Monday, December 21, 2015

St. Barbara, Cloverdale

St. Barbara church in Cloverdale was destroyed by a tornado in 2013, but parishioners have rebuilt.  Dedication took place December 19.  You can see more photos and coverage at their Facebook page HERE.

Monday, October 19, 2015

All Around the Diocese

As Bishop Daniel Thomas visits parishes throughout the diocese, there are many fine photos of churches posted on his Facebook page -- including Edgerton, Mansfield and Norwalk recently.  Click HERE to see.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Fr. M.J. Smith

A reader of this blog from Canberra, Australia, wrote with information about Fr. M.J. Smith, a native of Ireland who served as a chaplain in the Australian Army, then came to the Diocese of Toledo.  Above is his obituary in the June 2, 1949 Toledo Blade.  More information in a previous post -- HERE.

Link to his military record HERE.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Toledo Photo Series

The Lorain County Sacred Landmarks Initiative has a series of photos of Toledo churches on its Facebook page -- Click HERE to see them.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Window Uncovered at New Washington

During a renovation process, parishioners at St. Bernard in New Washington discovered the stained glass window shown above, depicting the Holy Spirit.  Words are in German, probably describing the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It is estimated the window was hidden for more than 100 years. 

Friday, June 19, 2015

St. Mary Renovations Near Complete

The interior renovations are complete at St. Mary's in Norwalk. The ceiling has been fixed, everything painted, and new floor. All that is left is some work on the exterior (tuck pointing, etc.).








Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

From the Toledo Museum Collection...

This painting, "Saints Catherine, Margaret, and Barbara," was featured as the "Artwork of the Week" on the Toledo Museum of Art website. The artist is Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, Wittenberg, 1472–1553). For a more detailed description, click HERE.

Monday, May 4, 2015

St. Bernard, New Washington

St. Bernard parish in New Washington is remodeling / restoring its church.  You can follow along with the progress at their website, HERE.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Brother Bryan Hoban


Brother Bryan Hoban, a friar at Our Lady of Consolation shrine in Carey, died on April 18, 2015.  For many years, he chronicled events at the shrine in photos and videos.  You can see an album of his photos that ran in Carey's newspaper, The Progressor-Times:  click HERE.
Also, a short video of Brother Bryan recalling his work in Zambia:  click HERE.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Window of Inspiration

A grieving father is leading an effort to restore a stained glass window of Jesus in Gethsemane at historic Holy Angels church in Sandusky.  See the story in the Sandusky Register HERE.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Behind the Scenes of New Painting

Pennsylvania artist Eric Armusik recently completed a painting of the Crucifixion for St. Sebastian parish in Akron.  Here is a short video of the process.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

St. Hedwig, Toledo

There's an article in the Toledo Free Press regarding St. Hedwig's church on Lagrange in Toledo -- click HERE.

John Baptiste Verment, an architect / stonecarver originally from France, is credited as the architect of St. Hedwig's church.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Patrick Keely Symposium in New York

On Friday, March 20, 2015, The Monuments Conservancy will present its 25th Symposium at the New York Marriott East Side, 525 Lexington Avenue, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 pm, to  discuss the life and legacy of Patrick Charles Keely.  Keely was one of the most influential church architects of late 19th Century America.  In the Diocese of Toledo, St Francis de Sales chapel in Toledo and St. Peter & Paul church in Sandusky were his designs.

This year's theme is "The Eucharistic Foundation of Patrick Charles Keely's Artistry."   For more information, call 212-764-5645 x10 or email symposium@nationalsculpture.org

UPDATE:  Here's a link to online text of "Patrick Charles Keely, architect; a record of his life and work" by Francis Kervick -- click HERE.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Basilicas and More Basilicas

Pope Francis has named the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan, as a Minor Basilica.  Details HERE.

Somehow I missed several churches in Ohio being given the designation recently:

St John in Canton

St Mary of the Assumption in Marietta

Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Youngstown

Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in North Jackson (near Youngstown).

Our local basilica, Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, was given the title in 1971.

A list of all basilicas in the United States HERE.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Re-purpose . . .

The massive old brick smokestack at St. Joseph church in Tiffin will now serve as the structure for the radio antenna broadcasting St. John Paul the Great Radio (FM 103.3 WSJG-LP).

And speaking of radio -- Catholic radio personalities Marcus Grodi and Dr. Ray Guarendi will speak at the Toledo Men's Conference on Sat., March 14, 2015 at the SeaGate Centre.  Details HERE.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Other Blogs of Note



Check 'em out . . .

Roamin' Catholic Churches - photos of churches in Wisconsin, Chicago, other areas in Midwest:


Detroit Church Blog:

http://detroitchurchblog.blogspot.com/

Also, a helpful resource for architecture in Canada (1800 - 1950): 

http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/introduction

Friday, January 2, 2015

The Twin Church of Reed Assumption

Blessed Sacrament Church in Lawton, Oklahoma

The former Assumption church in Reed, Ohio, near Bellevue.

Recently a reader of this blog, Marilyn Landoll, sent along a fascinating story about a twin church of Assumption in Reed, that was built in Lawton, Oklahoma:

"It is my understanding that one of the original contributors to the building of the church [in Reed] was Jacob Landoll.  He later moved his family (12 children) to Lawton, Oklahoma.   Two of Jacob's sons, Phil and Albert, later traveled back to Ohio to review/copy (?) the building plans.  These two men helped to build a church in Lawton, called Blessed Sacrament.  It is amazing how similar the design and exterior of Blessed Sacrament is to Assumption ...  Family legend has it that when Phil was helping to build Blessed Sacrament, he put each brick into a bucket of water.  Those bricks that floated were rejected.  Nearly 100 years later, Blessed Sacrament is still solid!  Also, there are still Landoll's serving in the church and school at Blessed Sacrament in Lawton, OK."

According to a parish history of Reed Assumption, their church was designed by Erhard Brielmaier and Sons, architects of Milwaukee.  And on the Lawton Blessed Sacrament website, it says there may be a church in Kansas that used the same plans.

Many thanks to Marilyn for sharing this history!