This is a spectacular church near the Museum of Fine Art. I stopped in to say a prayer and make a…read moredonation. The church doors are open daily to accommodate worshippers. A must see!

Very large and beautiful church right in downtown Boston…read more Run by the Redemptorist order of priest. Been a few documented healings received.

This church stands as a reminder of another era in Boston and ultimately of a sad story. The sad…read morestory part is what happened to the West End of Boston where this church is located. Back in 1862 when this church was built the West End of Boston was not unlike the North End or Beacon Hill, both of which stand virtually unchanged now. Like those two areas, the West End was a dynamic and thriving community filled with 4 and 5-story brick buildings which were homes to thousands of families. It was a real neighborhood representing a variety of cultures, including a fairly large Italian population. During the 1950s, 46 acres of the West End were entirely leveled. 3,000 units of housing were destroyed (all those brick buildings), which forced approximately 10,000 people to leave the only homes in America they had known. This was done under the auspices of "Urban Renewal". Many wealthy Bostonians had considered the West End to be filled with "slums" and lobbied for its demise but it was not a slum. The West End was a working class neighborhood. It's destruction was wanton and reckless with little care for the people living there who had little to no political clout. What was erected in place of those low-rise brick buildings were a series of ugly, uninspired and entirely soul-less high-rise apartment buildings. Community, connection and neighbors knowing neighbors, relationships forged over decades, were simply gone by 1960. Somehow this church managed to stay put. It was one of the central features, along with a local synagogue of spiritual life for that now displaced West End community. I'm happy that this church is still standing and didn't get lost in the destruction of the rest of the real neighborhood. It's a lovely building with an inside design that reminds me of the church I grew up attending with an old-fashioned homey feel to it. It's a peaceful place with beautiful stained glass, lovely art work and gilded touches. It's hard not to sit in a pew and feel a sense of calm come over you which to me is a welcome feeling. I have often reminisced while sitting in there about what these church walls have witnessed over the years. I can imagine this church as a spiritual home for many of those early immigrants who settled in the area and where baptisms, weddings and funerals were regular occurrences. While the West End remains a busy area, it's heart is lost. That this church still stands of course is a good thing but to me it exudes a somewhat sad beauty of another era. The immigrant story of the West End has been largely erased and it's not been replaced with anything particularly special. This church is special though and worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood. Read up on the West End though before you come and so you can imagine what a tragedy this history really is. http://004e136.netsolhost.com/images/4WestEnd.pdf .

Moved here recently. Reached out to give and get help. Fr is one of the good ones, but has not…read morefulfilled his offer of help or took me up on mine. I am not sure what is happening in the background, however I need to find a community especially in these crazy times. I will be moving on.

Beautiful Catholic Church in the heart of Cambridge. Enjoyed mass here while visiting. They are…read morecurrently undergoing renovations so there was some scaffolding in the front of the church. Parking can be difficult so we took a ride share from our hotel.

Quick Saturday evening mass. 32 minutes....! Beautiful…read moreneighborhood church in Cambridge just happened to be staying down the street and passed by on a walk. No music for mass on Saturday- and just a few families. Was glad to have been able to attend.

I started coming here to find a quiet, solitary place. This place is a hidden gem and is great if…read moreyou are looking for a place for prayer or meditation in the middle of a busy day. The brothers here welcome anyone to use the space throughout the week with the exception of Mondays (when they take their Sabbath).

This is a world-renowned place in Cambridge - right next to JFK Park on the Charles - incredibly…read morebeautiful and architecturally significant Ralph Adams Cram building. It is home to a vibrant, healthy and intelligent group of monks who provide amazing hospitality in creative worship throughout the day nearly every day (Monday is their sabbath). Heads-up Cambridge folks who have a spiritual bent will find this a satisfying discovery...

Renewal made me feel welcome from the first day I visited, which was my favorite thing about this…read morechurch. The greeters took some time to talk to me, and they have a hospitality area with coffee and tea. I sometimes feel lost when visiting a church, so the fact that people took some time out to talk to me was very nice. The teaching is also very easy to follow, and breaks down the Bible in a way that I'm able to learn and also apply it, which I feel is important. I'd definitely recommend this church to anyone!

