Random Photo of the Day, May 3 2017

The random photo of the day is the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue in the chapel of Saint Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada.

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Random Photo of the Day, April 28, 2017

The random photo of the day, a detail of the nave in the beautiful Gothic Revival church of Saint Helen in Toronto, 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

Saint Peter's Cathedral Stained Glass: Saint Dominic Window

The first window I am going to focus on in Saint Peter's Cathedral-Basilica, London, Ontario, Canada, is The window depicting Saint Dominic on the Epistle side of the nave, near the back of the Basilica.  This window is one of two that commemorate the parents of Bishop Michael Fallon, Dominic and Brigid.  Bishop Michael Fallon was Bishop of the Diocese of London from 1909 until his death in 1931, much of the Cathedral's decoration was undertaken by him.  This photo  shows both windows. The window of Saint Dominic that we are focusing on is on the right.

Here is a photo of the window by itself.

The window was created by McCausland Studios in Toronto in 1926, and is one of many windows commissioned for the nave and side chapels of the Cathedral by Bishop Fallon.  McCausland is the oldest stained glass producer in the Western Hemisphere, and they still make glass to this day, currently under the name of Robert McCausland Limited.  Here are a few photos showing the dedication at the bottom of the window, the McCausland mark can be seen on the bottom right.

And to finish off this piece, here are a few photos showing the beautiful artistry in the window.  These photos show the image of Saint Dominic as well as the lovely decoration art the top of the window.

And with that I will end this post.  Stay tuned to this blog for further posts, I hope to do one of these posts on each and every one of the windows in the Basilica.  God bless you all.

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.)

Saint Joseph

Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral





Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

O my soul, how is it that thou dost not surrender thyself to such great love?  How, believing this, canst thou love aught else than Jesus?  Come!  cast thyself at the feet of thy Saviour in his agony, and say to him, My dear Redeemer, how is it that thou couldst love one who had so offended thee?  How couldst thou suffer death for me, seeing my ingratitude?  Make me, I pray thee, partaker of of this sorrow which thou didst feel in the garden.  - Saint Alphonsus de Liguori