The Watertown Taxiarche Greek Festival is back after a 2 year Covid hiatus. Famous for providing…read moreexcellent Geek food including outside under the tent some of the best gyros around as well as other traditional Greek specialties inside such as Moussaka, Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna), spinach pies, roast lamb, chicken and beef kebabs, and plenty of beverages such as Metaxa, Ouzo, beer, wine, and the usual soft drinks - "not Coke - Pepsi". Don't forget the desserts such as Baklava, Galatobouriko (my favorite), or the honey soaked donut holes called "Loukomades." That pair perfectly with a Greek coffee or Nescafé frappe. In addition there is a DJ providing Greek music and then a live band with people dancing into the evening. The Gyros are so popular that the line sometimes stretches out to the road! So, I find it best to get there early, sit back and enjoy the music under the tent with a cold beverage, close my eyes, and feel that I am on a Greek beach soaking in the sun. It is great to have it back!

Wonderful community, beautiful church and great people. A beautiful place to worshipread more

Very welcoming to all and I was presently surprised by their welcome which is…read more Welcome No matter what your present status in the Catholic Church. No matter what your current family or marital situation. No matter what your current personal history, age, background, or race. No matter what your own self image: You are invited, welcomed, accepted, loved and respected here at Saint Peter Parish. We are here to welcome and serve you. It is nice to see a Catholic church understand the current state of the community and be more accepting of all people not just those who fit into their particular box. Way to go St. Peter! Good mass with great singing and a reverent and sincere sermon by the pastor.

This is a very friendly community, great for all ages, especially families with children. Tons of…read morepeople who are not from here--international families, academics, military, graduate and post-doc people. Very eclectic and noticeably welcoming of absolutely everyone. There's a Saturday Mass at 4 PM and three on Sundays at 9 and 11:30 AM and 5 PM. The 9 AM Mass is a "Family Mass," which means it's crawling with kids. The pastor invites children to come forward during his homily, which is directed to all ages. There's excellent coffee, as well as juice and food for everyone in the downstairs hall after this Mass. The 5 PM Mass is a "Jesuit Mass" because a Jesuit always presides--either Fr. Jim Keenan or Fr. Frances Alvarez. They both give excellent homilies. There are a good number of area grad students at this Mass. The pastor, Fr. O'Malley, is warm, friendly, intelligent, and prayerful. He also gives very good homilies. The music is very good--always a variety of songs and hymns, not just one type. There always seems to be something educational for adults going on, such as speakers and mini-courses. Best of all there's parking in the lot just to the right of the church and then behind the church and the white rectory. Overall a really nice vibe here.

If you want to hear the word of God and learn how to apply it to your everyday life, this is the…read moreplace to go. Pastor L. T. Boddie, Sr is a student of The Word, he is passionate about it and lives according to it. May God continue to use and bless him.

This is an awesome place... the people, the loving atmosphere, the great music and words... it's…read morelike experiencing a bit of heaven everytime... and you carry this around throughout the week!

The Twelfth Baptist Church is the original church of Dr. Martin Luther King. So, it is perfectly…read morefitting that we are filming stories of Boston history here today. The church graciously donated their space for us to work here and we are very grateful. THE DEAL:This church is one of Boston's many historical landmarks and a must visit for any Boston historian.

This church stands as a reminder of another era in Boston and ultimately of a sad story. The sad…read morestory part is what happened to the West End of Boston where this church is located. Back in 1862 when this church was built the West End of Boston was not unlike the North End or Beacon Hill, both of which stand virtually unchanged now. Like those two areas, the West End was a dynamic and thriving community filled with 4 and 5-story brick buildings which were homes to thousands of families. It was a real neighborhood representing a variety of cultures, including a fairly large Italian population. During the 1950s, 46 acres of the West End were entirely leveled. 3,000 units of housing were destroyed (all those brick buildings), which forced approximately 10,000 people to leave the only homes in America they had known. This was done under the auspices of "Urban Renewal". Many wealthy Bostonians had considered the West End to be filled with "slums" and lobbied for its demise but it was not a slum. The West End was a working class neighborhood. It's destruction was wanton and reckless with little care for the people living there who had little to no political clout. What was erected in place of those low-rise brick buildings were a series of ugly, uninspired and entirely soul-less high-rise apartment buildings. Community, connection and neighbors knowing neighbors, relationships forged over decades, were simply gone by 1960. Somehow this church managed to stay put. It was one of the central features, along with a local synagogue of spiritual life for that now displaced West End community. I'm happy that this church is still standing and didn't get lost in the destruction of the rest of the real neighborhood. It's a lovely building with an inside design that reminds me of the church I grew up attending with an old-fashioned homey feel to it. It's a peaceful place with beautiful stained glass, lovely art work and gilded touches. It's hard not to sit in a pew and feel a sense of calm come over you which to me is a welcome feeling. I have often reminisced while sitting in there about what these church walls have witnessed over the years. I can imagine this church as a spiritual home for many of those early immigrants who settled in the area and where baptisms, weddings and funerals were regular occurrences. While the West End remains a busy area, it's heart is lost. That this church still stands of course is a good thing but to me it exudes a somewhat sad beauty of another era. The immigrant story of the West End has been largely erased and it's not been replaced with anything particularly special. This church is special though and worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood. Read up on the West End though before you come and so you can imagine what a tragedy this history really is. http://004e136.netsolhost.com/images/4WestEnd.pdf .

