St. Stephen, East Toledo

Some good photos of St. Stephen's church at the "Michigan Exposures" blog, click HERE. 

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen School, East Toledo

St. Stephen

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

St. Stephen, East Toledo

Many more on the way.

Good News

After my first few posts on the Visitation Monastery, I recieved an e-mail tip from one of our readers. It was too interesting to wait, so I immediately contacted the sisters, who were very helpful.

It turns out that the architect of the monastery was none other than our old friend Joseph C. Huber, Jr.

Huber, as you may recall, designed the renovated Immaculate Conception Church after the fire of 1920. He even did the drawings for the altars.

His other work includes St. Stephen's, in East Toledo. Slowly, but surely, information about Huber and his work is coming in. If you can add anything, don't hesitate to leave a comment, or e-mail me at rovingmedievalist@yahoo.com

St. Stephen, Seneca County

Three stages of lowering the tower.

St. Stephen Chapel, Seneca County

St. Stephen, Seneca County

St. Stephen, East Toledo

Mosaics by Fr. Peter Prokop, added in 1964. In the background of each are scenes of Toledo, including St. Stephen's.

The painting is the Irish Madonna of Gyor. I posted the story HERE.

Active Participation

These are just a few of the organizations at St. Stephen's in East Toledo, way back when.

I've always found it curious that almost everyone used to actively participate in the life of just about every parish.

Then someone decided to tell them they weren't actively participating unless they all had some sort of hoop to jump through in a souped-up "liturgy". Most of them were surprised. They thought being at Mass and praying with the priest, volunteering, being involved in organizations, and sacrificing to fund the church, school, etc. constituted active participation. Came as a bit of a shock to be condescended to and told that what they were doing was of no consequence.

Needless to say, the "old-fashioned" ways everyone participated were left to languish, and most people, who weren't interested in pretending to be the central element of the Mass, lost interest in being involved, at all.

St. Stephen, East Toledo

The old school, church, and rectory.

Like so many Toledo churches, it had a fire, in 1908. Being a wooden building, unlike the others, it didn't survive.

St. Stephen's, East Toledo

Processions, in about 1925.

The three children, in the center, are in Hungarian costume, of about the 16th century.

Photos: Toledo-Lucas County Public Library