Boston Disorientation

There are many things about which I can post, but I figure it is best to start at the beginning and get a feel for the geography and do some ground reconnaissance. Boston is a rather confusing city for navigation and most of it has a terrible city plan, so future posts about getting hopelessly lost are inevitable.

As the myth goes, most of the streets in downtown Boston were originally cow paths or deer trails that were used for human traffic as the town grew. This seems to be a myth (See here) and the alternative explanations of hilly topography and a poorly planned village with periods of rapid, unregulated growth seem more likely. Despite relatively modern architecture, the haphazard road plan lends the older parts of the city an foreign feeling, especially in older neighborhoods.

Fig. 1: the irregular street plan of Boston compared to a very regular grid typical of U. S. cities (Manhattan).

Fig. 2: the labyrinthine warren of Boston's North End, the Italian neighborhood. Coincidence? 

Another interesting aspect is the fact that Boston's landscape has been more modified than a Dutch polder. Originally almost an island with a spindly isthmus, the peninsula on which Boston is built was steadily expanded by leveling the hilly landscape and backfilling the swamps, bays, and rivers. This practice was most pronounced during the 19th century, when the Back Bay neighborhood (where I am) was created from what was previously a section of bay on the the Charles River. Not even all of Boston Common is on original land.

Fig. 3: expansion of Boston by backfilling, mid 19th- early 20th century.

St. Clement's Shrine/Our Lady of Grace Seminary is located at the edge of the Back Bay near Fenway Park, at the corner of Boylston and Ipswich. Besides Fenway, other notable landmarks nearby include the Boston Public Library main branch, Trinity Church, the Prudential Center (a massive retail/ convention center/ hotel complex), Boston Symphony Hall, and Copley Square of Boston Marathon fame.

                     

Fig. 4: landmarks of western Back Bay

Speaking of the Prudential Center, the Oblates have a very singular establishment there. St. Francis Chapel is located in the middle of the shopping center. Originally Franciscan, the Oblates took custody of it in the mid-1980s and offer eight hours of confession and Eucharistic adoration daily, four daily masses, and ten Sunday masses. It is also adjacent to the Hynes Convention Center and conventioners from all over the world as well as shoppers and local residents crowd in for adoration and the sacraments.

St. Clement's is the Eucharistic shrine of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed 24/7 about 20 steps from my cell. It is not a parish, but people often come to attend lauds, vespers, and the 7 am and 12:10 pm daily masses as well as Sunday masses. The shrine has also long been a center of student activities due to the high concentration of universities and colleges in the area and there are two different young adult groups that meet weekly. Our Lady of Grace Seminary and the provincial office are located at St. Clement's.

And St. Joseph Retreat House is located in Milton, MA, a few miles outside the city. Several Oblates in residence provide retreats, days of recollection, and spiritual direction. I am looking forward to a three-day silent retreat there at the beginning of the semester.

Well, that was the overview of Boston, the neighborhood, and Oblate foundations where I am. I will be much busier in the days to come, so perhaps starting with a long, picture-filled post is establishing an unrealistic precedent, but I promise some more spiritually enriching posts with fewer maps and illustrative figures.