Moved here recently. Reached out to give and get help. Fr is one of the good ones, but has not…read morefulfilled his offer of help or took me up on mine. I am not sure what is happening in the background, however I need to find a community especially in these crazy times. I will be moving on.

Located at the corner of St. Theresa's Avenue and Center Street, St. T's is about as West Roxbury…read moreas West Roxbury gets...for all the right reasons. It's not glitzy, its services don't offer a lot of flash or production values and and the place sometimes seems stuck 30 years ago. Maybe that's not a bad thing, and here's why... This is a parish and parish community that care deeply for each other. From the school, to the programs it sponsors for youths, families and its older members, St. Theresa's works to bring people together in a loving Christian way. The great thing is that its activities don't occur on a sporadic, occasional basis - they're happening all the time. Charity and love for one's neighbor is the rule, not the exception. At any time a visitor may see children learning about the Gospel in school as kids from a Scout troop put together a service project a few doors down from where a parish men's group is contacting a list of social service providers for a troubled family while other parishoners are working on a clothing drive for a homeless shelter in Boston. Meanwhile, in the midst of Masses, weddings, and funerals, the parish priests are constantly counseling people with a wide range of needs and visiting the sick and elderly. In an ideal Catholic community the parish is a vibrant hub of social and charitable activities and St. Theresa's is very much that in seemingly infinite ways. Probably the best test of a parish is how strongly the surrounding community shares its values. In their daily lives the people of the parish are an accurate reflection of the parish itself. Caring for each other, publicly or quietly, taking care of their neighbors, carrying out the message of Christ in their daily lives...people from St. Theresa's don't see that as remarkable, it's just the way things should be done. With a relatively small staff of priests serving a large community St. Theresa's offers a pretty straightforward, no-frills schedule of Masses. There are a couple of vigil Masses on Saturday, followed by four on Sunday, the last at noon. Consider yourself very lucky if you attend a Mass conducted by Rev. Raymond Helmick. A Jesuit, he is a deeply thoughtful preacher always with a fascinating insights into the Gospel. Some three decades ago St. Theresa's looked and sounded a lot busier than today. There were more Masses, higher attendance at services, more priests staffing the church, and many more social and activities for youths. Today it's a lot smaller, with fewer activities, lower attendance, and about two fewer priests than before. Though smaller it is still a place where people care for each other's spiritual and human needs. Like it was 30 plus years ago it is still a dominant part of the community and although smaller in size it is still a caring, loving parish.

I cannot say enough great things about this school. They have an amazing focus on academics but…read morealso enrich children in other areas with extra curricular activities that include dance, basketball, lego and book clubs, and more. I can't imagine my children would receive a more well rounded education elsewhere. The community surrounding the school is just as great. We have made lifelong friends with other families. An extremely high number of children test into exam schools no problem and attend high schools that include Latin, Latin Academy, and Roxbury Latin.

I grew up in a Conservative-oriented family, but I have the spiritual sense of a (modern…read moremachine-cut) brick and no interest in practicing Judaism, but the loss of my wife to cancer earlier this year and some things surrounding that got me feeling more culturally Jewish, and I started looking at synagogues. Temple Israel hadn't even been on my list, but they were hosting Tisha b'Av this year (the Reform synagogues in that area rotate it annually) and I decided to check it out. I found that I really liked the larger size, active and varied (in age and other characteristics) community, and inclusive approach. "Inclusive" in this regard doesn't simply mean diverse -- Temple Israel certainly is -- but also the participatory atmosphere. For example, they called all new members up -- quite a few of us -- for the aliyah on Yom Kippur morning (and followed that up with the entire congregation during the afternoon). Rabbi Elaine Zecher, the senior rabbi, is very influential in the Reform movement, and listening to her and talking with her it's very apparent why, but one wouldn't necessarily know that the way the clergy interact. I've seen synagogues where the assistant rabbi(s) would better be described as rabbi's assistant or even apprentice, filling in only as needed, but that is not the case here. They rotate who delivers the sermon and tag team during services such that all of the rabbis lead for roughly equal amounts of time and don't "specialize". They are all very approachable and have their own distinct personalities. Despite (or not) it being a large synagogue, I find it very easy to talk with people, which isn't something that comes naturally to me. The clergy is very innovative indeed, but I cannot think of anything that we do that I can say is fundamentally out of line with Jewish tradition. It likely would not be to the taste of someone familiar and comfortable with Orthodox practice. They do use different (and varying) melodies for many of the usual prayers and songs, but that makes it more interesting. As far as the building and location goes, it's historic but well-maintained and updated and fully accessible. Fully validated parking in an enclosed garage right across a street that's really a driveway, along with convenience to the Longwood T stop, make it very easy to attend.

In the hunt for a synagogue in Boston, there were many to choose from! I think I made a good choice…read morewith Temple Israel for many reasons: + It is very accessible via bus or car, and they validate parking in a secured garage. + The facility is old and historic, and very very beautiful + The congregation is the most diverse and varied I've ever, ever experienced. They are open to interfaith, homosexual, young, and old. + Very affordable dues and payment options. The only downsides to this synagogue is that despite the fact that I love the inclusion and diversity, it is a little too "modern", I guess. They break away from the usual "Gates of Repentance" book that most of us are familiar with, using different melodies for standard prayers (sh'ma, viahavta, avot, etc.) that, unless you have always gone to this temple, you won't know.