Something is missing. . . !

 

Where are Gesu's bells? For many years, there were 3 bells in that "tower". But now there are 3 empty squares. The bourdon bell stopped ringing years ago, then the high bell stopped ringing last month. That left the middle bell to control the Angelus. There are some hints as to why they are gone, like that crane in the bottom right corner. Also, the bells were oxidizing very badly and might be getting refurbished. As for how long, I have no idea

I'll probably have an update post when (or if) the bells are back.

St. Joseph, Maumee After Mass

 One day after Mass, I took photos of the areas behind the altar at St. Joseph, Maumee.

The server sacristy. You can see 1 of 3 thuribles that the Church uses hanging next to the door frame. That is not the one they use for this mass, however. On the left, you can see all 4 candles that the acolytes would process with. The cabinet on the right holds all of the server albs as well as the Master of Ceremonies' vestments. The left cabinet has vestments for the priests, but they do have another closet which stores the outer vestments. 

This is where the thurible is placed after mass so the smoke can ventilate outside (you can still see the smoke from Mass). It's a basic countertop with the usual necessities for incense, such as charcoal, lighters, etc. 

A view of the High altar from the server sacristy. 

This is what the lector would see when reading the readings.

And this is what the priest would see during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

The Credence table. I was too late and couldn't photograph everything. All there is is the Lavabo bowl and pitcher, the Roman Missal, the gluten free container (that barely get used) and a bottle of hand sanitizer. However, you will notice some shapes on the tables with labels. This is how the Church organizes the table.

The Church has recently bough a new Roman Missal. As for the old one, many pages were ripped. 

The sanctus bells. 

It mas seen weird that I would take a photo of the stairs to the sacristy, but there is a reason. Those stairs weren't there when the church was first built. Instead, the main altar was the same level as the sacristies and the high altar had steps leading up to it. I'm pretty sure that during a remodel, they raised up the main apse floor and installed these steps to get into the sacristy. 

Lastly are two images outside of the Church. The top image is a statue of Mary dedicated to the Rosary Altar Society and the bottom image is the new alleyway behind the church. The flower pots and mulch on the right are a nice touch. 

                                     

Photos of Sandusky St. Mary (and more)

I happened upon some great photos of Sandusky St. Mary at the Facebook page of Kevin Lee Visuals: beautiful sunset views HERE and HERE, plus a nighttime view of Sandusky Central Catholic School.  You can check out more of Kevin Lee's photography and cinematography HERE. 

Update Regarding the Links

 For a while, many links on the right side of the blog were not redirecting to the right website. So, I was able to fix MOST of the links as well as add more parish links. 

Just small details to make this blog better. 

Churches From Far Away

 One day in June, I went around Toledo and took many distance photos of churches. The main theme of these photos is to not only show the church from a distance, but also its surroundings to see how the church shaped its neighborhood. 

This first photo is St. Rose in Perrysburg looking from the city of Maumee. I love the river side view and the steeple rising above the treetops. Easily one of my best photos that day.

This next image is of Immaculate Conception looking west down Eastern Ave. 

This image is of  Historic St. Patrick in downtown. I took this photo at the perfect time when the sun was almost perfectly shining on the facade. Another great photo.

This photo is of the closed St. Hedwig church in the Lagrange neighborhood. The tower on the left is the old school, which is now an apartment building. My greatest enemy is the power lines as they take up much of the image! 

Another image of St. Hedwig, looking south down Lagrange St. 

Here is an image of St. Stephen church in the Birmingham neighborhood. On the left is the original Tony Packo's. This is another one of my best images. I managed to capture all of the Hungarian neighborhood in 1 image.

The last few images were taken at Glass City Metropark in downtown. 

St. Joseph, Toledo just barely rising above the Vistula Historic neighborhood.  

The dome of Good Shepherd Church rising above East Toledo.

St. Francis de Sales Chapel on top of the tree line across the river.

I have more ideas for photos, so stay tuned for more!

St. Sebastian Memorial

 

Back in March, I took a drive out to the small town of Bismark to see what they did to the land that St. Sebastian was located. I was very surprised not just to find a memorial there, but sitting on top were 3 bells! I don't know if the bells were the originals at St. Sebastian or were newly casted. One thing I do know is they were definitely painted that color. All 3 bells had a rope that I wanted to pull so badly, but it might've annoyed the senior living home across the street. 

The original path is the same. The middle plaque says "The Former Site Of St. Sebastian Church, Bismark, Ohio." Below is a timeline of the church. On the left is an image of the original church and on the right is the church that was recently torn down. This memorial is fairly new as it was erected in 2023. 

I also have photos of Assumption in Reed, so I'll post those soon. 

St. Adalbert's Bells

One of the parishioners at St. Adalbert & Hedwig sent me various images of their bells. 

Both bells were casted by the E.W. Vanduzen Co. in Cincinnati. The high bell ring an A tone and the bourdon bell rings an F# tone. 

These 2 images are of the high bell. The motor seems to be new, but the frame, wheel and chain are all rusted. Both of the bell's frames are mounted to a wooden frame you can see in the 1st picture. 

These next 2 images are of the bourdon bell. Just like the other bell, this one has a rusty chain, wheel and frame, however this bell has a noticeable tilt to it. According to the parishioner, they are still working on tolling the bell. There is a hammer to toll the bell, but its not in operation right now. 

There are no stairs leading to the bells. It's just one long ladder. 

Another view of the ladder. 

New Contributor

Excited to share that Jeremy Slovak has started posting here on the "Catholic Toledo" blog. Jeremy has created a YouTube channel, "Church Bells of the Toledo Diocese," and lives in the Toledo area. Looking forward to more of your contributions, Jeremy!

St. Joseph, Maumee Bells

In March 2024, the pastor at St. Joseph Church in Maumee gave me access to the bell tower. It was really cool to see the bells up close and I also got some photos as well. 

The Church has 3 bells. First is the bourdon bell (on the right). It rings a D# tone. Next is the middle bell (on the left). It rings a G tone. Finally the smallest bell (below) It rings an A# tone.  

Bell towers were not intended on being climbed up by normal people like me. That is why the staircase is so steep. The wooden square in the middle is a hatch door and is what I would assume the way they got the bells up in the tower before cranes were invented. The wall at the top of the image houses the organ blower.

 

On the left is the ladder that leads to the belfry. The concrete pile on the wall is the spot where the St. Joseph statue is. At the bottom of the image is the air conditioning for the church.

The view of Broadway St. from the belfry

Additional photos of the stained glass