Good Shepherd, East Toledo

This is going to take several posts. It's like my parish. Too many good details to cover at one time. By the way, I'm kicking myself for not having a camera when I visited. That'll have to come later. One other little note. It may seem surprising, coming from a die-hard limey, such as myself, but the Irish parishes in Toledo show superior taste across the board. Everyone involved in building them deserves a salute.
Let's talk about the dome, today. That's the most noticable feature, both inside and out. I don't know how tall it is, but I'd make a guess that it rises about the equivalent of seven stories. So high, anyway, that my nearsighted eyes could barely make out the angels painted, against a blue background, in each of its sides. If you look at the picture I posted yesterday, you'll notice a row of windows around it. Wonderful stained glass. Each has a life-sized figure of a saint. Absolutely glorious.
Tomorrow's post? Well, I haven't quite figured out whether the decoration on the ceilings and columns is next in importance or the large number of first-rate stained glass windows. Then there are the Neo-Baroque altars, and the statues, and the mosaic floors, and...it goes on and on. For crying out loud, the frieze of sheep along the apse and the cantilevered choir loft each deserve a post of their own! The whole place is completely overwhelming. This was a product of the time when people , quite rightly, believed nothing was too good for God's House. A lesson our own time needs to learn.