Spare Mosaic Tesserae from the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis Available

FROM THE WEBSITE of MosaicSmalti:

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, in St. Louis, MO, contains one of the largest mosaic collections in the world. Mosaic installation began in 1912 and was finally completed in 1988. The mosaics collectively contain 42 million pieces of glass in over 7000 colors, covering 83,000 square feet. Wow!

…The majority of the mosaics were created by the Ravenna Mosaic Company of St. Louis, which was formed by August Wagner of Germany. When the mosaics were completed, the Ravenna Mosaic Company was left with an inventory of over 40,000 lbs. of Italian smalti in over 3000 shades…

In 2009, MosaicSmalti purchased this entire inventory - 40,000 lb. of Italian Smalti - and had it moved to our studios here on Cape Cod… The smalti arrived in over 1000 wooden drawers and 600 plastic buckets and it is currenlty stored in 3 storage units. Those who have visited the warehouses to see this smalti stash have coined them "Smalti Heaven" because that is truly what it is. Hundreds of shades of blues, never-before-seen shades of orange or red or pink, flesh tones to match every human on the planet. These one-of-a-kind colors, in limited amounts, are a joy to behold. They also open up a whole new world to those of us accustomed to limiting our palette to a mere 100-200 shades. (poor us!)

— [source]

100th Anniversary of Cathedral Fire to be Observed

FROM THE CATHEDRAL of Saint Peter, in Belleville Illinois:

Fire:  January 4, 1912

Centennial: Sunday, January 8, 2012, 10:30 AM Mass

                 (Will include blessing of restored historic pulpit

                  and restored Cathedra canopy)

Info: Very Rev. John T. Myler, Rector -- 618-234-1166

100^th ANNIVERSARY OF CATHEDRAL FIRE TO BE OBSERVED ON JANUARY 8^TH            

It was Thursday evening, January 4^th, the day before first Friday.  We had been in the confessional all afternoon … Leaving, I glanced up at the main chandelier … Passing through the sacristy I cast another glance at the extensive nave of the beautiful gothic structure.  The sanctuary lamp flickered before the Blessed Sacrament. 

            Little I thought that in less than an hour all this splendor and all the labor and plannings of nearly fifty years would be little more than a mass of ruin and burning timber.-        Rev. J. H. Schlarman  

“Memoirs of the Cathedral Fire” 

            On Sunday, January 8. 2012, the people of the Cathedral of Saint Peter will observe the 100^th Anniversary of the “Great Cathedral Fire” of 1912.

            Bishop Edward K. Braxton will be principal celebrant and homilist – accompanied by Bishop Stanley Schlarman and the Cathedral priests – at a 10:30 AM Pontifical Mass.  The public is invited.

            The January 8 observance will also include a “Cathedral Open House” with tours and an exhibit of historic photographs from the 1912 fire.

            Father (later Archbishop) J. H. Schlarman, at that time Rector of the Cathedral, remembered that:

            Father Tecklenburg, Father Eppmann, Father Kuhls and I said the Angelus and sat down for supper.  We had scarcely been seated at the table when the telephone and the door bell rang terrifically at the same time … Someone opened the door and shouted:
            “Fire in the Cathedral!” 

            In the same moment the housekeeper, who had answered the doorbell and the telephone called out: 

            “Father Schlarman, I believe the Cathedral is on fire!” 

            We literally flew up from our chairs and ran to the burning edifice. 

            The anniversary Mass -- on Epiphany Sunday – will recall the harsh wintery night during which the Cathedral church, which had been built in 1863, burned first from an area between the ceiling and the roof, causing burning timbers to fall, later igniting the entire interior.

            It was reported at the time that young George and Bertha Kohl, pupils at the Cathedral School, were the first to have seen the fire.

            Fire fighters from the city of Belleville were quick to the scene, but both the cold and the height of the structure prevented the growing fire from being extinguished.

            One glance at the situation told me that I had diagnosed the case correctly.  Red flames, five to six feet long, struck out on all sides of the central ventilator on the Cathedral’s roof.  I told Father Kuhls: “Go to the altar and take the Blessed Sacrament away.”
            I ran out through the steeple and as I reached the landing in front of the church I noticed that the fire department had just arrived.  I was in shirt sleeves and bareheaded, the thermometer registered about zero.  The excitement was too great, and I felt no cold.  Someone said to me, “Father, you will catch a deathly cold, take my overcoat.”  Another said, “Father, put on my hat.”  A little later a third offered me his gloves.

