St. Peter and Paul Church, Goodland

A year or two ago the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana combined many of its parishes into groups called pastorates.  The Saint Augustine parish in Rensselaer was combined with the The Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Remington and the Saints Peter and Paul parish in Goodland to form the St. Michael the Archangel pastorate. One priest serves all three parishes. The church building in Remington had a fire and the repairing of the building is not yet complete, so Sunday services are currently held in Goodland and Rensselaer. 

I visited the church recently and took some pictures. St. Peter and Paul looks like hundreds of other small Catholic churchs in America. It was built in 1902.

 Below is a look at the inside.

The altar piece is ornate with large statues of the Holy Family flanked by Sts. Peter and Paul. 

Few churches have stations of the Cross as large as these.

The stained-glass windows are rather plain but do let in a lot of light.

The parish is the smallest of the three in the pastorate.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Inside St Henry's

Several years ago I was writing a bit about many of the area churches. In 2011 I visited St. Henry in Medaryville. A few weeks ago a funeral brought me back to this church and I was able to go inside. It is a small church, but very attractive.

 It has four stained glass windows on each side, and I like to post on stained glass. I even have a special tag for that.

 The windows on the north side did not show up as well as those on the south side, which had sunlight behind them.

For many years Fr. Paul White from St. Joseph's College was in charge of this parish and the one in Francesville. I am not sure who is the new pastor.

I have thought of updating the old posts on churches, but just have not had the time to do that.

A mystery window on Pi day

On its Facebook page the Jasper County Historical Society has been posting pictures of parts of buildings and asking if anyone can identify the building. Two of the recent postings have been of stain glassed windows, so when I saw the window below recently, I thought it would make a good mystery picture. Do you know where this window is located?

The only hint I will give is that it is not on private property.

Today is Pi day--3.14. I saw some very funny pictures on Facebook celebrating it, such as here and here. (Next year Pi day will be really special--it will be 3.1415. Or will it be special in 2016 since Pi rounds to 3.1416?) Fair Oaks Farms has posted several construction update pictures recently, including one showing the windows being installed in the new restaurant building. The Families of the JCYC have a clever promotion for spring break week. And despite all the snow on the ground, there is reason to think green--Saint Patrick's Day is Monday and we are less than a week away from the vernal equinox (March 20 this year).

Update: This window and another that is identical are located on the second floor of the court house. It is an interior window located between the auditor's office and the hallway. (The hallways and the stairways of the court house occupy a lot of the total floor space. Clearly the architect was not just interested in an economical use of space--the aesthetics was of great importance.)

Stained Glass at Brushwood Methodist

The Lenten Luncheon last week was at the Brushwood United Methodist Church, and I noticed that they had stained glass windows in their sanctuary. It has been a while since I have had a chance to do a post on stained glass windows, so I jumped at the chance to take some pictures.

There were five windows with episodes from the life of Jesus. First, the nativity.

My guess is that this is the baptism in the Jordan.

Jesus as the Good Shepard.

There were two with a Holy Week theme. I think this is the Agony in the Garden, after the Last Supper.

And finally Jesus carrying the cross, a scene appropriate for a Good Friday post.

Stained Glass--Sacred Heart in Remington (part 2)

Last Sunday I started but did not finish a look at the stained glass windows in Remington's Sacred Heart Catholic Church. I did not get to the windows that line the main part of the church. Four of those windows have scenes or people illustrated on them. The one below is obviously St. Joseph holding the young Jesus. You can also see two of the stations of the cross in this picture. In older churches these fourteen statues are often quite detailed. Modern versions tend to be abstract and simplified.

You probably noticed that the names of the donors of the windows are prominently inscribed in the windows.

I am not sure to whom Jesus is appearing the window below.

The window below is probably of St Dominic because he is supposedly the person who introduced the rosary.  St. Mary's in Beaverville has a window with the same theme.

My guess is that this is St. John the Evangelist.

The Catholic Order of Foresters is still around, but now seems to be not a social organization but merely an insurance group. It began as a way of providing burial insurance to poor immigrants. (It is interesting how some organizations that had very modest beginnings or which were initially set up as charitable organizations eventually grew into large business or purely commercial organizations. Savings and loans, credit unions, and hospitals are examples.)

The other eight windows are simpler and feature patterns and symbols. I took pictures of four of them.  Grapes and wheat symbolize the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

The window below has the ark and the keys to the kingdom. I do not know why they are together, but I am sure there is a reason.

The window shows the headgear of bishops and the pope, but I am not sure why.

My guess is that these windows that are more abstract were much cheaper than the windows with scenes of people, and that the little parish could only afford to purchase four of the more expensive windows.

I cannot make out the picture on the left, but the right is the lamb of God, which symbolizes Jesus.

I am sorry I do not know more. Perhaps if a member of Sacred Heart reads this, he or she can give a fuller explanation of the windows.

(The day may eventually come when all of this information is available on the Internet. However, it takes time and dedication to get put together.  Until then, places like this blog will try to fill the void.)

Stained Glass--Sacred Heart in Remington

In September I took pictures of the interior of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Remington, and just have not gotten around to posting them. The church was built in 1900, back when stained glass windows and other elaborate decorations were considered to be more important than they are today.

The stained glass starts at the entrance. The photo below is from the entry way (or narthex) looking back to the front door.

Entering the church proper (nave), you pass under the window, which is slightly out of focus in the photo.

Sacred Heart is neo-gothic, as this view from the choir loft indicates. My guess is that when it was orginally built, the walls were not plain white as they are now. That look became popular in the 1960s.

