MONDAY DIARY: OH THE PEOPLE YOU'LL SEE!

A good number of years ago on this blog I had a series titled, "Oh the Places You'll Go!" stolen from the Dr. Suess book of the same title.  In it I wrote about how sometimes being a priest opened doors (literally) and lets you see places that most may never have the opportunity to see.  One of those places visited recently I wrote to you about already is St. Paul Shrine were the Poor Clares who are cloistered live.  Almost nobody is allowed back in the cloister but Mother Mary Thomas and I have been working on some projects (on which I play an incredibly small part) and so I had the great privilege of being able to go back into the cloister of this beautiful building.

 

Here is a picture of Mother and me from last week at which time she revealed the finished painting of St. Sebastian.

Another good series might be, "Oh the People You'll Meet!" but it would be a lot like name dropping wouldn't it?  BUT it is very cool the people you get to meet because you are priest so with the aim of promoting vocations I will only do it once and limit myself to just a couple.

 

Of course meeting Mother Mary Thomas who is also a fantastic artist was a treasure.  Below was meeting Pope John Paul II (soon to be a saint!) after having celebrated Mass with him in his private chapel in the papal apartments.  I wish I could say I was very eloquent but after his greeting all I could muster was, "Ablagammagoogoo."  The reason the picture looks weird is because it is a picture I took of a picture.  You might be able to see me with the camera in the reflection.  Gosh, I had a lot more hair then!

Going to Rome more recently with the parish choir, after singing for the Mass we were invited back into the sacristy (bigger than my parish church) in order to meet Angelo Cardinal Comastri, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter.  People were freaking out.  "No choir ever gets invited back here!"  But we were.  Then he took us on a little tour through part of the Vatican.  What a great day that was.

On the same day of the visit to Mother Mary Thomas noted above, a friend named Sharon and I met with Bishop Gries and wonderful couple recently engaged (congratulations and prayers) John and Cortney hoping that they would be on the board of the Poor Clares which they agreed to do.  THANK YOU.  That was great enough but . . .

While we were there we also ran in to Larry Holmes and Hanford Dixon who were EXTREMELY kind to be bothered to have their picture taken with some anonymous priest.  God bless you gentlemen.

God is sooooooo very cool.  He is constantly blessing it seems.  I honestly do not know why more guys do not want to be priests.  It is good life if you're cut out for it.  (Just like any life I suppose.) 

MONDAY DIARY: FIELD TRIP!

Last Monday I was on a field trip, which ate up a sufficient amount of time that the blog post that day had to be skipped.  Sharon Dietrick who is on the board of the Poor Clares, and Wes Hollendonner of Rubber City Productions (see photo below) headed up to St. Paul Shrine (see more here) to interview Mother Thomas (who spoke at a luncheon recently at St. Sebastian as a fundraiser for the new Academy of Culture and Arts) about her two works in progress.  Below is part of her studio.

It was rather a unique experience.  As you might expect not many visitors (especially men) are allowed about the cloister.  So it was a very special and solemn visit for us.

 

This is the backside of a reredos of an old chapel that has been converted into an art studio for Mother.  It is here that Mother is working on a painting of St. Sebastian that will be destined for this parish.  Below is an under coating and Mother is preparing it for the final stage of applying more exact coloring, shading, and details.  This is a picture taken by Sharon of Mother explaining her technique to me while Wes videos.

Wes shoots the nave from over the reredos for the second video we shot while I explored nooks and cranneys.

Below you can see the main room of the chapel.  Behind the altar is where the other pictures were taken.  Here you can see the enormity of the other painting on which Mother is working.  It is of mammoth proportions.  The title of it is Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and was destined for a parish of the same name in Philadelphia.  Unfortunatley, after it was commissioned, it parish was closed.  That is part of the reason for the documentary: a hope to find another home for the painting.

 I think this is one of Mother's finest works.  Here you can see Mary and Jesus surrounded by the communion of saints.  If you could see the rest of the painting it would work its way down to the Church militant.

If you get the chance I recommend a visit to the shrine.  You will get to spend some time in adoration (or go to Mass - see the link above for details) see the beautiful architecture, visit the gift shop (I highly recommend it if for no other reason than that there prices are VERY reasonable) and to see some of Mother's other paintings.  You probably wont get to see Mary, Mother of the Eucharist or St. Sebastian since they are in the cloister.  Hopefully, however, you might be able to see St. Sebastian at the parish as Mother hopes to have him done in time for our annual St. Sebastian Day celebration in January.