I live in Washington DC on East Capitol Street. If you picture the United States Capitol in your mind, one side faces the long grassy Mall where so many large gatherings and protests take place. Behind the Capitol, on the exact opposite side is a long street that stretches through the Capitol Hill Neighborhood called “East Capitol Street.” My parish is just 14 blocks up on the right. It is a “merged” Parish of St. Cyprian (building lost in 1966) and Holy Comforter (a title of the Holy Spirit).
I want to tell you of the two most important buildings on East Capitol Street. Let me begin with the second most important building, the United States Capitol.
The United States Capitol is the epicenter of the free world. It is the nerve center in the Capital of the most powerful country on this planet. It is here that some of the most powerful people in the world craft legislation and ponder great issues. Presidents have stood in the well of the House chamber to deliver important addresses. Other heads of state have also visited here. In fact people from all over the world travel to this country just to visit and perhaps transact business with the United States Government. Decisions are made in this building that impact the lives of over 300 million Americans and even more all around the world. Decisions are made here that change world history. Decisions about more money than you can imagine are made in this building on a daily basis. Perhaps no other building is more identified with this great country of ours than the US Capitol. It’s beauty and grandeur bespeak a powerful and confident land. The US Capitol: the second most important building on East Capitol Street in Washington DC.
What then you ask is the MOST important building on East Capitol Street in Washington DC?! It is Holy Comforter – St Cyprian Roman Catholic Church at 1357 East Capitol Street. In this holy place, some one greater than any head of state, God himself, dwells in the tabernacle. Jesus the Lord and King of the whole universe dwells here, speaks here, ministers here. The prayers and worship that take place in Holy Comforter Church not only change world history but these prayers are also what enable the decisions at the second most important building on East Capitol to have any good effect. In the US Capitol human work takes place. In Holy Comforter Catholic Church God’s work takes place. In the US Capitol important but ordinary things happen. In Holy Comforter Church miracles happen as ordinary bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus, as sins are forgiven, as heaven is opened. In the US Capitol many words are exchanged and written that impact the day to day activities of America. In Holy Comforter Catholic Church, the Word of God does not just inform, it performs and it transforms. Many people come to visit the US Capitol. But in Holy Comforter Catholic Church the congregation is joined in worship by myriads upon myraids of angels and a company of saints which cannot be numbered. The US Capitol represents a government that we hope will endure for a long time but Holy Comforter is an outpost of a Church that the gates of Hell will never prevail against. In the US Capitol laws are passed that may one day be changed. But in Holy Comforter Church there is announced each week a law that will never pass away. The Senate majority leader and the Speaker of the House will come and go, changing year by year. But the High Priest, Jesus Christ who ministers at Holy Comforter Church will never die and has a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Well, OK I suspect you know by now why the US Capitol is the second most important building on East Capitol Street in the Nation’s Capital. Holy Comforter – St Cyprian Roman Catholic Church far outranks in dignity and importance any other building on the street. This is true not because of the human elements involved, but rather the Divine. But I hope you will agree, the US Capitol is the second most important building on East Capitol Street, a distant second!
Funny thing though, all the tour buses drive right past Holy Comforter Church on their way to the second most important building. Wonder what that’s about? You’d think they’d at least stop to take a few pictures and ask to see God. Hmm…. There’s just no accounting for taste is there? Imagine, driving right past the House of God to see “the man” and his house. Imagine that! In your visits to Washington, perhaps you too missed seeing the most important building on East Capitol Street. It’s probably not your fault. Those silly tour companies just don’t know any better and you depended on them to get you around. But here for you in the video below are pictures, historical and current of the MOST important building on East Capitol Street in the Nation’s Capital.