{"id":15719,"date":"2012-08-07T13:50:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T19:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=15719"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:06:09","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:06:09","slug":"on-sacred-under-ground-blessing-a-new-york-subway-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/08\/on-sacred-under-ground-blessing-a-new-york-subway-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"On sacred (under) ground: blessing a New York subway tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Details:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

At 7 on Monday morning, a priest in black robes approached a portal on Second Avenue that dropped down into an underground cavern.<\/p>\n

Accompanied by about 10 men in safety vests and hard hats, the priest donned similar gear and stepped into a steel mesh cage. As the cage was lowered into the hole, the priest was sweating; he clutched his prayer book to his chest.<\/p>\n

He stepped out of the cage onto the wet, gritty dirt and looked at the cavern\u2019s stone walls. A tractor banged loudly at one wall. Several men were boring holes in the rock with heavy drills.<\/p>\n

Then the muddy workers stopped drilling and hacking, and they gathered around the priest. Glaring work lights shined on the stone walls, and some daylight streamed down the shaft.<\/p>\n

The priest, the Rev. Kazimierz Kowalski of the Roman Catholic Church of\u00a0Our Lady of Good Counsel<\/a>\u00a0on East 90th Street in Manhattan, stepped over rocks into a small clearing away from the shaft to be clear of falling objects. And there he began to pray, blessing the underground cavity\u00a0where the Second Avenue subway tunnel is taking shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work we continue today should enliven our faith and make us grateful,\u201d Father Kowalski began. \u201cIf the Lord does not build a house, in vain do its builders labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year into the construction of this section of the Second Avenue tunnel, the cavern has now been \u201cbelled out\u201d \u2014 excavated enough to accommodate large machines \u2014 and prompting the\u00a0sandhogs<\/a>, the construction workers who dig beneath the city, to seek divine sanction for their risky work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bring in a priest for each phase of a project, to offer God\u2019s blessing to the project, and also for the safety of our men,\u201d said John C. Donohue, known as Chickie.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Details:\u00a0 At 7 on Monday morning, a priest in black robes approached a portal on Second Avenue that dropped down into an underground cavern. Accompanied by about 10 men in safety vests and hard hats, the priest donned similar gear and stepped into a steel mesh cage. As the cage was lowered into the hole, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,49],"tags":[624],"class_list":["post-15719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer","category-this-that","tag-new-york"],"yoast_head":"\nOn sacred (under) ground: blessing a New York subway tunnel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Details:\u00a0 At 7 on Monday morning, a priest in black robes approached a portal on Second Avenue that dropped down into an underground cavern. 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