ABC Wednesday—L is for "light"

I've featured this church before, but these
chandeliers just blew me away
and I thought they deserved a close-up.

[To see more ABC shots, go here.]

inSPIREd Sunday

In the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina,
in Rome, each of the side chapels has 
a roof lantern with its own unique design.
This chapel is dedicated to St. Francis Caracciolo,
and the relics of St. Alexander (a pope
and a martyr) are kept in an urn under the altar.

[To see more churches from
around the world, go here.]

Weekend Reflections

In the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle,
in Rome, they've placed a couple
of large mirrored tables so you can admire
the vault over the nave without
getting a crick in your neck (and so that
you can channel James with
a picture like this).

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

inSPIREd Sunday

My daughter Lila (this is her picture)
and I stepped into the church of the Madeleine
to look around for a minute—and found
a concert of beautiful choral music going on.
Sometimes you just get lucky.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.] 

inSPIREd Sunday

Unlock this door and enter the 17th-century church
of Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes, in Paris.
(Marie de Medicis laid the cornerstone in 1613.)
Next time, maybe I'll be able to go inside, see chapel
altars by Bernini, and visit the crypt to see the heads of
priests killed there during the French Revolution.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

Saint-Eustache

Construction on this gorgeous Gothic church was
begun in 1532 and completed 105 years later.
The church has served the area of Les Halles for
almost 400 years.  Saint-Eustache is a wonderful place
to attend an organ concert; their organ boasts
8,000 pipes (!) and is reputed to be the largest in France
(and it has a beautiful sound).

To see more Sunday shadows, go here.
And I'm linking back to InSPIREd Sunday.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

The church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés,
the oldest in Paris, was built and rebuilt many
times from the 6th century to the 17th. It's a
wonderfully eclectic mix of several architectural
styles—including Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque.  

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

Skywatch Friday

This is just one of the houses of worship
in Brooklyn, which is known as "the
borough of churches." Maybe that's
because there are almost 700 of them
in its 71 square miles. (BTW, as far as
I can tell, the largest number are Baptist
churches—shades of the South.)
Find more Skywatch pix here.

church talk

I can't go into an Italian church without lighting

a candle—or taking a picture.  I found beauty in all 

of these: the candles in the Gesuiti in Venice,

the gilded ceiling of the basilica San Marco,

 the dome of St. Peter's in Rome,

 Titian's Assumption over the altar in 

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice,

and the filigreed window of a 

small church in the Cinque Terre.