can see, for example, St. Peter (with his keys), St. Paul (with his sword), St. George (with armor and flag), St. Mary the Virgin (holding a lily), St. Mary Magdalen (holding a jar), and St. Agnes (holding a lamb). The glass was executed by John Hardman & Co., of Birmingham, England.

The statue of St. Michael (7) to the left of the High Altar, like the statues of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Ignatius in the reredos, is yet another survival from the old church building on West 40th Street.
When lit, the silver sanctuary lamp indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle on the High Altar.

The seven hanging lamps (above the front edge of the Sanctuary, near the altar rail) were also brought from the old church building. Though they originally burned oil, they are now lit by votive candles.

On the wall on the Gospel side of the Sanctuary (to your left as you face the High Altar), are two memorial plaques (8). The nearer, memorial includes a bas–relief bust of Dr. Ferdinand Cartwright Ewer, who founded the parish in 1871.

Farther along the wall is a tablet inscribed: “To the glory of God in honour of Saint Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr, in memory of Arthur Ritchie Rector of this Parish, 1884–1914, this church was consecrated February 8, 1925.”

Also on this wall and above the plaques are two plaster casts of bas–reliefs of singers by Luca della Robia. These mark the former site of the choir loft, now converted into the Rector’s office. The original sculptures can be seen in the Cathedral Museum in Florence, Italy.

The Sanctuary floor forms a highly elaborate pattern of colored marble and stone mosaic. A similar example of this work can be found in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, also a work of Charles Haight.

To the right, "epistle side," of the altar is a limestone console, known as the credence table (9). During the mass, the credence table holds candles, books, and the bread and wine until they are needed at the High Altar. The table was given in memory of Blanche Tyler Trowbridge.

The Lady Chapel

At the entrance to the Lady Chapel stands the Shrine of our Lady (15), which, like other polychrome wooden statues in the church, was designed by Ralph Adams Cram and executed in his studios in Boston. Note how the Gothic scroll work on the base of the shrine forms a series of "M"s, for Mary.

The Lady Chapel is used for weekday services. The altar (10) is of pink alabaster.

The triptych behind this altar (above), executed by Angelo Lualdi to a design of Ralph Adams Cram, contains legendary scenes from the life of the Virgin. From let to right: the meeting of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna at Jerusalem's Golden Gate, the birth of the Virgin, and her presentation in the Temple.

The window (11) behind the altar shows Our Lady as Queen of Heaven, seated and crowned, holding a crowned child Jesus and attended by two angels. On your right (as you face the altar) are windows depicting two other scenes from St. Mary’s life: the visit of the Archangel Gabriel [St. Luke 1:26–38], known as the Annunciation (12); and Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist [St. Luke 1:39–56], known as the Visitation (13).

Note that the hanging lamp in the chapel, another Cram design, matches almost exactly the lamp shown in the Annunciation window.

As you leave the Lady Chapel, notice the glazed terra cotta plaque on your right in the style of della Robbia (14), which depicts Mary holding the Christ Child.

The Nave

Turn right, and notice the shrine of St. Ignatius (yet another Cram creation) (16). St. Ignatius is vested as a bishop of the eastern Orthodox churches. His hands are bound in the chains of a prisoner for Jesus Christ, and St. Ignatius holds his own heart with the Greek abbreviation of the name of "Jesus." According to a medieval legend, when St. Ignatius was martyred, the lions (shown curled up at his feet like a dog, detail right) spared only his heart, on which the name of Jesus Christ was found written in gold.

Continue back to the altar gate and, facing the High Altar, turn to your right to see the large transept window (17) depicting St. Ignatius’ martyrdom in the Colosseum at Rome. You can see Ignatius, surrounded by lions, as well as the emperor Trajan and the jeering crowds. In the center panel of the window’s lower story is St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, holding a scroll inscribed with the first words of the letter Ignatius addressed to him.

Click here to see a high resolution image of this window.

It would be quite normal to assume that here you would also find the church's pulpit and, indeed, when the church was consecrated in 1925, there was a pulpit where the statue of St. Ignatius now stands. That pulpit was removed, however, in 1929 when the statue of St. Ignatius was installed.

Continue your tour by walking towards the wall opposite the St. Ignatius window. To your right is the shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (18), which depicts Christ in the vestments of a bishop of the western Church. His right hand is raised in blessing, while his left hand points to his heart, representing his love for the whole human race.

Next on your right is the Chantry Chapel (19). The altar in the Chantry Chapel (20) was from the home of the Bell family, parishioners. We also refer to this altar as the Altar of Repose, because this is where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved between the night service on Maundy Thursday and the noon service on Good Friday. The panels behind the altar were painted by Sergei Betekhtin (a member of the parish) and represent the story of the raising of Lazarus [St. John 11:1-44]. The central panel is the “harrowing of hell,” when Christ, after his death, brought the benefits of the Cross to the departed [I Peter 3:18-19].

