St. Joseph’s Chapel

Adorable Catholic chapel located in the charming country town of Garrison, N.Y. St. Joseph’s Chapel is run as a mission church of Our Lady of Loretto in Cold Spring, N.Y., and offers one Mass, a 10:15 a.m. service on Sundays.
I’m assuming that most of the people who attend Mass here are Garrison residents and that they aren’t schlepping in from Cold Spring — not that it’s much of schlep, but whatever — although I’m not really sure. Anyway, this chapel is old, graceful and a lovely place to attend services if you are in the area and are so inclined. It’s a small church, and was definitely constructed in another era. It’s a charming white building with small stained glass windows and an antique-​looking red door. I love old stuff — old art, old buildings, you name it — and this place definitely fits the bill.
Once inside, you’ll realize just how small this chapel is, because you don’t get a complete sense of that from the outside. There is no center aisle; rather, there are three sets of pews and two side aisles. There is a set of pews located on each side of the chapel, and then there is a middle set of seats running down the center of the church where an aisle would normally be in another facility. The two side aisles separate the middle section of pews from the rest of the seating.
The floors here are nice, warm-​colored wooden planks, and the aisles have charmingly old-​fashioned carpet runners. There are niches at the front of the chapel for the statues (very small and very nice), and the altar is tiny compared to what you would find in another church. There are two beautiful paintings that decorate the walls behind the altar. One is of the Virgin and Child, and the other is of St. Joseph, I believe. They are round portraits that were painted in a style that is not seen too much anymore. They struck me as having a similar style to Eastern Orthodox iconography, and the gaze of the figures is very direct.
The Stations of the Cross here are very old and somewhat faded, but they still retain aspects of beauty. The stained glass windows are great. They don’t make them like this anymore. They’ve got the standard stuff, as well as a window featuring St. Joan of Arc in full armor, a castle behind her. That cool little number is located by the stairs that lead to the choir loft. In the window, St. Joan is depicted raising her eyes, presumably towards Heaven, but the artist made her look as though she’s simply rolling them in annoyance at the congregation. I know that I’m not supposed to laugh at religious art, but I got a kick of that one. Tee hee!
Some things to note about St. Joseph’s Chapel: it’s a small space, so the choir will really sound at times like they’re belting it out; the pew kneelers are hard as rocks; there is no parking lot, so be prepared to park alongside the road; and the chapel is directly across the street from the Garrison Fire House, so if the fire alarm goes off while you’re here, it will wail away VERY loudly and you won’t be able to hear a thing until it stops.
But those are all minor caveats, in my opinion. All in all, if you’re in the neighborhood on a Sunday and want to swing by St. Joseph’s Chapel, it’s probably worth your time. It’s such a pretty little church and is hard to resist.