Status: Active, Catholic

Also Known As: St. Frannie's

Founded: 1839
Construction: 1894

24th & Green Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19130

http://archphila.org/parishes/7840.htm

http://www.secularoratory.com/index.html

The Project stays in North Philadelphia to tackle Spring Garden’s St. Francis Xavier. I’ve referenced Francis Xavier a couple of times, most notably when discussing Cedar Park’s St. Francis de Sales and Germantown’s St. Francis of Assisi.

That’s right! St. Francis Xavier is the third and final piece of the infamous Francis Triangle. For those of you who don’t remember, The Francis Triangle refers to the triangular location of the three Philly parishes that bear some variation on the name St. Francis. It looks something like this:

(Once again, all apologies to MSN LiveSearch)

I postulated once upon a time that the triangle could have some deeper significance. Of course, I also postulated that I could just be an unreliable wackjob spinning nonsensical theories. I’m afraid to admit that the latter, more than the former, appears to be true. I can’t say for certain that this triangle doesn’t possess some weird mystical powers…I just have absolutely no evidence to support it.

Perhaps the real mystical power is that all three St. Francis parishes are really, really good. There’s not a stinker in the bunch! Francis Xavier holds up its end of the bargain nicely, although, curiously, it manages in many ways to be both my favorite and least favorite church. Confused? Read on.

First, the good stuff. Frannie’s boasts one of the prettiest exteriors of any church in the area. No lie. It has a stunning white and red color scheme, highlighted by a very prominent steeple. In terms of looks, this sucker has them. It’s easily one of the most picaresque churches we’ve seen. And if you don’t believe me, look at this shot, produced by a professional photographer. It seriously makes the Project weak in the knees.

It’s not like the Romanesque interior is a slouch, either. Inside we get a very lovely pink, white and yellow color scheme, highlighted by soaring barrel vaults and arches. There are also three—count ‘em!—three gorgeous rose windows, a beautiful altar and a nifty stained-glass altar backdrop. (Odd how we didn’t see any of those up until about a month ago, and now that’s all we see!)

So what’s the problem? Well, it's really one of design, not ornamentation. Frannie’s, you see, is asymmetrical. Facing front, the right side of the church is wider than the left side. During construction, instead of keeping the church separate from the other parish buildings, they instead extended the right side to connect with them. Thus, the right side of the nave and the right side of the transept are wider than their left-hand counterparts.

I can understand why they might do such a thing, but it ultimately keeps this church out of the true upper echelon. The asymmetry throws the whole design off. Churches are supposed to be uniform and symmetrical in design, and having a church with one side wider than the other just gives it an odd vibe. It also throws off the ornamentation. Since the right side connects to a building, there are no stained glass windows there; instead, the stations of the cross are adjusted and moved to the center to compensate. It’s boring and not very attractive, but it also doesn’t sync up with the beautiful row of windows that adorn the left side.

DID YOU KNOW?: This is actually Francis Xavier's second church building. The first was built in 1839 at 25th & Biddle, approximately where the art museum sits right now. In 1894, however, construction near the church damaged the foundation and led to repeated flooding. The church had to be demolished, and this one was constructed in its place.

If it sounds like I’m being hard on this church, I’m really trying not to be. There’s a lot here to like. But the design quirks sort of throw everything out of alignment, and it makes it hard to truly count it among the best.

I like it, but not as much as I thought I would.

Size Rating: 9 out of 10

Ornamentation Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Overall Design Rating: 8.5 out of 10 crosses

Finding St. Francis Xavier isn’t as hard you might think. Sure, navigating Kelly Drive or the Parkway might seem intimidating, but it’s really fairly painless. The real trouble comes from finding a place to park.

As mentioned above, Spring Garden is a very good area, so you have nothing to fear.

Safety Rating: 9.5 out of 10 tire irons

I spoke to one of the priests, and he told me some interesting tidbits about the church. The major revelation is that the front of the church was actually destroyed by a fire in the early 1900s, but they managed to completely rebuild it.

There were also some other minor tidbits. Many parts of this church are actually not what they seem:

The Altar: Only the bottom part of the impressive altar is actually made of marble. The top part is wood that was painted to look like marble. (Could have fooled me!).

The Columns: Speaking of subterfuge, the columns are actually steel girders that have been dressed up to look like marble.

The Right Exterior: The right side of the building, the one that connects to the other buildings, was faced with red brick, instead of the white stone, to save money. No one can see it, so, hey, why not?

Fascinating stuff, but it only reinforces the idea that this is a church that chose to cut corners instead of truly reaching for the heavens. Is it any surprise, then, that I found it somewhat disappointing?