Friday 13 January 2017

ANTI DEPRESSION

ANTI DEPRESSION.

Photos taken in 2016 by my daughter.     Copyright Acerules

 




 


 






The story of the paintings covering the walls and ceiling of St Mary's Church Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia, is a tale of the Great Depression that gripped the world in the 1930s. One day an Italian called Francesco Floreani was hired by Father Cremin to paint a sculpture in the church. 


 




 



 






As the man needed work, the good father let him stay on for years and paint murals on almost every surface of the large and lofty building. It is done in the Italian style. Now it is a tourist attraction, and you can buy souvenirs of and books about the church at the information centre next door. 




 



The 12 apostles and authors of the four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are depicted. These windows were being restored when we were there. 




 



 



 




 



 



 






 




 



 




 



 



 



 



 



 



 







 



 



 






 




 





Well, I grew up in that town, and that church, for six years in the 1970s. In those days there were often Irish priests, and they are very funny and have the gift of the gab, so it's unlikely that I was too often bored. But if I was, there were always the murals to look at. 





 



 




It was the 1970 s and I was in Primary school. My mother stood at the microphone each week and led the singing with her lovely soprano voice. It was post Vatican Two. We were allowed to have groovy hymns. Even the old standards were belted out at a fast pace. I remember singing hymns in those days was fun, and the church was usually full. Here's one I remember, you may too, it was a mainstream hit:





Sr Janet Mead -The Lords Prayer HD version.


One tradition I remember, was when  the Italian members of the community would process the large statue of St Anthony down the Main Street of the town, once a year , like they do in Italy. Some girls who had made their First Holy Communion, would process in front, with baskets of rose petals, throwing them on the road . 




  

I stole that tradition when my 2nd hubby and I renewed our vows for our tenth anniversary; in our current church. We had our daughter process in front, throwing petals as we came  into the church, and beautiful she was too. 

All photos are copyright Acerules.

12 comments:

Kathy said...

Beautiful. There aren't very many churches left with such nice art work. I am sure you could look at the murals and discover something new each time.

Running on empty said...


That's true, Kathy. We moved to the city for higher education. It was a fairly nice upbringing in a country town. Blogger isn't letting us reduce the photo size, annoying.

Fizzfan said...

Love the story behind how the church got painted. Thanks for that Cath. So as the blog is entitled Anti Depression, I wondered what makes everyone happy? Mines good friends to chat to, share some food n fizz with and generally kid yourself you've put the world to rights with. I also love comedians, especially if they have a political agenda like Bill Hicks or Russell Brand. Having said that my personal favourite is an Irish guy called Dylan Moran whose ascerbic wit and slightly surreal ramblings are genius. Anyone have any recommendations of those unsung heroes that I personally think have more to say about life and indeed politics than our less trusted politicians?

Running on empty said...


I think comedy is great therapy for depression.

We have so many excellent comedians in Australia, I guess we are a funny people. Magda Szubanski comes to mind, she went to my school and was hilarious even back then. Dave Hughes makes me laugh, he has zero airs and graces.

Dylan Moran is very good, I think he was in Black Books? I loved that show.

Fizzfan said...

I'll check them out. Dylan Moran was in Black Books, but it's his DVDs where he gets to really let rip and you get to know just how achingly funny he is.

Fizzfan said...

Just watches some Dave Hughes excerpts. Such a pity they weren't longer! Yep, he's really funny. Thanks X

Running on empty said...


Is Dylan Moran a welsh name?

Fizzfan said...

Dylan is a Welsh name, but he comes from Ireland. Just watched Magda Szubanskis 'coming out' interview where she supports gay marriage. I'll try to catch some more of her. Great that you went to the same school as her!

Running on empty said...


Caution, bad language

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7gV4C3wT86g

Magda was in the two Babe pig movies.

Running on empty said...


Hmm, I can't open that link, can you?

Fizzfan said...

Yep. Brilliantly observed. VERY LOL and a bit of well placed bad language is completely necessary! Apparently it's a sign of intelligence? I'd definitely have to agree because I swear quite a lot :)

Running on empty said...


Mine deteriorates if I'm tired, but it's hard having swearing in live theatre as its not rated in this country, so you don't know what you can take your kids to if you have clever kids that need more mental stimulation than fairy tales.