The Project gets off the skids with a visit to Overbrook’s Our Lady of Lourdes, which serves as a reminder that churches don’t need to be larger than life. Sure, it’s impossible to argue with something like Immaculate Conception. But while grandiosity is good, it’s not everything. As St. Veronica, St. Michael and St. Augustine proved, a church can be terrific without blocking out the sun.
You can now add Our Lady of Lourdes to that list. The church isn’t big by any means—in fact, it’s really rather shrimpy—but it’s classically, strikingly beautiful. The cruciform gothic design is dressed up in a gorgeous blue, gold and white color scheme, particularly around the altar. True to Gothic form, the stained glass windows are huge and magnificent. Oh, and like Our Lady of Mount Carmel it uses a stained glass window as an altar backdrop, but unlike OLMC, it actually does so successfully.
There are a couple of places where the paint job seems to get a little OLMC-y, and the design does look a little vertically squashed. Overall, though, this is a really terrific décor. The real joys here are the little touches—the gleaming gold candelabras, the gold bars holding the altar rug in place, the various painted crests on the ceiling. I called it classically beautiful for a reason; the place has an old-school, traditionalist vibe.
LOOK FOR IT: The statue outside of St. Michael stepping Lucifer’s head. Michael’s sword looks like it broke off long ago, but it’s still pretty cool.
The Project likes tradition. And The Project likes this church.
Size Rating: 7 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 8 out of 10 crosses
