St. Mary, Vermilion

Post card of St. Mary in Vermilion, mailed in 1965.

Church Lithograph Collection

Villanova's Digital Library has a wonderful collection of Catholic church lithographs by the Philadelphia lithography firm of Packard and Butler (later Packard, Butler and Partridge). There are over 400 prints of interior or exterior views of Catholic churches throughout the United States and parts of Canada.

There are several churches from the Toledo Diocese, in Fremont, Norwalk, Fostoria, Tiffin, Upper Sandusky, Peru, and Toledo. Many of these churches are the previous building of a parish. Well worth your time to take a look. Click HERE.

(Apparently the lithographs are from the 1880s, more detail HERE at the Philadelphia Archdiocese history site.)

St. Wendelin, Fostoria

A lithograph of the old St. Wendelin church in Fostoria, sometime before 1903 when towers were added. Pastor is Fr. M. Arnoldi.

A Country Church Tour

Author Jane Ware has written two volumes on Ohio architecture, "Building Ohio." The second volume is a guide to Ohio rural architecture, and she has a good itinerary for seeing majestic churches in the southwestern part of the diocese:

- Begin at St. John the Baptist in Glandorf (west of Findlay on US 224).
- Continue west on US 224 to St. Michael's in Kalida.
- Still further west on US 224, visit Immaculate Conception in Ottoville.
- Turn south on St. Rt. 66 to see St. John's in Delphos.
- From Delphos, go west on St. Rt. 697, then turn south on St. Rt. 116 for Salem Presbyterian Church in Venedocia, a village of Welsh heritage.

The book has a lot of detail regarding the "Land of Cross Tipped Churches" further to the south as well. More information on the book HERE.

Symbols in Your Parish

Over at the Adam's Ale blog, Fr. John Valencheck of St. Sebastian in Akron writes about how to analyze and document the artwork and other visual symbols in your parish. You can read it HERE.

St. Joseph, Plymouth

Postcard showing north window of St. Joseph church in Plymouth. Caption says, "God the Creator is portrayed by a large hand stretching forth into space emanating rays of light and bringing into being the burst of creation."

St. John, Delphos

A post card from 1907. There is a cross, it just missed the photo I guess.

Museum of Divine Statues, Lakewood

Over to the east, the Museum of Divine Statues has opened in Lakewood, Ohio, in the former St. Hedwig's church. Artist Louis McClung restores statues, and many items from closed churches in the Cleveland area are on display. More information at their website HERE.

Franciscans' 100 Years at Carey

Fr. Aloys Fish, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Shrine from 1911 - 1929.

2012 marks the 100th year that the Conventual Franciscan Friars have ministered at Our Lady of Consolation Shrine in Carey. The friars are planning two special events: a Mass with Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair on May 25, and on September 22-23, the Minister General of the Conventual Franciscans will visit the Shrine. Click HERE for details.

There's a great collection of historic photos of the shrine at this link. The photos were taken by photographer Ernst Niebergall.

No Van Gogh . . .

An interesting article from summer 2011 -- the Maria Stein Center of the Society of the Precious Blood was examining a list of art work to be insured, with rumors of a Van Gogh on the premises. (Not impossible, given the order's connections in Europe.) Nothing that valuable turned up, but they are evaluating their collection of religious artwork for restoration. Works by Fr. Paulinus Trost are included; Fr. Trost did murals in several area churches, such as Sorrowful Mother Shrine and St. Peter in Alvada. You can read the article HERE.

St. John, Lima

According to the St. John parish history, the above building was built in 1901, serving as both church and school. Initially the third floor was used as the church, but space was not sufficient. While a new church was being built starting in 1910, the lower floor was used as the church.
You can read more of the history HERE.

Postcards from the Past

Immaculate Conception parish in Bellevue, previous church.

Aerial view of Rosary Cathedral in Toledo.

Students in front of the old school at Good Shepherd, East Toledo.

Pilgrimage service at Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, 1959.

The photos above are a little sample of postcards available at Barnard's Post Cards ebay store. To search the store, click HERE. (For example, if you search for "Toledo church", you will see some great views.) Thanks to Nadya and Joe in Dublin, Ohio, for letting me use some images.