Pilgrimage of Cincinnati's Catholic Jewels by JP Pacis
The Year of Faith celebrates our calling to be living our faith outside the walls of the church building we hear mass at. It also calls us to reaffirm the faith handed down to us from Jesus to the apostles and to our generation and beyond.
This year, the group started off the Year of Faith with a trip to the seed of our faith in the Diocese of Columbus, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It all started when Bishop Fenwick was designated the bishop of the 9th diocese in the United States in 1821. The diocese spread all the way from Cincinnati to Minnesota!
In Cincinnati, we visited the following sites - St. Monica-St. George at the University of Cincinnati area; Atheneaum of Ohio/Mount Saint Mary Seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati; and St. Peter in Chains Cathedral.
St. Monica-St. George Church served as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati from 1938 to 1957 as St. Peter in Chains Cathedral underwent restoration during the term of Archbishop Alder. St. Monica as it was originally called is a church in Clifton Heights neighborhood. There were talks of other places but because the city limits of Cincinnati does not stretch far out the metropolitan area, it was not allowed. St. Monica was at the center and just north of downtown. St. Monica's interior is a jewel! The Italian renaissance fills the worship space of St. Monica's. Each wooden beam is decorated in Italian cultural patterns. The walls and ceilings are also decorated in Italian renaissance paintings of saints and Italian cultural patterns. Every window was created by the Zettler Company of Germany. The altar has a bronze baldachinno (elemental canopy, like the one at St. Joseph Cathedral). The apse area is surrounded by bronze grilled gates. There are about 165 windows in the church that the parish recently restored. Fr. Al Hirt, OFM (Order of Friars Minor aka Franciscans, First Order) is the Pastor and our humble tour guide.
After St. Monica, we had lunch across the Athenaeum of Ohio. The grounds of the Seminary is 75 acres of space. The building itself about 3 stories high and made out of limestone quarried within the Archdiocese's boundaries. At the Entrance Hall of the Athenaeum are two large paintings - Christ's Entry to Jerusalem by Benjamin Robert Hayden, an Englishman (late 1700s) and The Liberation of St. Peter by Juan Roelas (1500s). The Liberation painting used to hang at St. Peter's Cathedral. Thus when it was renovated, it was dedicated to St. Peter in Chains, commemorating the painting that used to be at the Main Altar. The Chapel of St. Gregory looked so beautiful! The windows of the chapel depicted our Salvation History. The two side altars of the chapel are mosaic images of The Blessed Virgin Mary and of St. Joseph. The Main Altar is a wooden reredo where it has 3 rows of saints. In front of the reredo is a marble altar which has a beautiful tabernacle and then another marble altar in front of it for mass. The hallways of the Athenaeum were white. The classrooms had actual blackboards with chalks and erasers but had also state of the art technology like a projector and a television for audio/visual presentations. A new chapel was built that is in the former nun's wing of the Athenaeum. The chapel is smaller than the St. Gregory Chapel but houses a beautiful mosaic altar wall of the 12 apostles and the tabernacle imbedded in it in the middle where all the apostles are looking with awe and wonder. The two mosaic images to it's left and right are that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that of St. John the Evangelist. There is also a reliquary, a place where relics of saints are stored, on the side of St. John the Evangelist and a beautiful life size crucifix by the side of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We also toured the magnificent library, spacious cafeteria, gymnasium and the breakroom/bar room. During the tour, we met Msgr. Frank Lane, who used to serve the Diocese of Columbus and was the Pastor of St. Andrew. Msgr. Lane is the Spiritual Director of the Seminary. Also, we ran into Fr. Earl Fernandes who is the Dean of the Seminary. We thank our tour guide, Seminarian from Dayton, OH - Sean William. Sean, you will be in our prayers that you will be a priest some day!
Finally, we went to St. Peter in Chains Cathedral where we were met by Fr. James Bramlege, former Rector of the Cathedral. He was kind enough to meet us at the door and give us a tour of the magnificent cathedral. The Cathedral is unique among the Catholic Cathedrals in the United States, it is structurally patterned after a Greek Temple. Greek temples believes in balance. Whatever is on one side is also located on the other side of the structure. There were not much windows inside the church as Greek temples rarely have windows. The Stations of the Cross were all painted on the walls that looked like Greek vases. To the north transept is the baptistry and to the south transept is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament which is used for daily masses as well. The whole sanctuary is huge! It could probably accommodate 2 of the St. Joseph Cathedral's sanctuary. The Archbishop's chair or cathedra is at the south side of the sanctuary. The auxiliary bishop's chair is at the north side of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is at the west side and the main entrance is at the east side.
