Immaculate Conception, Old South End

St. Joan of Arc

I've been thinking about this one a lot lately. At first glance, the design is a bit jarring. The more I look at it, however, the more inclined I am to consider it one of the best products of its time. Someday, when the weather and my health cooperate, I'll go take pictures.

Photo: Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

St. John Neumann

The fifth of January marked the feast day of St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia, who had served in what was to become the Toledo Diocese. For a few months in 1841, he was at St. Alphonsus, Peru. HERE'S a good website devoted to his life.

St. Isidore, Delaware Bend

This is the first time I've had pictures of this church. Thanks to Jeff and Bridget Bockey for sending them.
So many of the rural parish churches are brick that it makes a pleasant change to find a frame one. Very appealing building, and I like the arrangement of the windows.

Now, this is a wonderful idea. Take a statue of the Risen Lord and use it as the centerpiece of a full scale mural of the Ascension. Someone out there has a knack for surprising innovations. Wouldn't mind getting a closer look. The painting looks very well done.

I have to say that, just when I think the diocese isn't going to surprise me again, something like this crops up and I have to eat my words. I am very impressed with this parish.

There's more, though. Wonder of wonders, they have a Perpetual Adoration Chapel. Have a look. Congratulations, and lavish praise, are deserved.

Immaculate Conception, Old South End

Immaculate Conception, Old South End

Tridentine Latin Mass

Some parishioners at Immaculate Conception, at the intersection of Eastern, Maumee, and Broadway, in the Old South End, have requested the Tridentine Mass. No, I wasn't one of them, though I'm pleased. I'm also a bit surprised, since it's just an ordinary moderate parish.
Fr. Paul is happy to comply, but people will have to show an interest for it to continue. The trial period will be the thrid Sunday of each month, except March, at noon. That way it won't replace the regular 10 AM Mass or conflict with the ones offered at St. Joseph's. That'll be January 20, February 17, April 20, and May 18. Everyone's welcome.

This Might be Better

I posted a link to this Library of Congress picture, a while ago, but the link kept breaking. Had to crop it in three sections for posting.
It was taken before a banquet at the Ursuline Convent on October 4, 1911. In the middle are Bishop Schrembs and Archbishop Henry K. Moeller of Cincinnati. The priest with all the medals, behind them, is Fr. Edward Vattmann, who had been an army chaplain. ( Thanks to Kevin Hammer for that identification. )

It would appear that every priest in the diocese was there. If you recognize anyone, let us know. Clicking on the images will enlarge them.

Notice the nuns looking out the windows.

The Most Beautiful Church in the Diocese

What? Do you think I'm nuts? ( Don't answer that, Alex. ) There's no possible way to make a judgement like that. There are just too many candidates.
Let me put it this way. Within five miles of where I'm typing, there are at least ten excellent parish churches. Each one a fine example of its style. There might be more. I'm not exactly sure where the boundary would be. Of those ten, at least six are first rate designs, worthy to stand with any of their kind in the United States. Three of those could even be called "world class".
That's just in one section of Toledo. Add the rest of the diocese, and I could easily multiply each of those figures by ten, at the very least. There are simply too many beautiful churches in the Toledo Diocese to choose one, especially since comparing first rate examples of different styles is really like comparing apples and oranges.
The award for the most beautiful parish church in the diocese, goes to the whole diocese for having an embarrassment of riches.

The Worst Church Interior in the Diocese

I won't even identify it. "Noble simplicity" was never intended to mean sterile as an operating room. A drab, gray wall that dwarfs that resurrifix. Furniture that looks like it came from Ikea. Dull carpet that looks like any institutional waiting room. It's a disaster. The parishioners probably fall asleep.
There is absolutely no excuse for a church to be this ugly. Interestingly enough, the parish is considering building a new church. Why bother? They already have a blank slate. The exterior is actually rather interesting, in a box-like sort of way. Just gut the place and invest in some decent fittings. Better yet, put some of the artwork that's sitting in storage to good use. Anything would be an improvement over this.

Immaculate Conception, Old South End

Late Breaking News

An exhibit of artworks and artifacts from the Vatican will be at the Western Reserve Historical Society, in Cleveland, next year. This sounds very interesting. You'll find information HERE and HERE.

The Awards

I'll finish handing out awards tomorrow, with the ugliest church interior in the diocese, and the most beautiful.

St. Mary, Edgerton: The Plot Thickens

This is one of the ceiling murals in the aisles of the cathedral. It was painted by John ( Jan Henryk ) de Rosen, one of the most highly respected Catholic artists of the 20th century. De Rosen was born at Warsaw, in 1891 and died at Arlington, Virginia, in 1982. In the course of his life, he left behind a massive number of murals, mosaics, and paintings, in churches from Lvov to San Francisco. Pius XI commissioned two murals for his private chapel at Castel Gandolfo. The great cathedral at St. Louis has many examples of his mosaic work. Possibly his best known work is the enormous Christ in Majesty mosaic, in the apse of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington. HERE'S a brief biographical sketch.
Toledo is fortunate enough in having just the murals he did for the cathedral, but there's more to the story.

