St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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1Q THE IGNATIAN speaks with mute eloquence the familiar words: HSan Fran, cisco Welcomes the World . Turning towards the north we see in quick succession, the towering office buildings, the white marble columns and the glittering dome of the City Hall, and the acropolis-like structures on the north western hills and then facing to- wards the golden portals of the western sea we behold an object that arrests our attention and commands our rever- ential homage. There is nothing like it in the city, nothing like it, we are tempted to say, in the world! From the sum- mit of lgnatian Heights, far above the city ol' St. Francis rise the two crossed towers of St. Ignatius Church. lf it be true, as Stevenson says, that mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral , it seems equally true that in the whole wonderful course of San Francisco history, there never was a happier inspiration than that to which we owe this magnificent Church of St. lgnatius in its present situation. Many have been the tributes paid to its conspicuous beau- ty. We shall quote the following from the pen of Rev. D. J. Kavanagh, S. J.: When the ocean-Voyager approaches San Francisco from North or South or distant Orient the first object to attract his attention is an immense structure that crowns the Western hills of the city and lifts two massive towers to- wards the sky, like two arms outstretched in suppilant prayer. When the crosses of these towers and of the dome. which rises to almost equal height, are illuminated by elec- tric lights, the object that first greets the Voyager and bids him welcome to the city of St. Francis, is visible by night as well as by day. And if by day, the immense pile, glittering in the sun, is suggestive of noble thoughts, if it reminds the visitor that the people of San Francisco recognize the need they have of God-the effect by night is even more inspir- ing, the crosses stand out gloriously in the darkness and while serving as a beacon to guide the mariner through the

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NEW FACULTY BUILDING 9 dences of solidity. To describe it is difficult., to describe it alone without reference to its magnificent setting,4t.hc Church of St. lgnatius, which is an accomplished reality and the College which is a future possibility,-would be to give but an incomplete picture of the old historic institution that began amid the sand hills of what is now Market Street and that is destined to adorn lgnatian Heights. The Faculty Building is only a part of an interesting group of buildings, that are or are to be, and though an important part,-it seems to baffle description. There it is, one might say, Mhehold it in its severe monastic simplicity, admire it as a generous gift to St. Ignatius Church and College, recognize in it an admirable and faithful exemplification of the archi- tecture of the Italian Renaissance, but do not expect an elab- orate description of what is, in itself, remarkable for noth- ing inore than its unobtruding grandeur and humble use- fulness. We must, therefore, View the entire institution to niider- stand the significance of this particular part and to view it to advantage we shall take our stand on one of the city 's many hills. Buena Vista, as it is appropriately called, rises in wooded grandeur in the very heart of the city. From its summit we may command a wonderful panoramic view. lie- ginning at the southeast we can follow the almost uninter- rupted line of the bay shore. The World argosies, the grey ships of war, the hurrying ferryboats with their long white wake of seething foam, out beyond the smoking chimneys of industry and the rugged tops of the sturdy warehouses whence the treasures of fruitful California are sent forth to the world,-all these unite to give one an impression of tht- business-like spirit of the great metropolis of the Wfest. Tn front of us lies the main thoroughfare of the city, with tiny specks of mortals hurrying to and fro on pleasure or on business. Beyond this scene of bustling activity we gaze with pride upon the tower of the Ferry Building. which

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NEW FACULTY BUILDING 11 Golden Gate, they symbolize another guidance through an- other Golden Gate. On the other side, from nearly every portion of San Francisco and from the transbay cities, thc building presents an equally majestic appearance. Sometimes it is seen through clusters of trees, a stately outline in the distanceg at other times, like the tall cliff of which Goldsmith speaks, it rises above the rolling fog and stands alone in its sunlit. gloryg again, when viewed from the Oakland side of the bay, it takes the topmost position in the imposing skyline of the city, lifting its graceful dome a11d prayerful towers out of the tangled and rugged mass of the downtown skyscrapers. And thus while its monarch-like magnificence proclaims the rapid growth and heralds the future glory ol' the new and greater San Francisco, its heavenward-pfliliting spires ap- peal, with mute but forcible eloquence, to all men of every creed and of every condition in life to join hearts and hands and to work together for the realization of a better and in consequence a more enduring San Francisco. 'tSt. lgnatius f'hurch . That is not the complete name of the old institution. lt was St. Ignatius t'hurch and Col- lege that was of twin birth with the city of San Francisco, it was St. Ignatius Church and College that was blotted out of existence by the fire of 1906. and because the new Faculty Building is a complement of the Church and a prophetic promise of the College. it has aroused unsual enthusiasm and occasioned much joy among the friends of the lnstitution. Standing before it we may notice at once the contrast be- tween the Church and the new building. The latter has not the same splendor, the same ornate style thc flll11l'Cll. Xor would lavish ornamentation become the home of men who lead a life of renunciation. They themselves have spared no expense in building their wonderful church. they will sparc no expense in building their College, when the occasion is at handg but on their own home they desired none of thc