The altar wall is mosaic. "The Venetian glass mosaic which fills the rear wall of the sanctuary is the largest such work in the United States, 35 feet high and about 40 feet wide. Its design, based on the ideas of Archbishop Alter, was developed by Anton Wendling, a professor of the University of Aachen, Germany, and associate artist of the T.C. Esser Stained Glass and Mosaic Studios in Milwaukee. The thousands of small pieces of stone and glass were produced and mounted in reverse on linen by highly skilled craftspeople in the United States and Germany. Under the supervision of master craftsman Erhard Stoettner, skilled craftspeople, brought from Germany under a special permit issued by the State Department, installed the mosaic in mortar on a masonry background. " - from the St. Peter in Chain's website
Behind the sanctuary is the sacristy of the Cathedral. In the sacristy area are two huge oil paintings, and one of them is the Pieta. In the hallway, is the carriage that Bishop Purcell used when traveling around Cincinnati. The sacristy is really spacious!
To the south of the sacristy is the Archbishop's private chapel and dressing area. In the chapel, a processional cross can be seen close to the Archbishop's chair. One of the Cathedral's processional crosses has a corpus by Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), probably the most gifted goldsmith in history. Few of his works have found their way to the United States.
Then south of the sacristy is a museum that holds treasures that belonged to the former Archbishop's of the Archdiocese. In case you don't know, the Cathedral was once visited by Blessed John Paul II two years before he became a pope. So the church itself is a living relic!
So, all in all, our eyes were filled with majesty, awe and by antique treasures that the Archdiocese holds dear. What an adventure it was!
Oh, during mass, Crystal and Aaron were asked to bring the gifts up during Offertory and we did our Vespers at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel with Stephanie Bricker, a Cathedral parishioner in Cincinnati and the Parish Secretary. She later convinced us to eat at the Washington Platform after mass. We had a great time!
More pictures will come, once I figure out how to load them from my phone to the website.
This year, the group started off the Year of Faith with a trip to the seed of our faith in the Diocese of Columbus, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It all started when Bishop Fenwick was designated the bishop of the 9th diocese in the United States in 1821. The diocese spread all the way from Cincinnati to Minnesota!
In Cincinnati, we visited the following sites - St. Monica-St. George at the University of Cincinnati area; Atheneaum of Ohio/Mount Saint Mary Seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati; and St. Peter in Chains Cathedral.
St. Monica-St. George Church served as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati from 1938 to 1957 as St. Peter in Chains Cathedral underwent restoration during the term of Archbishop Alder. St. Monica as it was originally called is a church in Clifton Heights neighborhood. There were talks of other places but because the city limits of Cincinnati does not stretch far out the metropolitan area, it was not allowed. St. Monica was at the center and just north of downtown. St. Monica's interior is a jewel! The Italian renaissance fills the worship space of St. Monica's. Each wooden beam is decorated in Italian cultural patterns. The walls and ceilings are also decorated in Italian renaissance paintings of saints and Italian cultural patterns. Every window was created by the Zettler Company of Germany. The altar has a bronze baldachinno (elemental canopy, like the one at St. Joseph Cathedral). The apse area is surrounded by bronze grilled gates. There are about 165 windows in the church that the parish recently restored. Fr. Al Hirt, OFM (Order of Friars Minor aka Franciscans, First Order) is the Pastor and our humble tour guide.
