My hopes for this blog are to share with the rest of the Catholic world out there some of the exciting things which are going on in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa. It has been my experience that visitors to the diocese are always amazed at what the Church in Tulsa has to offer. In addition to things which are happening in the diocese, I would also like to focus some attention to the subject of Catholic Culture and the importance of keeping this culture alive. So for my first blog I would like to show just one example of the ways in which this diocese is keeping Catholic Culture alive.
The Catholic Church in France has seen many parishes close their doors over the last few decades and many of the items which once decorated these beautiful old churches have found their way into the antique markets of the United States. One of the ways in which the Diocese of Tulsa is keeping Catholic culture alive is that when a new church is built in the diocese there is an attempt to reclaim some of these antique objects and put them back where they belong, in our churches. In December Catholic Charities opened a brand new state of the art campus to serve the people of Tulsa. Many of these antique items (which were cheaper than buying new ones) were incorporated in the building of the Catholic Charities chapel. For example, the Corpus for the crucifix in the new chapel came from a closed parish in France and was made in about 1760.
The Catholic Church in France has seen many parishes close their doors over the last few decades and many of the items which once decorated these beautiful old churches have found their way into the antique markets of the United States. One of the ways in which the Diocese of Tulsa is keeping Catholic culture alive is that when a new church is built in the diocese there is an attempt to reclaim some of these antique objects and put them back where they belong, in our churches. In December Catholic Charities opened a brand new state of the art campus to serve the people of Tulsa. Many of these antique items (which were cheaper than buying new ones) were incorporated in the building of the Catholic Charities chapel. For example, the Corpus for the crucifix in the new chapel came from a closed parish in France and was made in about 1760.
The Corpus (above) was then attached to a cross and now serves as the crucifix which hangs over the new altar in the chapel.
A new crucifix would have been more expensive and not nearly as beautiful and an item which was lovingly crafted for the Church was rescued from the antique market and returned to the Church. I apologize that the only picture I currently have of the chapel is the one above and the crucifix is hard to see. By the time I post again I hope to have a few new pics and a better one of the crucifix. More later.
That's such a cool story. Is there a class in church architecture at PSI?
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