I have been exploring churches in the greater Boston area for a while and came across Renewal. The…read morelocation of Renewal Church is a bit tricky with services taking place in an AMC theater on an upper level. Worship music was lovely, but overall the experience felt short and by the time I settled in, it was over. The sermon was a prerecorded video too which was a bummer especially for my first time. I signed up for their communications, which was nice in the beginning, but quickly felt spammy. I'm sure the community is lovely! I just don't think this place is for me.

Beautiful church grounded in history! It warms my heart to find this Catholic Church open…read morethroughout the day... to pray and be with the Lord. God is so good! Here is the history of the church taken directly from their website! Sources linked below: Prior to 1870, very few Italian immigrants resided in Boston. Rapidly, there grew a number of Italians leaving their homes and country to find a better life in a new world. Along with the immigrants came the rich traditions of Catholicism and legacies of strong faith and devotion to the Church. Tending to the spiritual needs of his people, Archbishop Williams called upon the Order of Friar Minors, the Franciscans, many whom were recent immigrants themselves; to go out and serve those in need, and so began what is now known as Saint Leonard of Port Maurice Church. Originally situated on a small lot of land, within a decade the continued influx of Italian immigrants prompted the need for a larger place of spiritual respite. Construction began on the Saint Anthony Shrine, named for a great Franciscan saint, with many devotees from the old country. By the mid-1890's, the parishioners numbered close to twenty thousand. Once again, the Friars recognized the need for a larger worship space to accommodate the faithful. Under the leadership of pastor Father Ubaldus Pandolfi, OFM, the community raised $160,000.00 (the equivalent of over $4 million in 2018) to begin construction. On November 6, 1899, the dedicated parishioners saw the consecration of the new upper church, named after Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, OFM. Known as "Father of the Italian Immigrant," Father Pandolfi continued to follow the footsteps of our Seraphic Father Francis as he sought to minister to the next generation. Calling to the Franciscan Sisters for help, Saint Anthony School, situated on parish property, opened in 1902 with an enrollment of 200 children. Within two years, enrollment doubled to 400 children necessitating the construction of a larger school. Throughout the 20th century, loyal parishioners and the Franciscan Friars built on their humble foundations, consistently reaching out to those most in need. Responding to the deadly influenza epidemic of 1917-1919 and the many orphans left in its' devastating wake; then-pastor Father Antonio Sousa, OFM and several community members speared a fundraising campaign to create the Home for Italian Children. Located in nearby Jamaica Plain, the Home for Italian Children officially opened in 1921 with 30 children. The dawn of the 21st century saw Saint Leonard Church incorporate Saint Mary's Chapel (formerly run by the Jesuit priests) and Sacred Heart Italian Church (formerly run by the Scalabrini Fathers) in the North End of Boston into what became Saint Leonard Parish. The Franciscan Friars continue their ministry to the combined Parish with two worship sites: Saint Leonard Church and Sacred Heart Church. Spirituality, fraternity, and tradition continue to be the center of life at Saint Leonard of Port Maurice Parish. Rich Italian traditions and customs infuse the diversity of 21st century as new generations and multiple ethnicities embrace the religious societies, the Church, and its ministries. Source: https://saintleonardchurchboston.org/about-us

St. Stephen's is a lovely Catholic church. First time I saw this church, I thought it was the…read morefamous Old North Church that Paul Revere made famous. Soon found out that I was mistaken. Nothing fancy about this church. Although, it is one of the only two remaining Bulfinch designed churches. Nice for a quick visit and a prayer.

