Sunday, February 16, 2020

San Fedele of Como

San Fedele of Como  Catholic Church
Milan, Italy
Church Plaque
"San Fedele is a Jesuit church in Milan, northern Italy. It is entitled to St. Fidelis of Como, patron of the Catholic diocese of Como.
"Located in Saint Fedele Square in the centre of the city, near the Palazzo Marino, the Teatro alla Scala and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the church was commissioned by Charles Borromeo from Pellegrino Tibaldi (1559).
"The interior is on a single nave, with tall columns in granite. The presbytery was prolonged in the 17th century by Francesco Maria Richino, who also designed the notable sacristy. The façade was completed by Pietro Pestagalli from Tibaldi's designs in 1835. It features a group of Gaetano Matteo Monti's statues representing the Assumption.
"The interior is decorated with artworks that include a Pietà by Simone Peterzano, a St. Ignatius by Giovanni Battista Crespi (il Cerano) a Transfiguration by Bernardino Campi, and a "Sacred Heart" by Lucio Fontana. A Madonna of the Snake by Ambrogio Figino, once found in the church, is now in the church of Sant'Antonio Abate of the city. " (Link.)

Nave

Altar featuring a Pieta

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Photos: Taken in March 2019 with an iPhone by RW while traveling to Milan from his home in
             Basel Switzerland.

                                                                           Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Sunday, February 2, 2020



Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints


Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints
Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Province of Canterbury

Church Poster

"St Dunstan's, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in StepneyLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets.


Bell Tower
"In about AD 952 the Bishop of London — who is also Lord of the Manor of Stepney — replaced the existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All the Saints. In 1029, when Dunstan was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it has retained.
"Up until the early fourteenth century the church served the whole of Middlesexeast of the City of London. Then new churches were built at Whitechapel and Bow. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the fifteenth century (although the chancel dates from 200 years earlier). A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872.
"The church was restored extensively in 1899, at a cost of £5,600. The vestries and some of the main building were destroyed by fire on 12 October 1901, including the organ which had carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The restoration cost £7,084,[1] and the church was re-opened in June 1902 by the Bishop of Stepney (at that time Cosmo Gordon Lang.

Church Bell Tower

"The ring of ten bells, the heaviest weighing 28¾ hundredweight, which hang in the belfry, were cast at the local Whitechapel Bell Foundry and are tuned to C#. The seven oldest bells were cast by Thomas Mears and Son, Whitechapel, in 1806. The bells were re-hung in 1899.[1] Three were recast in 1952 when repairs were made to the tower.[3] The bells are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: "When will that be, say the bells of Stepney."


Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints
"A fine triple Sedilia is found in the chancel.The rood is late Anglo Saxon. Of note amongst the plate is a cup and patten dated 1559 and a beadles's staff and vergers wand of 1752.

"The church is surrounded by a churchyard of nearly seven acres (28,000 m²). In 1658 William Greenhill was appointed vicar whilst retaining his position as a preacher at Stepney Meeting House. He held this post for about seven years, till he was ejected immediately after the Restoration in 1660.
"Shortly after this, the churchyard was enlarged to cope with the massive number of deaths during the Great Plague of London. In one eighteen-month period 6,583 died, with 154 being buried in one day in September 1665.
"The church has a long, traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here. It was once known as the 'Church of the High Seas'. The graveyard is also where Roger Crab, the 17th-century hermit who lived on a diet solely of herbs, roots, leaves, grass and water, is buried." (Link 1.)
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Photos: Taken in 2018 by RW with his iPhone while travelling in
                 London from his home in Switzerland.


                                                                    Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)