In 1945, John de Rosen painted an altarpiece and two murals for St. Mary's in Edgerton. I still haven't seen clear pictures from St. Mary's, but everything I have seen makes me suspect my source may have been right in calling it the most beautiful parish church, not just in the diocese, but in Ohio.

These pictures were scanned from an article in the Chronicle. I'll post more of the story tomorrow.

The Purloined Letter Award

....for a treasure hidden in plain sight, goes to Good Shepherd, in East Toledo. Everyone notices it, but not nearly enough look closely enough to find out that it's one of the most beautiful churches in the diocese.

Welcome Back...

....and a belated happy birthday, to Alex Fries, who's been roaming around in Bavaria.

A Mystery Solved

I've been puzzled, for the past few months, by Holy Angels, in Sandusky. It's considered the oldest extant church in the diocese, having been built in 1843. Here's a very early picture of it. It's not easy to grasp just how much of an accomplishment it was, at the time, to build anything this impressive, when all the other churches in the area were very simple frame or brick structures. Holy Angels went further, by building in stone and adding the extra Gothic detailing that was still rather rare. The first church in the United States to show Gothic influence was built, I believe, in 1807. The style was slow in spreading toward the frontiers, and the "Carpenter Gothic" was just beginning to attract notice, so this must have been quite a sight when compared to the simple Greek Revival and Georgian churches the area was used to.

Here's what it looked like in c1900. Once again, we have a lost spire. One very unusual feature is the presence of those two round windows, and particularly the way they're arranged. A single rose window, in the middle, was common, but two, side by side, is rather odd. The transom over the entrance looks like it might have been stained glass. Very interesting building.

Now, as I've said, Holy Angels is considered the oldest parish church in the diocese, but there's a problem.

This is what it looks like today. Very nice building, but not the same. Everyone I asked agreed that the original church is somewhere in there, but no one could tell me when and how the change was made, until now.

A few days ago, Kevin Hammer drew my attention to an excellent blog called Sandusky History, written by the staff of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. I left a comment asking for information and they responded quickly.

Fr. Thomas P. Lamb, pastor from 1893 to 1903, carried out an expansion project which was finished by 1902. An 35-foot addition was built in front of the church. The original tower was removed and replaced with one at the side. The 1843 church is still there, but looks completely different from the front. Holy Angels is the oldest extant parish church in the diocese, with the caveat that St. Patrick's in Providence, built I believe in 1848, is the oldest to survive in its original condition. That nakes two to be recognized.

New Blog

Be sure to visit The German Egyptian, a blog devoted to the churches of Mercer County. There are some real gems.

Beautiful Churches

Dwight Longenecker has a good post on the reason why churches should be filled with beauty.

Immaculate Conception, Old South End

St. John, Payne

Very nice. Still there?

The Taking out the Garbage Award

....for the ugliest building ever used as a church in the Diocese of Toledo, goes to old St. Patrick's, in Bryan. This c1960 monstrosity took the word "awful" to new heights.
In fairness, it was meant to be a school gymnasium ( And looks it. ) and was a stopgap measure until a new church could be built. The parishioners suffered this little corner of Purgatory for much longer than expected. When the new church was finally built, they made it a gem.

The Wave of the Future Award

....for the best example of the new eclecticism goes to St. Michael's in Findlay. Romanesque form, post-modern style. Excellent work.

The le Corbusier Memorial Award

....for best church exterior, in a contemporary style, goes to All Saints, in Rossford. No one could mistake this for a dentist's office. That entrance arch and the gable, that seems to rise forever, are the best of late 20th century architecture, even if it was built in the 21st century.

Immaculate Conception, Old South End

The Raising the Dead Award...

..... with a laurel wreath for reversing a wreckovation, goes to All Saints in New Riegel, for restoring the murals when they could easily have been forgiven for giving them up as a lost cause.

See what I mean?

The English Country House Award...

....for the best example of an artwork added to an older church of a completely different style without sticking out like a sore thumb, goes to Immaculate Conception, in the Old South End, for the Pewabic pottery War Memorial. The modernistic style of the Pieta matches the coloration of the rest of the church, and the general high quality of the artwork, so well that it fits right in.

The Rad-Trad Baiting Award...

...for the best modern church interior in the diocese, goes to St. Peter's in Huron. Soaring would be the word. It has the same noble effect as the great baroque domes, put in modern form. It also uses quality materials and subdued colors, to avoid the "mothership" feel of too many of its kind. That chandelier is fantastic. The windows are good. Even looks like the tabernacle is in the right place. I think what appeals to me most is the play of light and shadow, which gives a tone of the sacred that's all too rare in contemporary architecture. Most churches of the 60's and 70's look as old-fashioned as bell-bottoms and lava lamps. This just looks magnificent. GOOD JOB!
One other note. The resurrifix is actually, wonder of wonders, well made. As long as there's a real crucifix in the mix, even I wouldn't have a problem with it.

A Bit of a Surprise

I learned, yesterday, that one of the dignitaries present at the laying of the cornerstone of the cathedral, on June 27, 1926, was Janos, Cardinal Csernoch, Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary. Ten years earlier, the Cardinal crowned Bl. Karl of Austria as King of Hungary.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Photo Source)

Christmas Oratorio