40 Days of Lent at St. Paul Catholic Church from the outside

40 Days of Lent at St. Paul Catholic Church from the outside

St. Paul Catholic Church exterior

St. Paul Catholic Church exterior

I’ve spent several weeks going to church every day. My mother and grandmother would be proud. My father would be as proud but wouldn’t talk about it very much. It wasn’t that he lacked faith. He was just glad to be alive after floating several days in the Mediterranean Ocean when his destroyer was sunk by a German torpedo plane. He paid back the favor of survival with good deeds, kind words, and no complaints.

My task isn’t necessarily one of faith. I’ve spent every day at church hoping to put together a series of photos that show some of the things that happen at St. Paul during the Easter season. I began on Ash Wednesday with a photo of a grandchild with the smoky sign of the cross on her forehead.

Today’s photo is an exterior to show the front of the church as it will never be seen again. At least, that’s the plan.

St. Paul Catholic Church stained glass

St. Paul Catholic Church stained glass

Workers tomorrow will install a new stained glass window in the middle circular window above the entrance. It will be dedicated to Father Lavelle who recently retired from the parish. The cost was borne by parishioners whose donations paid for the window. More than enough was raised so additional stained glass windows will be installed later.

Shot as a three frame 2-stop HDR image processed in Oloneo PhotoEngine and Photoshop.

I hope to be back tomorrow night about the same time for a photo of the new window shining brightly above the doorway.

To add to the Lenten collection, here’s an iPhone photo of stained glass from inside the church. It was shot with the Constructr app processed with Camera+.

 

Palm Sunday in Hipstamatic Tintype glory

Palm Sunday in Hipstamatic Tintype glory

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday at St. Paul

Today was Palm Sunday. It begins Holy week in the church. We missed the early Mass because we overslept waking up five minutes after our normal departure time.

I had forgotten that this Mass has lengthy readings covering nearly a week’s set of events and was slightly confused to arrive for Mass with a full parking lot. Not having attended the later Mass in many years I wasn’t sure if we were arriving to an already full church filled to overflowing with the faithful and a full parking lot with only scattered empty spots remaining.

The truth was that the readings kept the earlier Mass longer than normal, and now the fire lanes were filled with cars waiting until the departure of the previous celebrants.

We eventually parked close to the church filling a space emptied by someone leaving immediately after communion and bearing their selection of yellow and green palm fronds. Thank you for the hurried departure.

My Final Photo for the day is an iPhone Hipstamatic Tintype photo of a parishioner praying the rosary while holding palm fronds.

Palm Sunday in Hipstamatic Tintype glory

Palm Sunday in Hipstamatic Tintype glory

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday at St. Paul

Today was Palm Sunday. It begins Holy week in the church. We missed the early Mass because we overslept waking up five minutes after our normal departure time.

I had forgotten that this Mass has lengthy readings covering nearly a week’s set of events and was slightly confused to arrive for Mass with a full parking lot. Not having attended the later Mass in many years I wasn’t sure if we were arriving to an already full church filled to overflowing with the faithful and a full parking lot with only scattered empty spots remaining.

The truth was that the readings kept the earlier Mass longer than normal, and now the fire lanes were filled with cars waiting until the departure of the previous celebrants.

We eventually parked close to the church filling a space emptied by someone leaving immediately after communion and bearing their selection of yellow and green palm fronds. Thank you for the hurried departure.

My Final Photo for the day is an iPhone Hipstamatic Tintype photo of a parishioner praying the rosary while holding palm fronds.