Virtual Tour of Sorrowful Mother Shrine, Bellevue

Check it out at the link below:

https://viewer.threshold360.com/?thresholdId=8506307-1739440202&preset=share

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Rossford

 Hidden away in the neighborhood of Rossford is the small closed church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The parish joined with St. Mary Madeline to form All Saints on Lime City Rd. 

It's a small church, but somehow still has a bell. 

Simple entrance with 3 Christian symbols

The cornerstone gives a date, but a small portion is missing. I would say 1937.

Before the main church was built on Lime City Rd, the two parishes were joined together, but still had 2 buildings.

Simple brick facing

The sun was shining on this window and I got a good shot of it.

Just next door is the old school.

St. Joseph Then vs. Now

 In April of 2010, Jeffrey Smith took many photos of St. Joseph in Maumee. A lot has changed in 14 years, so I decided to recreate his photos. I don't feel like reposting his photos, so you can find all his photos here. 

The first image was of the main altars. Many things have changed, most notably the cross, St. Joseph and the carpet color. The ambo is gone too.

The next image is of the Sacred Heart altar. As mentioned before, the St. Joseph statue has been moved.

The next image is the BVM altar. The St. Ann statue has been moved to the back of church. 

The base of the altar hasn't changed.

The confessionals no longer have that ugly red curtain, instead getting matching doors.

All of the stations were painted from that weird pink and white. This is the 8th station, Jesus Consoles the Women.

This is the first station, Jesus is Condemned to Death.

The angel font statues haven't changed, but almost everything around it has. The poles supporting the balcony are no longer pink, the confessionals have doors, and some stuff has been moved from behind the statue.

This area hasn't been changed much. This used to be the staircase to the balcony, but when they put more seating up there, they made a safer staircase and removed this one. It is now just storage space.

The last image is the entry doors. Basically nothing has changed.

As for the rest of the images, you can find them by typing "Joseph Maumee" in the search bar.

Historic Hamilton Churches

 Hamilton, Ohio has 4 catholic churches, but 2 stand out as historic. I was in town, so I took photos of those 2 historic churches.

Rising above downtown is St. Julie Billiart. 

The main facade is simple amazing. 

There is just 1 thing that is off.

That is the fact that the facade does not match the rest of the church.

The other historic church in Hamilton is St. Joseph. 

Simple, but very elegant 

Another simple but elegant school

St. Francis de Sales Church, Cincinnati

 I took a trip to Southwest Ohio last weekend and decided to go to mass at one of the best preserved churches in Cincinnati: St. Francis de Sales. I also had to take photos after mass.

A pretty cool fact is that St. Francis de Sales is home of the largest casted bell in the U.S. nicknamed "Big Joe."

The main facade. Absolutely incredible. This is the design of Francis G. Himpler, who also designed St. Joseph Oratory in Detroit, MI.

The bell tower was recently refurbished and looks much better than scaffolding 

The main entrance.

The bell tower entrance.

Inside, the church looks magnificent. Interestingly, none of the peeps have kneelers because there is no kneeling during mass. Still really interesting.

The side aisle and clerestory. 

The balcony and organ. I tried to get up in the balcony, but the door was locked. The organ console and choir are located next to the altar, so the balcony never gets used. This is probably the only problem with the church along with the empty wall.

A closer look at the front doors and windows around it.

The church still has their original ambo. They don't use it, just like many other churches; they have a different one.

The confessionals are very ornate. On the right is the organ console.

These are the probably the most decorated stations I have ever seen. Seriously, why are they so beautiful?

At the back of the church were 2 statues. The bottom image statue is St. Francis de Sales.

The Blessed Virgin Mary altar

And the Sacred Heart altar.

Lastly is the apse and the high altar. One of the best altars I've ever seen