            At the January 8 Mass, a special tribute will be paid – a century later – to fire fighters from Belleville.  Fire fighters from other Southern Illinois cities and towns are also invited to take part.

            I ran into Third Street, where I met Chief Dinges.  I said: “Bring your hose up through the tower and go up the ladder behind the organ, there is an opening through which you can get above the ceiling and get right at the fire.” 

            The chief said he would try to reach it from below and I accompanied him into the church. He turned the nozzle up, but alas, the water did not have a pressure of thirty feet; it did not even reach the arches in the clerestory.  Then, with his men carrying hoses after him, they went up to the organ gallery and were led up to the ladder above ceiling.  There stood the firemen and the chief with the nozzle pointing right at the fire a few feet ahead of them –  but no water ! ! !

            The Cathedral choirs will sing for the January 8 Mass, under the direction of C. Dennis York, who is serving for his 50^th year as Cathedral organist.  Following the Mass, a light brunch will be offered in the Cathedral Undercroft, where mounted enlargements of the several historic photographs of the fire, will be displayed.           

            Men of the congregation ran into the sanctuary to save what they might.  Carpets, altar cloths, vestments and statues from the crib were carried out.
            By this time, the ceiling of the church had caught fire.  I stood on the upper steps of old St. Peter’s for the last time and watched as the beautiful central chandelier, weighing 600 pounds, came down with a crash.  The men who had installed in previously had given me the assurance that it would not come down unless the whole church came with it.  It came true.

            Also open after the Mass and during the Open House will be the “Cathedral Museum” and the Cathedral crypt.  Five former Bishops of Belleville are interred in the Cathedral.

            Father Schlarman concluded his 1912 remembrances:

            When I returned an hour later the bare walls pointed heavenward, the stars and the silvery moon cast a soft light on a mass of ruins.  The fire raged under the floor.  The firemen were cutting holes through it to reach the flames below.
            I went to the Bishop’s house to see His Excellency, Bishop Janssen.  I found the venerable Prelate very resigned to the will of God. 

            He calmly said: “The Lord hath given it, the Lord hath taken it, the will of the Lord be done.”

Address:
200 West Harrison Street
Belleville, Illinois

Happy New Year and Most Popular of 2011

MAY EVERYONE HAVE a happy new year, in this the year of Our Lord 2012, and may this year be one of peace, prosperity, and joy.

In remembrance of the year past, here are some of the most popular postings and photographs from this website during 2010:



This is billboard, advertising the Latin Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory, showing a monstrance on the left, and the shield of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest on the right. The Flickr photo-sharing website, which hosts most of my photos, tells me that many people view this image every day. I'm not sure that I'd call this my best photo of the year, since I hurredly took it while driving, but it is certainly the most viewed.  My second-most viewed image is of the monstrance itself:



This fine piece of liturgical art was made for the church itself. A crop of this photo is seen on the billboard above.



A mosaic of the Crucifixion of Our Lord, at Resurrection Cemetery, in Shrewsbury, Missouri. The following mosaic of Our Lady is located nearby:





A bridge and railroad tracks in the snow, at Carondelet Park, in Saint Louis, Missouri.

A Snowy Night in Saint Louis shows photos that I took on one bright night in the snow. It was so rare and beautiful that I was up until past 4 o'clock in the morning snapping photos. Several of the photos I took that night, as well as more than a hundred others taken at other times and places will be featured — full resolution and optimized for print — in a forthcoming book to be published by Reedy Press.



Clifton Heights Park, in Saint Louis, at dusk.



Cardinal Burke, with seminarians, at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory.

Half a Billion is an article which discussed the architecture and philosophy behind the Gateway Arch, the great symbol of the City of Saint Louis, which is one on the most-visited tourist attractions in the world. The title of the article is the estimated cost of renovating and expanding the Arch grounds, which intends to correct some of the flaws of its existing unrelenting Modernist design.



I didn't take this photo of Archbishop Ritter, but it was one of the most popular on this website. Here His Grace leaves for Rome on an aircraft named "Star of Rome of the West"; he came back a Cardinal.

