Modern-Day Monastery, No Celibacy Required

From Dave Brigham:

Sometimes I think I should subtitle this blog "Serendipitous Travels Through History." I keep two running lists of places to explore, one each on my phone and laptop. I may never get to everything on those lists, but that's OK. Often when I check out one place on a list, I find at least one additional site to dig around in. That's what happened on a recent visit to Boston's Brighton neighborhood.

I put the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine on my list a while back because a) I have an atheist's curiosity about religious icons and b) I'd read that there was development planned in the area and I wanted to take some pictures before that happened. I will write about the shrine in a future post. On that excursion, I also knocked off a few other places I'd put on my list: the apartment on Commonwealth Avenue where the members of Aerosmith once lived (see July 17, 2018, "Livin' On the Edge"); a former military post being converted to veteran housing (see August 3, 2018, "Marine Barracks to Be Saved"); and Brighton Center (see July 23, 2018, "Shining a Light On Brighton Center"). After snapping pictures of the first two spots, I took an unplanned detour on Warren Street, which is around the corner from the military site.

I didn't see anything I wanted to shoot as I approached Brighton High School. That's when I noticed a sign for Monastery Path. I knew this would lead me to the shrine site, and decided "What the heck?" and up I climbed the gently rising sidewalk.

Here's what awaited me at the top of the hill:

This is the former St. Gabriel's Monastery. Opened in 1911, this Mission Revival complex is impressive.

I had no idea this old monk residence, with its cemetery for residents and massive church, was here. I also had no idea it has been abandoned for quite some time (since 2006). What I figured out quickly enough was that the redevelopment I'd read about that I thought related to the shrine, was actually about the old monastery, which was designated a Boston landmark nearly 30 years ago. The shrine, as you'll see in a future post, is on the grounds. According to a Boston Herald article, the shrine would be moved to a new building when the monastery project commences.

Now, about that construction. The Boston Planning & Development Agency last November approved plans from developer Cabot Cabot & Forbes to redevelop this almost 12-acre site. CC&F will build four new buildings with 660 apartments and condos on the site. The developer will also restore the monastery for housing, and the church for a community center, according to this article, which includes artist renderings of the future development. Many of the stained glass windows will be kept.

Here's a video showing the current state of the property, as well as the planned development:

On the hill sloping south of the monastery, near the shrine, sits a small cemetery, which holds the remains of the priests who lived there over the course of decades.

While CC&F mentions in the above video that it plans to "spruce up" the park in front of the monastery. I can't imagine that would entail moving the gravestones. The cross? Maybe.

I will return here at some point to document the new neighborhood that will spring up in the coming months and years.