Monday, May 5, 2008

A Thought

Do you realize it would be quite possible to write a short book just on the metalwork on church doors, in Toledo? This one's at Immaculate Conception and the one below is at St. Paul's Lutheran, Downtown.


7 comments:

irene said...

That door must be much newer than the ironwork. The church has been through several remodelings. A surprising find.

ShariYS said...

Quite striking! I don't know where on the building that's at, but I find myself wondering if perhaps an old door was salvaged and re-used in the newer construction ...

Jeffrey Smith said...

That would be my guess. It's on the front door, which doesn't look all that old.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps there was some intent in the minds of the builders to incorporate the metaphors of Holy Writ into the physical structure of our houses of worship?

The remarkably pliant shapes that the ironwork are wrought into inspired me to this pious thought, considering
the Easter verses of Isaiah 45:2
    "ego ante te ibo et gloriosos terrae
      humiliabo portas aereas conteram et vectes ferreos confringam"


["I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth:
I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will
}.~.> burst the bars of iron <.-{

God Bless!

irene said...

clare,

Perversely, I can't help speculating on how some of the older members of that congregation would respond to your scriptural quotation in Latin! Especially referring to "their" church.

Jeffrey Smith said...

If you mean Immaculate Conception, they're used to it. We have a bit of Latin at Mass during Lent, and a lot of the older ones are regulars at the monthly Tridentine Mass. I can think of one or two who might not be pleased, but they know a lost battle when they see it.

irene said...

Jeffrey, my apologies. I was referring to the Lutherans, not Immaculate Conception.