Below is a view of the church from the steps to the altar. There is a rose windows in the bell tower that is not visible at all from inside the church.

Because it has been so long since I took the pictures, I do not remember exactly what some of them show. I think this window was one that was up in the choir loft. The motif in these windows is repeated in many of the other windows.

I think this windows was one of the two windows in the front facade of the church that you can see in the choir loft.

There are two windows high above the sacristy. One is of Mary.

The other is of Jesus. Both feature the Sacred Heart, which fits this church. Many of the windows prominently display the name of the donor or donors who made the window possible.

I intended this post  to include the twelve windows that line the nave in this post, but I had moving adventures today that ate up most of the day. Maybe next Sunday.

Stained glass at St. Joseph's Chapel (3 of 3)

This is the third part of a series on the stained-glass windows in the Saint Joseph's College chapel.

The windows pictured below may look like a rose window that belongs in the front of the chapel, but it is not. It is the skylight window over the altar. That explains the dark blotches. They are dirt or debris, and it is probably pretty difficult to clean the window. It is a beautiful window, but one that most people never see.

The window below is in the place where a rose window would be, over the main entrance.

 

The three windows below are all in the entrance or vestibule. The one below is over the east door.

 

The window below is over the main door.

 

This and another almost identical window are on either side of the main door in the vestibule.

 

(Update: I did not realize that I left this post unfinished when it was first visible. It is more or less complete now.)

Stained glass at St. Joseph's Chapel (2 of 3)

The first part of this series showing the stained glass windows in the Saint Joseph's College Chapel is here.

The five windows on the west wall begin with a large windows showing Jesus as a child in the temple (Luke 2:42-51). It was "donated by Rev. August Young."

Opposite St. Catherine is St. Rose of Lima, who died in 1617 in Peru and is the first American to be canonized. The window dedication state, "Donated by Mr. R. H. Williams."

 

Below is a closeup of the window. She became a Dominican nun and died at the age of 31.

 

In most of the pictures of these windows, you cannot see the decorations in the windows above the saints. Here is a better view of what that area of the windows looks like. However, these pictures do not do justice to the actual windows. You need to see them as they are.

 

Another saint who died young was St. John Berchmans. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and was studying to become a priest when he died. The dedication of this window states, "Donated by students. C.P.P.S.) As I recall, the windows on the west of the chapel were more severely damaged by the wind in 1998 or 1999 than those on the east. All of them have had to be restored.

 

St. Philip Neri founded a society for diocesan priests. He died in 1595. The window dedication says "Donated by Geo. J. and Rev. Wm. Arnold."

 

The last of the windows on the west side is of St. Lawrence, a deacon who was martyred about 258. Like St. Catherine, little is actually known about him, but there are extensive legends and stories about his life and death.  The dedication is "In memory of Edward J. Pryor." Fr Robbins in his Chronology explains that Edward Pryor was scheduled to be the valedictorian of the class of 1906, but died the day before.

 

I can not find any connecting theme in these five windows, but there may be one.

Stained glass at St. Joseph's Chapel (1 of 3)

The Saint Joseph's College Chapel has the most impressive stained glass windows in Rensselaer, and I long ago suggested that I might someday use them as the topic of Sunday posts.

Both the east and west sides of the chapel have five large windows. The largest on both sides is the first one. On the east side it shows the Sacrifice of Melchisedek, mentioned in Genesis 14: 18-20 and Psalm 110:4, which prefigures the Mass. The dedication of the window is "in memory of August J. Kistner May 23, 1909"

The second window on both sides is the shortest of the five windows. On the east it is St. Catherine of Alexander, who was martyred about 310. Very little is certain about her life but a great deal of legend grew up around her, and she was a tremendously popular saint in the medieval period. She is a patron of philosophers. The inscription on the window states that it was "donated by Rev. Ambrose Schumack." Under the window is a small plaque that states, "The restoration of this window was made possible by a gift from Michael G '79 and Christine Haws Burman '80 and family, June 2001." About ten years ago a freak windstorm did a tremendous amount of damage to the windows. The Fellows Program at the college raised almost $400,000 to restore them. Most of the windows have similar small plaques with donors. There were many other donors, and they are all listed on a document in the vestibule or foyer of the church.

 

The third window shows Saint Augustine of Hippo, one of the most influential of the early Church theologians and philosophers. The dedication in the windows states, "Donated by Rev. August. Seifert. C.P.P.S." Fr. Seifert was president of the college from 1902 until 1913. A residence hall is named for him, and there is a statue of him in front of the hall.

 

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was the most famous of the Cisterians, and a tremendously busy man in the twelfth century. He died in 1153. There is no dedication in this window.

 

Below is a closeup of the face of St. Bernard.

 

The last of the windows on the east is St. Charles Borromeo, who died in 1584. This window also lacks a dedication.

 

The closeup of his face shows a fellow with a rather large nose. Other portraits have an even larger nose. Charles Borromeo was the archbishop of Milan in the years after the Protestant Reformation. He played a large role in the Council of Trent, and he was instrumental in founding seminaries to better prepare candidates for the priesthood. He also tried to reduce the ornate decorations of his cathedral, so he might have been happy with the extensive renovations of the college chapel that took place after the Second Vatican Council. Pictures of the chapel before that council show a far more decorated interior than what is there today.

The four smaller windows all feature saints who had something to do with education or scholarship. They earliest is nearest the altar, and as you move toward the entrance, they become more recent.