Ave Maria

This is a collection of small stained glass windows that I found at the Saint Joseph Church in Wapakoneta.



Left Click the above picture for a larger view.

Stations of the Cross (Collage)

As noted throughout my blog, the Stations of the Cross have held a special fascination for me ever since I first saw them. This collage is made up from a collection of ceramic interpretations made by a student. There on only thirteen pictures in the collage. I must of missed one.



You can find these hanging in the gallery at the Maria Stein Heritage Museum.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

The altar rail from The Shrine of the Holy Relics in Maria Stein received new gold gilding as part of the last major renovation. Pictured here is one section featuring the Sacred Heart of Jesus.



The Sacred Heart is a religious devotion to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of the divine love for humanity. Here we see it as a flaming heart shining with divine light, surrounded by a crown of thorns.

If you look closely you can see Jesus lying in the sepulcher in the background.

The entire altar rail is made up of different wooden carvings as detailed by this picture.



I hope to feature other carved sections of the altar rail in the near future.

Welcome to Egypt

Located just a few miles outside of Minster on State Route 364 is Egypt. Not much there but St. Joseph Church, built in 1887.



There I met with David (The German Egyptian) be sure to check out his blog. His family originally owned the land that the church now sets on.



It was great meeting and talking with David. He had some great history on the church. Unfortunately my senior brain doesn't hold much, so I am hoping to get back with David, with pen and paper at the ready for the next post.



The above picture is one of my favorite side altar shots. The church was full of great photo opportunities. And as usual I flubbed some of them. I will definitely be coming back for a re-shoot.



There was this great stained glass window with Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt that will have to wait until the next post. However I was real happy with the way this one of the Institution of the Eucharist came out.



Both David and I thought the expression on Jesus' face in this one was rather interesting.



This church has plenty of stained glass windows big and small. This one of Jesus praying in the Garden in one of my favorites.



I'll close with this window that I found very interesting. To me it looks like Mary, Baby Jesus, St. Therese, and Veronica's veil. Not sure how to connect the dots on this one.



Click the link provided by Maria for the Story of St. Therese. It explains the window quite well. Little Flower

Look to see Return to Egypt in an upcoming post soon.

Related Links:
The German Egyptian

The Catholic Telegraph (In The Spotlight)

the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has started a Photography Project Blog that features old pictures and text from past issues.

I found this site by accident and I must warn you if your a bit of a history buff plan on staying awhile. The best part is that they are still adding post. Besides the link below I am adding this to my In The Spotlight Feature located in the right margin of my blog.

The Catholic Telegraph Photo Project

Processional Crucifix Picture taken at St. Joseph (Egypt)

Mary Mother of God

I've been wanting to do a before and after picture for some time now and thought this picture would be a good one to do it on. The above picture is the finished product. Below is what I started with.



A crop to improve the composition and Photoshop to get rid of that ugly seam and speakers and there you have it.

Mary Mother of God Altar picture taken at St. Joseph in Wapakoneta.

Saint Patrick (Glynwood)

Not far from St. Joseph in Wapakoneta is St. Patrick in Glynwood. This is one of the smaller churches.



While there I had the good fortune to meet one of the parishioners, Sterling Fenwick. He was just tiding up the sanctuary for the next mass and was more than happy to share some of the history of the church.



I got lucky and caught the sun shining through the stained glass windows into the the sanctuary for this picture.



This grouping in front of the High Altar captured my interest and made for a good shot.



Saint Michael the Arch Angel is on the left of the Main Altar.



I am not sure who is on the right.



And of course St. Patrick is in the middle.



Here is a close-up of one section of the altar.



The stained glass windows are high narrow arches with the message at the top. Here is one with the Anchor Symbol.



Here is what the Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent) has to say about the Anchor.

The anchor, because of the great importance in navigation, was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. The Christians, therefore, in adopting the anchor as a symbol of hope in future existence, merely gave a new and higher signification to a familiar emblem. In the teachings of Christianity the virtue of hope occupies a place of great importance; Christ is the unfailing hope of all who believe in Him. St. Peter, St. Paul, and several of the early Fathers speak in this sense, but the Epistle to the Hebrews for the first time connects the idea of hope with the symbol of the anchor. The writers says that we have "Hope" set before us "as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm" (Hebrews 6:19-20).

Saint Joseph (Wapakoneta) II

The Stained Glass windows in this church are worth the trip alone. I am not sure what is going on in this one.



This three pane window of Saints was opposite the Nativity.



Jesus praying in the garden is partially obscured by the balcony, but I was still able to get a pretty good shot.



Here Jesus meets the sorrowful women of Jerusalem.



Joseph and Mary find Jesus teaching in the Temple after being missing for 3 days.



This is a closeup of Jesus from the same picture.



I'll end with this closeup of Jesus carrying the cross.



And yet there would be more if I had the time. Maybe another post is in order.

