St. Patricks Church, Providence Ohio

What a thrill today.  My friend Pam and I were looking for a place to take our first kayak trip of the season, once the weather breaks and the ice turns into water that can be navigated.  Actually, I should back up a bit and say we started at 7am by serving breakfast at the Salvation Army in Adrian.  From there, we were looking for a church in Toledo on Locust Street that we never found that has a Latin mass on Sunday mornings.  Neither one of us speaks Latin, but we wanted to experience that.

 

After finding a really fun looking place to launch our boats in the spring, we were reading about the historical significance of this particular area along the Maumee River.  One of the three original buildings left was St. Patricks Church.  Our luck had us drive right by it on the way home and find people in the church removing their Christmas decorations.   We were talking to some of the parishioners of the church and as we left they were nice enough to bring us a couple of historical books about the church.  One was from their 100th year anniversary and the other from the 150th.  The plaque on the outside of the church and the books refer to land donated by Peter Manor, 40,000 bricks made in a nearby kiln, and 5,000 feet of black walnut lumber to help with the building project.  The foundation of the church measured 30'x50', although what we saw was greatly expanded.

The stained glass in the main body of the church was simple but colorful. According to the records I was given, the windows were installed in 1894 and donated by a number of people.  Reference to the artist and origin of the windows is not given. The glass used was pastel and let a lot of light in, which would have been important back in 1845 when the church was first used.

I was personally intrigued by the stained glass window shown at the bottom.  Make note of the reflection of the glass on the windowsill and bible and the closeup of the stained glass.  Although a simple idea, what appears to be a rolled rag method of painting around the border adds a lot of character to the piece.

The words at the bottom of the plaque outside the church read:  "Through the grace of God, this little church stands today, the oldest in continuous use in the Toledo Diocese.  It survived the town fire of 1846 and the cholera plague of the 1850's that eventually caused the demise of Providence, Ohio."


If you get the opportunity, take the time to stop by this great little historical church.  A link to them is below.


Pat Deere

LINK:  St. Patrick's Church, Providence, OH

Voting

Going to vote!  Getting out early before the crowds.

Too many to detail... but Mont St. Michel France Today

Although we do have internet, the signal is very low.  So... a few comments about where I have been and I'll post pictures and details when I get home.

This is part of the Abbey at Mont St. Michel.  It is on an island where the tide comes and goes quickly, surrounding the island.  This picture is one of my favorites taken within the interior of a set of columns.

Yesterday started out church at Notre Dame in Paris.  Yesterday afternoon and today we visited many more churches.  Great bunch of pictures, lots of time to pray and reflect, and it feels good to put my feet up for a while.

Pat Deere

Churches while in Paris

It's already midnight and we are getting up to go to 8:30am mass at Notre-Dame de Paris.  Super exctited about that. If we are late, we will make it to the 10:00am mass.

Churches we saw today that I will blog about when more time and better technology permits...
Notre-Dame de Paris (batteries ran out of my camera... will take more pictures tomorrow).
St. Eustache ... wonderful old church we caught the end of their service on this evening.
St. Merri ... another beautiful church I would like to spend more time in.

Today I was able to spend some quite time at Notre-Dame, light a candle and pray for the people I love and all that I am thankful for, reflect on all of the many artists whose labor of love has gone into the church buildings we visited today.

Much more to come,

Pat Deere

St. Mary le Bow Church, Cheapside, London

And the European church and chapel hunt begins. Today we were lucky enough to stumble upon St. Mary le Bow Church. Tomorrow I am going to buy a tripod for my camera, but for today I have posted a couple of photos from within the church.

Working on this internet system is not like working on my own system so for now, this is all I will post about this church.  But, their link is below and when I am able to work on a keyboard I am familiar with and not on a timed internet card, I plan to add more information about this beautiful church.

Links:  St. Mary le Bow Web Site

Pat Deere

Tomorrow... off to Westminster Abbey.

August Window of the Month from the Michigan Stained Glass Census

The Michigan Stained Glass Census is one of the coolest things in Michigan in my opinion.  If you ever get a chance to browse through the years of work they have been collecting, you would be amazed.  Their goal is to document all stained glass in the state of Michigan using volunteers to help in that effort.  If you have a passion for stained glass and have some time to help, let them know.

The first paragraph from the Michigan Stained Glasss Census web site for August reads as follows.  Click on the link to get information about the rest of the church, more photos of the stained glass, and information about the organization that does all of this documentation.

Founded in 1914, the First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak is in its second church home, a modern Gothic grey limestone building designed by Philadelphia architect Harold E. Wagoner and built by Walter L. Couse of Detroit. Following completion of the sanctuary in 1955, a chapel and buildings for education and fellowship were added during the 1960s. The windows of First Presbyterian Church were designed by Marguerite Gaudin (1909-1991) and Eric Sundean (1924-2003) and fabricated from 1954 to 1980 by the Willet Stained Glass Studios of Philadelphia. They include 88 stained glass figural windows in the sanctuary, chapel, and Christian Education wing, and five faceted glass symbolic windows in the Fellowship Hall. Inspired by French thirteen -century stained glass, the neo-Gothic figural windows are twentieth -century versions of biblical and historical events, encompassing a uniformity of design and color as a collective whole. The pictorial narrative of the windows unfolds thematically around the west and east walls of the sanctuary, depicting Old Testament prophets, the life of Christ, Reformation leaders such as Francis Makemie, the founder of the Presbyterian Church, medieval church figures, apostolic scenes, and the parables and miracles of Jesus.

When I got onto the website for the church, I found a lot of spirit around giving back to the community.  For more information about this volunteer opportunities, click onto the web link for the church below.  Some of what they are involved in includes:

Hands On Missions
These ministries are accomplished by the grace of God and your efforts.
~Gleaners Community Food Bank
~Volunteers spend three hours at the Detroit warehouse.
~World Medical Relief
~Greening of Detroit
~Detroit Habitat for Humanity
~South Oakland Shelter (S0S)
~South Oakland Citizens for the Homeless (S.O.C.H.)
~South Oakland Community Lunch Program
~Joy of Jesus Camp Clean Up
~Yucatan Peninsula Mission
I noticed many of these opportunities are available for families including smaller children.  What a great way to get involved.

Pat Deere

Links: 
Pictures In Glass information on Stained Glass for Churches and Commercial Settings
First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak
Michigan Stained Glass Census, August Window Of The Month

St. George Church photographed by Dave Lamarand Photography

Wow.  I have never been to a Greek Orthodox church but have always wanted to go.  Seeing this photo is pushing me to make it happen.

My niece, Shelby Downing, got married this summer.  Dave Lamarand was her photographer and is credited with this photo.  As I was browsing through his photos on Facebook, I came across this.

When I began searching for a website for the church, I couldn't find much.  I did find a link on the Greek Orthodox web site that gives information about the church including their hours, etc.  And, I also posted the link to an article about Art and Architecture in the Greek Orthodox Church that is very interesting.  Even if I go I know I won't get a photograph to turn out this good.  Thanks for sharing it Dave!

Pat Deere

Links:
Dava Lamarand Photography
Orthodox Art and Architecture Article
St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Southgate, MI