San Francisco is a city of marvelous churches, but the most grand receive the majority of attention. Places like the Gothic-style Grace (Episcopal) Cathedral on Nob Hill, the modernistic St. Mary of the Assumption (Roman Catholic) Cathedral on Cathedral Hill or the golden onion-domed Holy Virgin (Russian Orthodox) Cathedral on Geary Street in the Sunset District are widely known and visited.
But tucked into a busy tourist area, out of sight to the millions of visitors eating clam chowder and buying trinkets, is a small redwood chapel of great significance to the Italian-American fishing community of North Beach: The Fishermen’s and Seamen’s Memorial Chapel.
Fishing has always been a dangerous occupation, and for centuries coastal communities around the world have dedicated chapels in memory of residents who have perished at sea while braving the waves, wind and fog to bring ocean delicacies to our tables. San Francisco continues this tradition through this charming building that faces a small lagoon on the inner harbor of Pier 45, the site of a former Coast Guard rescue station.
Built in 1979 and dedicated by the Archbishop of Palermo, Italy, in 1981, it is a memorial to some 200 Bay Area fishermen who have lost their lives at sea. A campanile (bell tower) was added in 2006. Generally closed to the public except during Sunday services, visitors can still take a peek inside and see the elements of a traditional Catholic church, including:
• Organ
• Baptismal font
• Banners
• Plaques honoring the deceased
• Six pews
• Stained glass windows
• Lectern (draped with a fishing net).
Over the altar is an antique banner in honor of the Madonna of Lume (Light), the patron saint of fishermen in Sicily, since many of the early fishermen who immigrated to San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood were Sicilian. They brought along another tradition: on the first Saturday of October, the Chapel holds an ancient ritual known as “the blessing of the fleet” when fishing boats are blessed for safety in the coming year.
Technically, this building is an “oratory,” a type of private chapel separate from any parish church; it is known as “St. John the Apostle Oratory,” reportedly home of “the only fully traditional pre-Vatican II Roman Mass offered in the Bay Area.”
Visitors will find many differences between this Mass and the Eucharist as celebrated elsewhere throughout the English-speaking world since the 1960s:
• A crucifix (representation of Jesus on the cross) is over the altar.
• The priest faces the altar with his back toward the congregation.
• The Mass is celebrated in Latin, the language used for worship since the first century.
• The congregation uses “missals” (prayer books) with the Latin text on one page and the English translation on the facing page.
• The congregation receives only the “host” (communion wafer) that is placed on the tongue while kneeling.
This liturgy is held at 10 a.m. each Sunday, preceded by the Gregorian chant of the “Divine Office” (daily prayers) at 9:30 a.m. Masses on Holy Days are offered at 7 p.m. Visitors should be aware that reception of the Sacraments is limited to “those Roman Catholics professing the Catholic faith who are in a state of grace and fasting according to the precepts of the Church.”
The Chapel is also open to the public during group tours hosted by the Fisherman’s Wharf Historical Society. For more information, call (415) 626-7070.
Chuck Flagg is a retired teacher with a passion for religion. Reach him at [email protected].
