Saints Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco

Enjoy these pictures of our church!

 
SS. Peter and Paul Homepage

From Telegraph Hill:

From across Washington Square:

This is a view from the choir loft.

The High Altar.

Here is a close-up of the dome painting.

It is a "Christo Pantocrator" (Christ All Powerful)
The Greek letters are: "IC" (Jesus); "XC" (Christ), "NK" (Conquers).

The open book in Our Lord's hand contains the Latin verse from the Gospel of John:

"Ego Sum Via, Veritas, Vita"
(I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life--John 14:6)

The dome painting was done by Ettore & Giuditta Serbaroli.

A closeup of the High Altar.

The High Altar is made of Carrrara marble, as well as other fine stones.

Facing the altar, Saint Peter is on the left side of our Lord,
and Saint Paul is on the right.
The altar was designed by Charles Fantoni, and erected in 1926. It weighs 40 tons!
The only time any altar ever really looks right is when Mass is being said!


This is the Mass we had in defense of Marriage on April 3, 2004.
Archbishop William Levada and Bishop Allen Vigneron concelebrated with many priests.
For pictures of the rally that followed the Mass, click here.

 

Here is our rose window.

 

It is 14 feet in diameter.
It represents "the Lamb before the throne of God" as described in the
Book of Revelation.

The twelve angels surrounding the Lamb symbolize the
twelve tribes of Israel and the Twelve Apostles.

This is the East Altar.

It was designed and built by Elio Benevenuto,
and is dedicated to 'Don Bosco's Madonna' "Mary Help of Christians."

"Trust Mary, and you will see what miracles are"
-Don Bosco

This is the West Altar.

It is made of marble, and is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The little illuminated receptacle below the polychrome marble statue of Our Lord is called an "ambry." This is where the Holy Oils used for anointing are kept.
This is one of the East Wall Shrines


From left to right we have:
St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, founder of the Salesian Sisters, (statue)
"La Madonna Della Strada" (Madonna of the Streets; mosaic)
"Our Lady of Mt. Carmel" (statue)
"The Death of St. Joseph" (mosaic)
Santa Gemma Galgani (statue)

Here is the other East Wall Shrine


This shows, from left to right:

"La Madonna delle Grazie" (statue)
"The Annunciation" (mosaic)
"St. Anne and her Child, Mary" (statue)
"The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple" (mosaic)
"St. Lucy" (statue)

This is the Lourdes Chapel.

This is the West Chapel.

In this view, we see the Risen Christ,
John the Baptist, and a replica of the original grotto of of "Our Lady of Lourdes" in France.

Here we see St. Therese of the Child Jesus recieving Roses from the Blessed Virgin; St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini), and St. Rita before the Crucifix.


"La Pieta"
This is a replica of
Michelangelo's famous work.


"La Madonna Addolorata"
(The Sorrowful Mother)
She is the patroness of Sicily

We wish to thank those who came before us, without whose generosity and hard work our beautiful church would not be here.