St. John the Evangelist was a lovely high Anglican church and parish with a wonderful congregation…read moreand a great liturgy. The beautiful reredos behind the altar was gifted to Trinity College in Hartford, CT several years ago and apparently is still in storage, prior to being installed in the chapel there. The parish was merged with the St. Pauls Cathedral in Boston, an odd merging to my way of thinking. St. Pauls is all about "trendy", "touchy" and "feely". Not much in the way of traditions for them if they get in the way of "whats happening now", by golly. Heck, cathedral poobahs - when, um, "remodeling" the interior - wanted to put something above the main entrance, a symbol of some kind. (The original plan in 1819 was to have a sculpture in the pediment of St. Paul, preaching. That never happened.) They decided against having a Christian cross or crucifix above the door of their Christian cathedral because, "gasp!", it might not be WELCOMING to some. You know, kind of like not wanting an unwelcoming American flag inside the cathedral (as was done in decades past) or an unwelcoming bronze plaque that says, "famous person so and so worshipped here" because that guy owned a slave in 1723, a factoid that was unknown until some virtue signaling sleuth found a reference on page 1,299 of a book that hadnt been opened in 200 years. Instead, they put up a sculpture of a nautilus shell because its' joyous spiral shape symbolizes the spiral dance of life and our interconnectedness, yadda yadda vomit. Yup, nothing says, "welcome, seek the peace of God/Goddess herein" like a big seashell. They also cut two windows into the front of the historic early 19th century Greek Revival-style building, to make the church WELCOMING. I mean, with the windows and the shell, could it BE any more welcoming? Amazing how unwelcoming this place apparently was with over 200 years worth of memories, tears, laughter, prayer, Christian baptisms, first communions, weddings, funerals, Christmases, Easters, parish celebrations..... Not sure how many folks from St. John the Evangelist went to St. Pauls and stayed. Some went to the Church of the Advent, another gorgeous high Anglican church in Boston that would easily remind them of their former parish, albeit larger and maybe a bit more impersonal during coffee hour. The loss of St. John the Evangelist hurt many. It felt like a small parish where people new each other and it was steeped in many of the traditions that the founding Cowley Fathers bequeathed to it. Oh well, when the new age God/Goddess Jesus dances, you have to pay the piper.

St. John's on Bowdoin Street is the "other" Episcopal Church on Beacon Hill- the other being the…read moreChurch of the Advent. Like the Advent, St. John's also bills itself as an Anglo-Catholic parish, but has a drastically different feel to its liturgy. Its sanctuary was damaged by fire and rebuilt as an eclectic mix of gothic and modern stylings; the service is likewise eclectic and comes across as more Broad Church than High Church. It gets a big plus as a welcoming church (it's far more hospitable than the Advent); and the small, diverse, and loyal congregation warmly greets you during coffee hour. But as an urban parish, it's membership seems transitory. Many people seemed to attend because they like "High Church" but had alienating experiences at the Advent.

This is one of the most friendly churches I have ever been to. St. Mary's is an amazingly diverse…read morecommunity that is very welcoming to new guests. I moved to Cambridge in August of 2009 from California, and the community at St. Mary's really helped me feel like I had family away from home. Fr. Antony is one of the kindest and most sincere priests I have met. He makes an effort to get to know newcomers to the church. He has a wonderful voice and manages to make every service feel like it's the most special one of the year. Speaking of services, there are PLENTY of services during the Lenten season and throughout the year (including major feast days). The choir at St. Mary's, which sits among the people, gives the church a wonderful communal feel and sounds spectacular. The church itself is one of the oldest in Cambridge which lends to the creaky and "lived in feel" of the interior. Although the iconostasis and the stained glass windows are not "breathtaking" they do give St. Mary's a unique and home-y feeling that I have yet to find at another church in the area or across the country. Positives: One of the friendliest and welcoming churches I have ever been to, Fr. Antony is amazing, wonderful coffee hours after liturgy, summer hours, central location/accessible by T Negatives: Limited street/lot parking (careful, you might get blocked in in the lot!)

A beautiful parish with an incredibly energetic and loving Priest! Fr. Anthony personally welcomes…read morevisitors and new members of the parish, he takes the time to get to know you, making you really want to be at church. The community is youthful, friendly and loving, all for the glory of God! Services every Sunday with services for feast days and many services during lent. Come to St. Mary's in Cambridge! Truly a beautiful parish!