The Spires

 

Above: The spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral

St Patrick’s is one of the worlds most elegant and inspiring neo-gothic Cathedrals. This bluestone/sandstone gothic revival cathedral was designed by William Wardell. It was built in stages from 1858 to 1940, when the spires were added. Saint Pat's as it is fondly called, was accorded the title "Minor Basilica" in 1973 and is on the corner of Gisborne Street and Cathedral Place, East Melbourne.


Today's quote: I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral ~ Robert Louis Stevenson.

Theme Day - Statues - Our Lady Help of Christians

 

Our Lady Help of Christians is the Patroness of Australia and her feast day is 24th May. The month of May is Our Lady's month, so it seemed somehow fitting to choose a statue of Our Lady for this month's theme day. Little is known about this beautiful statue other than it was donated in the 19th century.

In 1844, Mary, under the title of Our Lady Help of Christians was chosen as the Patroness of Australia at the First Provincial Synod of Sydney although this wasn't confirmed by the Holy See until 1852, due to the decree going astray in Bishop Pompallier's mislaid suitcase!


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Today's Quote: Prayer is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings - Chrysostom.

St. Francis' Church - Victoria's oldest Catholic Church

St. Francis' Church - West Window, Elizabeth Street

St Francis' Church, the oldest Catholic church in Victoria is located on the corner of Lonsdale Street and Elizabeth Street and is one of only three buildings in central Melbourne which predates the Gold Rush of 1851. The "mother church of Victoria", St Francis’ Church was commissioned by the Franciscan priest, Fr Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan, and the foundation stone was laid on 4 October 1841, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, to whom the church is dedicated. The first mass was celebrated in the completed nave of the church on 22 May 1842. The church was blessed and opened on 23 October 1845.


View south, Lonsdale Street

The building looming over the church is the Melbourne Central office building which is Melbourne's sixth tallest building, with 54 floors and standing 246m high.


St. Francis' 1845

In 1848 St. Francis became Melbourne's first Catholic Cathedral and was the Episcopal seat of Bishop James Alipius Goold O.S.A. and remained so until 1868, when the diocesan seat was moved to (the still unfinished) St Patrick's Cathedral.

Blessed Mary MacKillop (1842–1909) made her first communion at St Francis’ in 1850, the same year that Ned Kelly’s parents were married in the church. (Ned Kelly is Victoria's most (in)famous bushranger).
(Lithograph National Library Australia)


St.Francis' 1861

St Francis’ Church became a eucharistic shrine in 1929, when the Archdiocese of Melbourne entrusted its care to the Blessed Sacrament Congregation.

St. Francis' 1930

A religious community of priests and brothers (currently under the leadership of Fr Tom Knowles SSS) live in the monastery attached to St Francis’ Church. The St Francis’ community was the subject of the five-part television documentary Once Were Monks, which was broadcast on SBS Television in April 2000.

Today, St Francis is the busiest church in Australia, with forty-three masses and over 10,000 visiting worshippers each week.

St. Francis is listed with the Victorian Heritage Register, the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and the Australian Heritage Commission. Although there have been many changes made to the building, including the erection of a new tower to house the original 1853 bell imported from Dublin, the church remains essentially as it was designed by Samuel Jackson.

Today's Quote: Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words - St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral

St. Pauls Cathedral was opened in 1852 and concecrated in 1891, but work didn't begin on the spires until 1926. One of Melbourne's icons, it stands at the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street in the heart of the city.

Stained Glass Windows

These are some of the east facing windows of St. Monica's RC Church. They were made by Hardman of Birmingham and date from the 1940s and 1950s.

A snippet from the National Trust says "and vaulted eastern apse with elongated windows. The main facade incorporates a large traceried window framed by an arch and octagonal turrets placed above a deeply-recessed porch. The building is notable for its elaborate window tracery and soaring hall-church lit by spectacular stained glass."

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Stained Glass Window

Stained glass window at church front
Arch and sculpture over front doors
St. Monica's Roman Catholic Church Moonee Ponds was designed and built in 1934 to replace the smaller church which had stood on the same site since 1884.

St. Ignatius RC Church

St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church was designed by architect, William W. Wardell. Built 1867 and 1894, the spire was added 1927-8 by architect, Gerald W. Vanheems.