Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission

New Riegel All Saints parishioner Dr. John Wood has just released a book, "Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission," with the theme, Be a Saint!  More info HERE.

St. John, Lima, Renovations

Click HERE to see some photos of the amazing renovation / restoration work at St. John the Evangelist church in Lima.  A fine effort by the parish.

Also, bells from a Toledo church are being added to the belfry at St. Rose in Lima.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Some Christmas posts you might have missed from past years:

A first-hand account of Christmas at Tiffin St. Joseph in 1910.

The story of Fr. Aloysius Horn and his great love of Christmas.

The first Precious Blood priests in America travel up the Mississippi River on Christmas Day, 1843.

The beautiful Christmas window at St. Mary in Norwalk.

Aluminum Christmas trees!  At the old St. Wendelin's church in Fostoria.

Renaissance Missal Exhibit in Cleveland

From Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 to June 2, 2013, the Cleveland Museum of Art will display "Caporali: A Masterpiece of Renaissance Illumination."

This exhibition revolves around a sumptuous and important Renaissance manuscript—an illuminated missal, the service book for the priest at the altar—made for the Franciscan community in the hillside town of Montone, near Perugia, in 1469. Acquired by the museum in 2006, the missal showcases the work of two artist brothers, Bartolomeo and Giapeco Caporali, who were active in Perugia during the second half of the 15th century. This small focus exhibition celebrates this important acquisition and presents it to the museum's audience for the first time. Liturgical objects such as vestments, a chalice, and a processional cross will place the manuscript in liturgical, cultural, and art historical contexts. Many of these works, lent by museums and churches in Umbria, are displayed in the U.S. for the first time.

More information about the exhibit and lectures can be found HERE.

A Nativity Slide Show

In the Columbus Dispatch, the Columbus Museum of Art's Dominique Vasseur selects some favorite portrayals of the Nativity:  Click HERE for slide show.

Sandusky: A Patrick Keely Design

Over at the Sandusky History blog, we learn that Ss. Peter & Paul church was designed by the noted Irish-American architect Patrick Keely.  See post HERE.

Edward Furey of the Keely Society notes:

We don't know for sure, if Keely visited Sandusky, or simply sent plans requested by the pastor. In some cases, we do know, from letters, that Keely would send plans, and then a local building superintendent would follow and adapt them. In that way costs for construction could be kept down for pastors who wanted an impressive structure. We do know Keely was in Cleveland, while that cathedral (radically altered,) was being constructed.

 

Keely also designed Toledo's St. Francis de Sales chapel.

St. Michael, Findlay

 

Archangel Gabriel, appropriate for Advent.

Rosary Cathedral, Toledo

Some fine photos of Rosary Cathedral at the Wandering Photographer blog -- click HERE.

Little Flower, Toledo

A new look for Little Flower parish in Toledo:  a new entrance and bell tower.  Details HERE.

Frank Sheed at Bowling Green, 1954

From the 1955 Bowling Green State University yearbook, a photo of the renown Catholic author and apologist Frank Sheed.  Sheed spoke at the university's "Religion Week" in 1954; you can read more about his life and works HERE.  (Ignatius Press has recently reprinted several of his books.)

Steeple Video

You can see video of the new St. Rose, Perrysburg, steeple HERE.

November, Month of All Souls

Photos from St. Joseph cemetery, Tiffin.

Visitation Sisters, Toledo

An interesting slideshow about the Visitation Sisters, click HERE.

Sisters from Ss. Peter & Paul, Toledo

From the 1917 Ss. Peter and Paul Toledo booklet, four women of the parish who joined religious orders:

1. Sr. Armilla (Catherine Sattler)
2. Sr. Leoba (Mary Sattler)
3. Sr. Fidelis (Rosella Williams)
4. Sr. Wagner (Cecilia Wagner) - habit is of the Grey Nuns

Another photo of the Grey Nuns in Toledo, click HERE.

"Here is the steeple..."

Photo of steeple work at St. Rose, Perrysburg.  Click HERE.

A De Rosen Sketch for Rosary Cathedral

While doing an occasional eBay search for local church images, I was amazed to find a sketch by John De Rosen from his work for Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, from 1944.  Shown above is the gouache rendering for a side-aisle ceiling mural of the fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple.  You can view the full listing HERE.  Many thanks to the seller for this image.

Chapel on the Farm

Not in northwest Ohio, but near St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana ... Inspired by roadside chapels during visits to Germany, a newspaper editor built a chapel on the family farm.  It's named after the Fourteen Holy Helpers (Vierzehnheiligen).  You can read about it HERE.  (Not sure if the link is accessible.)

William Ginther's "Dedication"

The wait is over -- Anthony "Chip" Valleriano's book about architect William P. Ginther has been published by Kent State University Press.

Akron-based architect William P. Ginther (1858–1933) designed sixty-three Roman Catholic churches, primarily in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Dedication is the first book to document his architectural designs. By combining historical images with twenty-first-century photographs, author Anthony J. Valleriano presents the most comprehensive overview of Ginther’s architectural career available today.
The son of German immigrants, Ginther demonstrated considerable drawing skills at an early age. In grade school, he was known for illustrating pictures of the school building and grounds. As his skills advanced, Ginther was encouraged to study architecture at Buchtel College (now the University of Akron). Frank Wheary, a leading Akron architect of the time, spotted Ginther’s drawing talents and promptly put him to work. Under Wheary’s guidance, Ginther learned the craft of architectural drafting and engineering and helped design and supervise the construction of his first building, McKinley Church, in Canton, Ohio.

Ginther became one of the most influential ecclesiastical architects in Ohio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The designer of churches in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Erie, Toledo, and many other communities, he defined the sense of sacred space for countless worshipers and enriched the aesthetic and religious lives of the region’s residents.

Available from Amazon and The Kent State University Press.

St. Wendelin, Fostoria 1936

Monsignor Bertrand Shenk

Monsignor Bertrand Shenk, the oldest priest of the Diocese of Toledo, passed away on Oct. 16, 2012, at age 100.  You can read his full obituary HERE.