Random Photo of the Day May 2 2017

The random photo of the day is some stained glass details in Saint Peter's Cathedral-Basilica, London, Ontario, Canada.

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Random Photo of the Day, May 1 2017

The random photo for today, the beautiful interior of the chapel in Brescia University College, London, Ontario, Canada.

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Random Photo of the Day April 30 2017

The random photo of the day, the beautiful front facade of Saint Peter's Cathedral-Basilica, London, Ontario, Canada.

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Random Photo of the Day, April 29 2017

The random photo of the day, the exterior of Saint Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario, Canada.

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The Mosaics of Count Alexander von Svoboda in Mount Saint Joseph, London, Ontario

Anyone visiting the beautiful chapel of the old Sisters of Saint Joseph Motherhouse (now Windemere on the Mount Retirement Residence) is stuck by the size and the beauty of this wonderful structure. The Italian marbles, coffered ceiling, carved woodwork, and vibrantly coloured stained glass from Florence, Italy are all very impressive.

The aspect of the chapel that I would like to focus on today is the stunning mosaic that can be seen in the ceiling of the sanctuary area.  Here is a photo that shows the division between the coffered ceiling of the nave into the mosaic ceiling of the sanctuary.  

What many people don't know is the amazing history behind the man who created this beautiful work of art.  

Count Alexander von Svoboda was born in Vienna, Austria in 1929.  Following a childhood of privilege, wealth, and art school, Count von Svoboda entered service with the Nazi army in World War II at the age of 15.  He was eventually captured by the Russian army and sent to a work camp in Siberia.  Soon after, he engineered a daring escape, and made a daunting 6,000 mile trek back to Austria.  In Austria, Count von Svoboda befriended a group of American soldiers, which led to him being employed as an interpreter for General George S. Patton. With his considerable art  and architecture skills, von Svoboda then worked for the U.S. Army as a designer of hospitals and chapels across Europe after the War.  Realizing that Europe was too small for his artistic ambitions, von Svoboda moved to Toronto, Canada, where he worked on sculptures and mosaics, specializing in a type of classical mosaic technique developed in Italy known as "Smalti", which he mastered and brought to North America.  Smalti is a type of molten glass that is fired and pressed into flat pancakes in a furnace, then coloured and processed using a secret method passed down from generation to generation.  To create the mosaic, the glass tiles are glued upside-down on a paper pattern of the mosaic, then applied to fresh cement on the wall or ceiling.  After each square-foot section is applied to the cement, the paper is then slowly removed using water. 

It is truly amazing how the circumstances led to this wonderful piece of art being created in London, Ontario, Canada.  Here are some of my photos of this glorious work.

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Saint Peter's Cathedral Stained Glass Windows #2: Saint Brigid

The second window I have chosen to post about in Saint Peter's Cathedral-Basilica, London, Ontario, Canada is the window depicting Saint Brigid of Ireland.

The window is right next to the window depicting Saint Dominic, both windows are dedicated to the mother and father of Bishop Michael Fallon, Dominic and Brigid Fallon.

The window (as with the Saint Dominic window) was made in 1926 by McCausland Studios in Toronto, Ontario.  Here are a few photos of the dedication on the bottom of the window, also displaying the McCauseland mark (in a slightly different position than the mark on the Saint Dominic window).

Here are a few photos showing the decoration towards the top of the window.

To finish off  this post, here are some photos of the main image in the window depicting Saint Brigid of Ireland pouring wax from a candle on her skin.  She is generally depicted with a candle due to the proximity of her feast to Candlemas, and I believe the pouring of the hot wax on her skin is a reference to the fact that she had purposefully disfigured her beautiful features in order to preserve her virginity intact.

I hope you enjoyed this post, please do check back for more in the future, as I will be creating a post like this for each and every one of the windows in this Basilica.  Until next time thank you for viewing, dear friends, and may the Lord bless you and keep you all

Stay Tuned

One of the projects I am working on for this blog is soon going to come to fruition.  I would like to make a series of posts that will provide an in-depth study of each one of the stained glass windows in Saint Peter's Cathedral-Basilica, which is the Cathedral for the Diocese of London, Ontario, Canada.  The windows in the Cathedral exhibit a variety of styles, ranging in age from about 128 years old to about 56 years.  The posts will center around my photographs of the windows, and I will dig up as much information on them as I can.

Saint John of The Cross - Love

“Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love.” - Saint John of the Cross

(the photo is a stained glass window depicting Saint John of the Cross from Saint Peter's Seminary, London, Ontario, Canada.)