Our Cathedral

While doing research for my ongoing history of the diocese I came across a photo of St Michael's Cathedral from when it was still new.  It would have gone well with the post I did on the Cathedral a while back.

What is interesting from this picture to me is, first, the colour of the cathedral.   I realize the photo is in black and white, but even so one can immediately see the light colour of the cathedral, compared to the nearly black exterior of the cathedral today.  The colour change is due entirely to dirt.  Originally, it was a creamy yellow colour which is still commonly seen on brick houses and buildings throughout the city today.  The yellow bricks came from the city's oldest brickwork, now closed, in the Don River Valley.

Second, the niches for statues are all empty.  There are dozens of niches on the exterior of the cathedral, but today they are all empty.  I had wondered what may have happened to the statues that were originally there, and I wondered if they had been removed fro some sort of safety reasons, but according to this picture, there may never have been any.   What we often forget today is that the churches and cathedrals were not simply constructed and opened fully furnished as they are today.  They were the labour of years, with the congregation giving money to add a window here, or a statue there, as time and finance allowed.  It seems there was to be a large number of decorative statues adorning the cathedral, but perhaps the money never showed up, and the priority of filling the niches diminished as the years drew on.

So, at any rate, a rare picture of this edifice for your edification.  Take that, Oudys.

Next, I haven't been blogging much of late, again.  I have been working overtime at work, in order to gather together as much money as possible for when the cuts take effect.  In somewhat better news, my boss has decided we may have some of our hours back, and thus instead of our hours being cut to twenty five hours a week, they will only be cut to thirty hours a week, thus delivering a softer kick to the groin than originally planned.  I have also been busy taking courses to improve my skills and resume. 

I have also been busy with the kids, including the new one.  Despite spending time with them, I haven't really taken them anywhere this summer.  They are going to have slim pickings when asked to write a "what I did for my summer vacation essay..." tomorrow.  Like I said, busy with work.  I am caught in a catch-22 here:  I need the money, but I need to spend time with the kids, but I need the money, but I need to spend time with the kids, and so on, and so on. 

Lastly, I have been working on that series on the history of the diocese.  I got hung up on the next few posts which are going to be photo heavy, but the photos I want are not to be found on the web, which means going out and doing it myself.  I tried Saturday with one of my daughters to get some pictures, but they turned out terribly.