Do you ever have moments when you feel like time stops for a while and you just don’t have a care in the world? Maybe that comes when you’re on vacation or on a lazy Saturday afternoon. One of those moments came for me today as I photographed St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Tipton, Indiana.
I took a couple days off from work and woke up this morning needing something to look forward to. Sure, I appreciate sleeping in just as much as the next guy, but I really wanted something to do. I had talked to my Grandma the night before and as we were talking about my Uncle Leroy, I realized that I hadn’t seen him since Christmas. Well, that was that… I decided to drive up to Tipton today to see my uncle. My uncle is the priest of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and has been for more than seven years (if not more). I had a good time catching up with him, seeing the remodeling being done on the rectory, and meeting his new dog, Mack.
It’s not everyday that I’m up in Tipton visiting my uncle and usually when I do, it’s to attend Mass. Every time I’ve visited his church, I’m amazed by its beauty: from the stone exterior, to the marble floors, wooden pews, pipe organ, and the stained glass windows.
As I finished up visiting with Uncle Leroy and his sidekick Mack, I decided it was time to head over to the church. It was so nice and refreshing to walk into the church with nobody there and to have the sound of silence. One of the first things I wanted to photograph was the pipe organ. It was built in 1906 by the Marshall-Bennett Company out of Moline, Illinois. For those of you who are organ aficionados, it is an Opus 181, has two manuals, pneumatic chests, tubular pneumatic key action, and pneumatic stop action. It really is a beautiful organ.
The organ is at the rear of the church in a loft overlooking the rest of the sanctuary. When playing, the organist has his/her back to the altar and has a mirror above so that he/she can look down at the church and see what’s going on.
After photographing the organ, I walked downstairs and stopped to take a look at the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. For those of you non-Catholics, Our Lady of Perpetual Help is another name for the Virgin Mary. Catholics will often pray to Mary and ask her to intercede on their behalf with Christ. In front of the picture of the Blessed Virgin is a notebook where many have written short, one-line prayers.
As I finished photographing the church, I looked out at the empty wooden pews and thought about all the prayers that have been lifted up to heaven from this place. I also looked around at the beauty of the church and realized how much of a refuge this place is for the people who worship here.
Hopefully they will have a moment like I experienced, a moment where time seemed to stand still and there wasn’t a care in the world.
Here’s a fun fact about me, I love the song Ave Maria. in fact, I have nine different versions of it in my music library. I’m sure that I’ve sung this song at least once when I was a part of the children’s choir at St. Luke Catholic Church and I can still remember Mr. Delvecchio telling us how to pronounce each word in Latin. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the words we were singing were the words to the "Hail Mary" prayer.
Sometimes I just close my eyes and imagine that I’m in an old Gothic cathedral as the sounds of the music echo throughout the stone sanctuary. The room is full of so much color as the light passes through the stained glass windows.
It is such a beautiful arrangement and I love the version that Christina England sings. Her voice is so clear and beautiful. Have a listen, I think you’ll see what I mean.
Latin Catholic Prayer Version
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Maria, gratia plena,
Maria, gratia plena,
Ave, Ave, Dominus,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus,
Et benedictus fructus ventris,
Ventris tui, Jesus.
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria, Mater Dei,
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Ora, ora pro nobis;
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Nunc et in hora mortis,
In hora mortis nostrae.
In hora, hora mortis nostrae,
In hora mortis nostrae.
Ave Maria!
Direct English Translation
Ave Maria, full of grace,
Maria, full of grace,
Maria, full of grace,
Hail, Hail, the Lord
The Lord is with you.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed,
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Thy womb, Jesus.
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Pray, pray for us;
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death,
The hour of our death.
The hour, the hour of our death,
The hour of our death.
Ave Maria!
In the course of almost two hours on September 11, 2001, America witnessed the worst domestic attack in its history. I remember that day pretty vividly. I had awoken from a nightmare to see television coverage of a gaping hole in Tower One of the World Trade Center. Before I had a chance to realize what was going on, a plane struck Tower Two.
It happened all so quickly, yet strangely, time felt like it was standing still… as if we were living in a nightmare. The news stations couldn’t keep up; as soon as they’d cover one story, another one would unfold. The timeline of events shows what happened that day:
8:46 AM: American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center north tower between the 93rd and 99th floors.
9:03 AM: United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the World Trade Center south tower between the 77th and 85th floors.
9:37 AM: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.
9:59 AM: South Tower of World Trade Center collapses.
10:03 AM: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
10:28 AM: North Tower of World Trade Center collapses.