After St. Monica, we had lunch across the Athenaeum of Ohio. The grounds of the Seminary is 75 acres of space. The building itself about 3 stories high and made out of limestone quarried within the Archdiocese's boundaries. At the Entrance Hall of the Athenaeum are two large paintings - Christ's Entry to Jerusalem by Benjamin Robert Hayden, an Englishman (late 1700s) and The Liberation of St. Peter by Juan Roelas (1500s). The Liberation painting used to hang at St. Peter's Cathedral. Thus when it was renovated, it was dedicated to St. Peter in Chains, commemorating the painting that used to be at the Main Altar. The Chapel of St. Gregory looked so beautiful! The windows of the chapel depicted our Salvation History. The two side altars of the chapel are mosaic images of The Blessed Virgin Mary and of St. Joseph. The Main Altar is a wooden reredo where it has 3 rows of saints. In front of the reredo is a marble altar which has a beautiful tabernacle and then another marble altar in front of it for mass. The hallways of the Athenaeum were white. The classrooms had actual blackboards with chalks and erasers but had also state of the art technology like a projector and a television for audio/visual presentations. A new chapel was built that is in the former nun's wing of the Athenaeum. The chapel is smaller than the St. Gregory Chapel but houses a beautiful mosaic altar wall of the 12 apostles and the tabernacle imbedded in it in the middle where all the apostles are looking with awe and wonder. The two mosaic images to it's left and right are that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that of St. John the Evangelist. There is also a reliquary, a place where relics of saints are stored, on the side of St. John the Evangelist and a beautiful life size crucifix by the side of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We also toured the magnificent library, spacious cafeteria, gymnasium and the breakroom/bar room. During the tour, we met Msgr. Frank Lane, who used to serve the Diocese of Columbus and was the Pastor of St. Andrew. Msgr. Lane is the Spiritual Director of the Seminary. Also, we ran into Fr. Earl Fernandes who is the Dean of the Seminary. We thank our tour guide, Seminarian from Dayton, OH - Sean William. Sean, you will be in our prayers that you will be a priest some day!
Finally, we went to St. Peter in Chains Cathedral where we were met by Fr. James Bramlege, former Rector of the Cathedral. He was kind enough to meet us at the door and give us a tour of the magnificent cathedral. The Cathedral is unique among the Catholic Cathedrals in the United States, it is structurally patterned after a Greek Temple. Greek temples believes in balance. Whatever is on one side is also located on the other side of the structure. There were not much windows inside the church as Greek temples rarely have windows. The Stations of the Cross were all painted on the walls that looked like Greek vases. To the north transept is the baptistry and to the south transept is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament which is used for daily masses as well. The whole sanctuary is huge! It could probably accommodate 2 of the St. Joseph Cathedral's sanctuary. The Archbishop's chair or cathedra is at the south side of the sanctuary. The auxiliary bishop's chair is at the north side of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is at the west side and the main entrance is at the east side.
The altar wall is mosaic. "The Venetian glass mosaic which fills the rear wall of the sanctuary is the largest such work in the United States, 35 feet high and about 40 feet wide. Its design, based on the ideas of Archbishop Alter, was developed by Anton Wendling, a professor of the University of Aachen, Germany, and associate artist of the T.C. Esser Stained Glass and Mosaic Studios in Milwaukee. The thousands of small pieces of stone and glass were produced and mounted in reverse on linen by highly skilled craftspeople in the United States and Germany. Under the supervision of master craftsman Erhard Stoettner, skilled craftspeople, brought from Germany under a special permit issued by the State Department, installed the mosaic in mortar on a masonry background. " - from the St. Peter in Chain's website
Behind the sanctuary is the sacristy of the Cathedral. In the sacristy area are two huge oil paintings, and one of them is the Pieta. In the hallway, is the carriage that Bishop Purcell used when traveling around Cincinnati. The sacristy is really spacious!
To the south of the sacristy is the Archbishop's private chapel and dressing area. In the chapel, a processional cross can be seen close to the Archbishop's chair. One of the Cathedral's processional crosses has a corpus by Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), probably the most gifted goldsmith in history. Few of his works have found their way to the United States.
Then south of the sacristy is a museum that holds treasures that belonged to the former Archbishop's of the Archdiocese. In case you don't know, the Cathedral was once visited by Blessed John Paul II two years before he became a pope. So the church itself is a living relic!
So, all in all, our eyes were filled with majesty, awe and by antique treasures that the Archdiocese holds dear. What an adventure it was!
Oh, during mass, Crystal and Aaron were asked to bring the gifts up during Offertory and we did our Vespers at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel with Stephanie Bricker, a Cathedral parishioner in Cincinnati and the Parish Secretary. She later convinced us to eat at the Washington Platform after mass. We had a great time!
More pictures will come, once I figure out how to load them from my phone to the website.