Most are aware of Buffalo’s great treasure of religious architecture. Unfortunately, few have a real appreciation for the significant cultural value as these great edifices begin to disappear year by year.
These amazing palaces of worship are increasingly in danger as the population of local parishes ages and declines. There seems to be little civic urgency as churches close, interior treasures are sold off, and the buildings are left to rot. Perhaps WNY takes this amazing collection of art and craft for granted because it has seemed so commonplace in Buffalo. Now, more than ever, the people of WNY need to sit up and take notice as this fragile gift from our ancestors becomes more and more rare.
The amazing collection of angels shown in this slideshow are all from just one Church, Corpus Christi Church, at 199 Clark Street on the city’s East Side. Recently the Church was adopted by the Pauline Fathers, making it safe from closure for the foreseeable future. I stumbled on this wonderful collection of pictures, and knew I had to do a BRO story about it.
If the second angel in the slideshow is up in the choir loft, it is an angel originally from the now closed Holy Apostles SS. Peter & paul’s Church on Clinton & Smith Sts. There are similar angels at CC though.