It was absolute chaos and in an unprecedented move, all air traffic was grounded. Over 6,500 planes were forced to land with the only aircraft being allowed to fly being Air Force One and military jets.
I remember going into work later that afternoon and having a TV in the back office so that we could hear news of the rescue effort. Having worked at a supermarket long enough, I was good at making small talk and asking about the day’s news while I rung up people’s orders. Yet on that day, I didn’t have to say anything. We all knew what had happened and we were all still in shock. I remember going home that night and watching President Bush give an address from the Oval Office. It had been a long, nightmarish day and we needed our President to reassure us that the Union was still strong.
Many stories came out of that day, like that of NYFD Chaplain Mychal Judge. Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit, Judge rushed down to the site to be of assistance. As he was in the North Tower of WTC administering last rites and praying, he was hit in the head with debris from the South Tower as it collapsed. In his final moments, Judge could be heard praying out loud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God please end this!"
Another story came from the family of Todd Beamer. Beamer was on a flight over the hills of Pennsylvania when many on the flight received news that the World Trade Center had been hit. Their plane had also been taken over by hijackers and Beamer had been on the phone with an operator from GTE letting her know of the situation. As the passengers decided to overtake their attackers, the operator could hear Beamer say, "Are you guys ready? Let’s roll." Shortly after that was heard, United Airlines flight 93 crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA. It’s intended target? The nation’s capital, Washington D.C.
On that day and the days following, I saw the best come out in my fellow Americans. Blood drives were held to collect blood for the many anticipated victims. Millions of dollars were being raised to support the victims’ families. Terrorism task forces, fire departments, and police departments from all over the country traveled to New York to help the NYPD and NYFD carry the burden.
That day showed me that even though we have our differences, we have the ability to put our differences aside and look out for our fellow man. I was driving downtown yesterday when I saw a work van with a flag painted on the door and below the flag it said, "Never Forget." I will never forget that day in September when thousands of lives were taken in an act of hatred. I will never forget the sacrifice of the NYPD, NYFD, and our armed forces who continue to keep us safe. I will never forget.
I walked into Starbucks today for a favorite fall treat, a Pumpkin Spice Latte. As I looked around the bar, I noticed that they were selling reusable cup sleeves. I stood there thinking to myself, "wow, that’s a cool idea!" Of course, I’ve already seen these reusable cup sleeves at independent coffee houses and it was only a matter of time before Starbucks caught on.
Yet the more I thought about it, the more I thought that these reusable cup sleeves didn’t really solve any environmental problems. Sure, you don’t end up using one of those cardboard cup sleeves, but you’re still using a paper cup each time you go to Starbucks. This thought occurred to me one day when I looked in the trash can and noticed how many times i had been to Starbucks and how many paper cups I had used.
What’s the best environmental solution? Bring your own cup with you! I originally bought a porcelain cup aptly named, "I Am Not A Paper Cup." It was cool looking, but the lid leaked. So I ended up going to Bed Bath & Beyond and buying a Copco 16-ounce reusable mug. It’s plastic, machine-washable, and doesn’t leak. Woo hoo!
So if you like to go to coffee shops to get your morning cup o’ joe, consider buying a reusable mug and taking it with you. You’ll still get that great cup of coffee and you’re helping out Mother Earth by not adding another paper cup to the landfill.
What I’m Listening To: I’m currently listening to a variety of things, here’s my current "MusicNOW" playlist
We’re All In This Together – Ben Lee
I Like it – Enrique Iglesias
All Will Be Well – Gabe Dixon Band
Blind Monkey – Gaelic Storm
Notbroken – Goo Goo Dolls
Ave Maria (Schubert) – Jackie Evancho
Need You Now (iTunes Session) – Lady Antebellum
Falling in Love (With My Best Friend) – Matt White
Secrets – OneRepublic
Rhythm of Love – Plain White Tees
With or Without You – Sarah Darling
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – She & Him
Modern Nature – Sondre Lerche
Mine – Taylor Swift
What I’m Watching: I think Netflix Instant Queue updated their catalog, so I’ve been watching some reality shows that I watched when I had cable: American Pickers, Parking Wars, The First 48, Ice Road Truckers, etc.
What I’m Reading: I found a book at Barnes & Noble on Saturday called Blue Blood by Edward Conlon. It is written by a former NYPD cop and details his time on the force. I have a feeling I’ve read it before, but still enjoying it.
What I’m Looking Forward To This Week: I really don’t know! I’ve spent the past week dealing with allergies and other illness that I’d really look forward to this week if I wasn’t sick!
Quote of the Day: "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well." – René Descartes