Saint Joseph (Wapakoneta)

I finally got a chance to get inside of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wapakoneta. This is a wonderful church. I just love this picture of the Holy Oils. It's the small things like this that make the trip special.

This church has an amazing large Crown of Thorns suspended above the altar.


The organ pipes behind the altar made for a crazy abstract.



It also made for a pretty cool background for the main altar.



There were plenty of unique features in this church. Even the lights were unusual.



The stained glass windows are just spectacular. This large round window is at the back of the church in the choir loft.



This three panel window of the Nativity is just stunning. Click on the picture for a larger picture.



There was so much there I will have to do another post to cover it all especially the stained glass windows. I'll close with this marvelous window of the Joyful Mystery of The presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Notice Joseph holding the two doves. Click on the picture for a larger picture.



I had just a fantastic time on this photo shoot. I am lucky if I get one artistic picture a session. I got more than a few on this one trip. This has got to be my best photo session of the Cross Tipped Churches this year.

March Weekly Journal 2009

Welcome to my Weekly Journal. Each month I create a post to collect my thoughts and meanderings for the month. You can quickly find this post as it drops down the list by clicking on the Weekly Journal Link at the bottom of the Web Page.

03/29/09 What happend to March?

Spring is here and March is all but gone and I have no idea where it went. Things have been so busy that I haven't even watched a complete NCAA game. It has been a good month for pictures and my blog. If I can squeeze out a few more post I will have averaged 1 post a day for the month of March! I doubt if I can keep that pace up. My blog is on track to possibly break 900 visits this month. And the best part is the wonderful people I have met and continue to meet along my journey of the Cross Tipped Churches. Add John and Ernestine from Radio Maria to my growing list of new friends. My schedule got so crowded that I missed the Butterfly and Bloom shoot with the New Bremen Camera Club. I am a little bummed about missing that one.

LOOK FOR A NEW LOOK IN APRIL.
I am going to attempt to change the format/layout of the blog. Nothing drastic pretty much the same black theme and colors but a two column full page template. Basically one large column and one small one using the entire page instead of just the middle.

03/17/09 Happy St. Patrick's Day and More

St. Patrick's Day - I didn't have a picture of St. Patrick that I liked, so I searched the web and found a Stained Glass window that I did. In the future I hope to have a suitable picture that I took for future Saint Days.

500 or Bust - The Cross Tipped Churches photo album has a limit of 500 pictures. I wasn't sure what would happen when I reached the limit. Well it happened this weekend and I didn't even know it. It just started a second album. COOL.

Cross Tipped Church Outing - I had a great outing this week after work. I got to revisit two churches and check out two new ones. I will post them throughout the week.

Once Upon a Mattress - My son was in his high school musical and of course I was there taking pictures. I will post those in my Think Focus Click Blog.

Butterfly and Bloom - This photo outing has been rescheduled for March 28. I will post those in my Think Focus Click Blog.

Radio Maria - I met the staff and got a tour. Very nice people and of course got a few pics while I was there. I will post those after I get a few more pictures to complete the post.

03/10/09 Picture Updates

Been too busy to take any new pictures--good thing I have plenty in the archive that I have not posted. Next couple of weekends are busy as well so it might be a while before my next church picture shoot.

My last two post have been collections of pictures that I thought made for a good grouping. I am always looking for new, exciting and fun ways to display pictures in the blog to keep things fresh.

03/02/09 Great Weekend

I had one of my best photo shoot weekends. I shoot three churches and came up with some real beauty's. Best of all I got to meet and talk with David (The Egyptian).

Seasonal/Holiday Picture - I've added a picture at the top of the blog to represent the season or holiday. This woven crucifix that I took for Lent is my first and was my find for the day. The picture was taken at St. Joseph in Egypt.

03/01/09 March Madness

March is turning into quite a picture fest. This weekend I just finished taking pictures at St. Joseph in Wapakoneta, St. Patrick in Glynwood and St. Joseph Church in Egypt. I have another wrestling shoot scheduled for March 7 and a Butterfly and bloom one scheduled for March 14.

St. Jacobs Lutheran Church Anna - This church has the most wonderful collection of stained glass windows that I have ever seen. I will be shooting these over the next couple of weeks during my lunch hour.

The Best of 2008 - I have decided to make a post of the best of 2008. In the future this will be the first post of the new year.

The Direction of the Blog - Well I hate to keep flip-flopping on this issue, but I have decided not to try and cover all the Cross Tipped Churches by the end of the year. I was not happy with the quality of the pictures I was getting with the quick and dirty shoots.

BLOG MILESTONE - I got over 500 visits to my blog in the month of February. Very small numbers compared to some blogs but it's the most I've gotten since I started the blog in June of 08.

Monthly Poll - As some of you may have already noticed there is a poll. In an effort to get more feed back I am going to run a new poll each month. Please make sure to cast your vote and don't forget about the 1 Star, 2 Star and 3 Star rating you can give each post.

Radio Maria - I will be doing a series or at least one post on the Local Catholic Radio Station. The first meeting has been set.