The passage (21) from the Chantry Chapel to the Sacristy (directly behind this altar) is equipped with a movable screen, so that confessions could be heard in privacy (the priest entering from the Sacristy, the penitent entering from the Chantry Chapel). This “secret” confessional was built in this manner because sacramental confession was a matter of controversy in the Episcopal Church at the time the church was constructed.

In the corner of the church near the “transept” doors is the first of the Stations of the Cross (22). The fourteen Stations, also products of the Cram Studio from the 1920s, are arranged counterclockwise around the church. The devotion is a meditation on the sufferings and death of Christ and can be conducted in private at any time. At St Ignatius it is also a public service held on Friday evenings during Lent. (Stations are marked on the map with a +).

The Baptistery

The stone baptismal font (23) was, like the High Altar, in the church building on West 40th Street. But the elaborate cover, to a design by Ralph Adams Cram, was added in 1930. The cover details the life of St. John the Baptist but also depicts other images, including symbols of water. The hart (or deer) on the inside of the font cover represents the Psalm verse “Like as the hart desireth the water brooks” [Psalm 42:1], a verse traditionally associated with Baptism.

Next to the font stands the Paschal Candle (24), which is blessed at the Easter Vigil each year and is lit at all Baptisms becasue of the connection between that Sacrament and Easter.. The candle also burns at all services between Easter and Pentecost, standing in that season in the Sacctuary, as a symbol of the presence of the Risen Christ.

In back of the baptistery are niches of the columbarium, a repository for the ashes of deceased members of the parish (25). There are also niches in the opposite wall. The association of burial with Baptism is not accidental: in Baptism we are buried with Christ in his death, and are raised to newness of life [Romans 6:3–4].

The Organ and Choir

The organ, built in 1966 by Casavant Frères and renovated in 1981, is a fine and highly successful three manual instrument. Designed in the “American Classic” style with a strong French cast, it is versatile and is situated in a space with flattering acoustics. The façade of the pipe chamber can be seen above the font, while the organ console itself (26) is situated at the edge of the nave, so the organist may see both the choir and the High Altar. The choir sits in the transept (27), across the transept aisle from the console.

The rear of the Nave

On your right is a confessional (28). The confessional is a place where a penitent may be heard privately only by the priest who is hearing the confession. Forms for confession, called “The Reconciliation of a Penitent,” are provided in The Book of Common Prayer (p. 447 and following).

The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham (right) represents the Virgin as pictured in the shrine in Walsingham, England (29), one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the Middle Ages. Our Lady is depicted as Queen of Heaven, enthroned with the child Jesus on her lap, holding a lilly as her septer.

Above the site where a second confessional once stood is a window (30) that depicts St. Luke 7:36-50. In that scripture passage, Jesus is eating at a Pharisee’s home when a sinful woman comes to Jesus, bathes his feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them and anoints them with oil. To the Pharisee’s astonishment, Jesus recognizes her great love and forgives all her sins.

Turn the corner and walk toward the 87th Street doors of the church. Stop at the middle aisle. High up on the back wall is a painting depicting the Flight into Egypt (31). The painting also hung in the old church building. It shows the Holy Family’s journey from Bethlehem to Egypt [St. Matthew 2:13-15]. Cherubic angels and little children surround them in adoration.

If you turn back toward the Sanctuary and look up, you will see the Rood Beam (32). “Rood” is an old English word for “cross.” Our crucified Lord is flanked by the Virgin, and St. John, the beloved disciple, who remained faithful to Jesus even as he was crucified. Statues of St. Peter and St. Paul also stand on the Rood Beam.

Continue across the back of the church to the porch. In the porch you will find the holy water stoup (33), which we believe was the first installed in any Episcopal Church in the United States. When we enter this building and use blessed water from the font to make the sign of the cross, we remind ourselves of our baptism with water and the Holy Spirit.

Continue through the porch and up the side aisle. The window to your right (34) depicts St. Matthew 8:5-13. In that scripture passage, a Roman centurion comes to Jesus at Capernaum and asks Jesus to heal the centurion’s paralyzed servant. Jesus praises the centurion’s great faith and heals the servant.

Further up the side aisle is a shrine dedicated to those who have died with, or are living with, HIV/AIDS (35). You will also find there the framed texts of some appropriate prayers.

Conclusion of Tour

This completes your tour of the church building. Along the tour you have seen many memorials to those who have worshiped and worked in this church building. These memorials serve as reminders of those who have gone before us and are still with us in the communion of saints. We believe that they join with us and with the whole “company of heaven” every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in this place. The memorials remind us to pray for them, and we ask their prayers as God’s faithful people for us who are still here on earth.

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This page was adapted from the booklet prepared by Fr. Roger M. C. Gentile and
Mr. James F. Bush in September 2005, and revised by Dr Warren T. Woodfin in 2007.

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