A Warning to Schools that are "Catholic In Name Only" sounds the alarm that the Federal Government now arrogantly decides for itself which schools are Catholic and which are merely Catholic in name only. The secularization of our schools must reverse.



Detail of a monument, at Calvary Cemetery, in Saint Louis.





Palm Sunday procession at the Oratory.



Mosaic at Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Church, in Crestwood, Missouri.



Young Conservation Area, in Jefferson County, Missouri. Photo taken by the light of the full moon. I've been inspired to take photographs at night ever since I've seen these photos of Cambridge University.



Forest Park at night.



Flora and fauna are always popular. See the posts Spring Flowers at Shaw's Garden, Spring Wildflowers, Mushrooms and Moss, and Birds, Beasts, and Bugs.



















The articles Photos of Fog and Morning Fog shows pictures taken while enveloped by mist. Fog obscures our sight, and so is a natural symbol of mystery and divinity. Fog is a good photographic subject: by breaking the rules of Photographic Modernism, fog forces the artist to fall back on the older and more delicate principles of Pictorialism.







Tower Rock, located in the Mississippi River.



Dawn over the Meramec River.



Archbishop Carlson at the Oratory.



Sculpted bust of Saint Francis de Sales, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.



Altar at Saint Peter Church, in Jefferson City, Missouri. This photograph has a muted color inspired by the old Autochrome process, the first practical method of color photography. See my posting Autochrome for more attempted examples of recreating the subtle color used by this French process . If you are technically minded and interested in this process, see my article Using ICC Profiles for Creative Color Control, which is located on my photography blog, The Refracted Light.



I was trained in the sciences, so I occasionally like to write on the subject. See Unsolved Problems and Higgs Boson Not Found. I got a degree in physics, but a close second interest of mine was theology; as a young man, I also wanted to be an architect and design cathedrals (and secretly I still do)! See my article Build Your Own Gothic Cathedral and New Geometric Patterned Art.

My interest in ecclesiastical architecture led me to dig more deeply into art theory. The subject of Catholic Art Theory is problematical, because not too much magisterial guidance is available, that is, we don't have too many authoritative sources; however, the great Catholic arts tradition speaks for itself, and as these churches and works of art were commissioned by our bishops, this tradition is authoritatively magisterial. There are a number of ancient and more modern philosophical works that proved to be greatly influential on this tradition. Also see the article Catholic Art, which goes into some detail about the great Tradition. Also see the article On the Sublime, which describes a very important idea in the arts, which tends to be sadly neglected or confused these days.

Altar at Saint Elizabeth Church, in Marine, Illinois.



Stained glass window at Saint Nicholas Roman Church, in Pocahontas, Illinois.

Saint Paul Church, in Highland, Illinois.



Silence! At the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.



Immaculate Conception, in Augusta, Missouri.



Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, at Saint Joseph Church, in Apple Creek, Missouri.



Holy Cross, in Cuba, Missouri.

Many of my readers come to this website come for the church photos. These posts proved popular this past year:

Photos of Saint Maurus Church, in Biehle, Missouri
Photos of Saint Joseph Church, in Highland, Missouri
Some Photos of Saint Mary's Church, in Alton, Illinois
Photos of Saint Elizabeth Church, in Marine, Illinois
Photos of Saint Joseph Church, in Louisiana, Missouri

And sadly, this posting, from a few days ago:

Saint Mary's Church, in Brussels, Illinois, Destroyed by Fire

Now as it so happens I've taken photos of many more churches this past year but have been too busy/lazy to post them. Perhaps during these upcoming cold days of winter I'll work on them.

The Holy Family

At Saint Gabriel the Archangel Church, in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family according to the Mass of Pope Paul VI. From the first reading:

Children, pay heed to a father's right; do so that you may live.
For the LORD sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons.
He who honors his father atones for sins;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
He who honors his father is gladdened by children, and when he prays he is heard…

— Sirach 3:1-5 (New American Bible)

Saint Stephen's Church

Saint Stephen's Church, in Richwoods, Missouri. Photo taken on the Feast of Saint Stephen, Protomartyr.

A charming Christmas story is associated with this church: you can read it as well as view other photos of the church here.