Shrine of the Little Flower

I finally made it to Shrine of the Little Flower.  This was another must see because this was my Dad's parish.   I had seen the big stone church from the outside, just like I have seen the house where he grew up.  I had never been inside, but was quickly impressed.

There is a seemingly fresh coat of paint on the beige walls.  The church is cross shaped with two long columns of pews.  There is a mural behind the altar and candles on both sides.  There is stained glass and plenty of statues.  There is a large marble communion rail that is still in use.  They had a Canadian Catholic Hymnal that I'll have to look up.  I thought that was kind of funny.  The crowd was spread out and there was a lot of waving during the sign of peace.

After mass, we made sure to stop by the Woodlea bakery for delicious bakery treats.  This was a winning combination.  And the lady who helped us was wearing an NDP class ring.

As usual, I kicked around a few crazy thoughts.    First, I think I should have a prop, just in case I'm ever up for sainthood.  Saint Peter has keys.  I learned this week that Saint Dominic has a book.  Saint Mark gets a lion and Saint Wenceslaus gets an eagle.  Now we're talking!  I'm not going to put too much thought into this because....

Bel Air Road has a lot of store front churches.  I could totally have one of those.  I'm thinking of calling it Amanda's Tabernacle of Awesome.

On a more serious note, my Dad has told me a million times that the city he grew up in doesn't exist anymore.  I'll never really understand, but here is his church, where there were six masses on Sunday, and now there are three.  His school has closed and the building is now home to a charter school.

Continuing on the family tradition, I went back one more generation and checked out Saint Wenceslaus next.