RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, BRUNSWICK

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God is located in 1 Albion St, Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne. During the late 1970's and early 1980's clergy and parishioners of the Protection of the Mother of God Cathedral in Collingwood began seeking a new church site.  The move was necessary as the site in Collingwood was not large enough to expand.

The decision to build rather than buy was made on the rationale that a church in Russian style is more aesthetically pleasing to those who will worship in it than a renovated church in the style of a western denomination.

Three architects were invited to submit proposals for the plans for this new church (Vlad Chernov,  Alex Kamenev and John Petrakis).  John Petrakis secured the contract with a competitive estimate.  He had a working relationship with Brunswick Municipal Council - which was another advantage.  John, who was later to become an honourary Russian dubbed Ivan Petrov, developed the design further and approached the Brunswick city council about a Planning Permit for a Church and a Community Centre.  His diplomacy in dealing with the City Council, managing to appease them whilst not compromising design is a credit to him.

The foundation laying ceremony took place on the 5th November 1989.  Within the stone some relics of Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth were placed with a parchment within a sealed copper/brass cylinder.  This is based on the ancient Christian practice of building churches above the graves of holy martyrs.

Psalm 99
1 The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
2 The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
4 The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

This post is part of the Psalm Sunday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Waters meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.

ST MARY'S THORNBURY

St Mary's Catholic church on High Street, Thornbury is a fine red brick church dating back to the 1920s. The associated school adjacent to the church first opened in January 1920 in one of the old wooden buildings, which was transported from St Joseph’s, Northcote. As the population increased, the school expanded. In February 1925 Archbishop Mannix laid the foundation of a new brick school building, which was later blessed and officially opened by Bishop McCarthy of Sandhurst.

As part of the Commonwealth centenary celebrations, a fountain was constructed outside the church. It has a fine mosaic of native water flora and fauna. Fortunately the fountain was not running so I was able to take these photos - you have to imagine the jets of water gushing forth!

This post is part of Psalm Sunday meme,
and the Nature Footsteps Waters meme.

Psalm 95

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL

St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne on a cloudy morning at sunrise.

Psalm 93: The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

² Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

⁴ The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

⁵ Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.

This post is part of the Psalm Challenge meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme.

ST JOHN'S, SOUTHGATE

St John's Church at Southgate is a modern church that was designed by David Cole, an architect from Buchan, Laird and Bawden. The original St John's church was built in 1927 and located off City Road not far from the present church. The site was chosen because of its central location and access to public transport. In 1989 the church building was demolished to make way for the Southgate development. The design of the church links architecturally with the Southgate complex. St Johns is first and foremost a place of worship. However, St Johns was designed also to serve a range of purposes, and it is an ideal venue for concerts and a centre for meetings and functions. For its many visitors the church provides a place for friendship and support.

There is a strong tradition of music -making in the church and it is often the venue for sacred music concerts. Today when we visited we were fêted with a rehearsal of beautiful choral music.

This post is part of the Sunday Psalms meme,
And also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme.

Psalm 83: "Keep not thou silence..."

"Out of Darkness, into His Marvellous Light..." 1 Peter, 2:9. Artist: Judy Heidenreich

NEWMAN COLLEGE CHAPEL

Newman College was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and was opened in 1918. Building on the Chapel began in 1938 and it was consecrated in 1942. The principal architect of the Chapel was Thomas Payne. The building of the Chapel was made possible by the generosity of Mr Patrick Brennan of Yarram, Victoria, although substantial donations had already been made by Victorian Catholics to the Archbishop Carr Memorial Chapel Fund.

It is a collegiate chapel, designed in the mediaeval style. Its architecture is 'Decorated Gothic', which flourished in fourteenth century Europe. English, French and Spanish influences are evident, and two of the carved gargoyles are of Australian fauna. The stone is from the Barrabool hills and the Hawkesbury district, and the doors are of American oak. Other special features are the high timbered roof and the six wrought iron Gothic lanterns. It has a central aisle, and capacity for 240 people. The Chapel of the Holy Spirit is a Catholic chapel. Only Catholic services may be conducted within it, and only sacred music, whether vocal and instrumental, is permitted...

81:1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

This post is part of the Psalm Sunday meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme.

SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria's memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations throughout our nation's history.

One of Melbourne's iconic buildings, the Shrine draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, to remember, to contemplate, to admire or to visit as tourists. It is a place where all can come to learn about the service and sacrifice of Australian service men and women. The Shrine welcomes all visitors to enjoy their visit to the memorial and respects the cultural diversity of its visitors.

The Shrine of Remembrance was built between July 1928 and November 1934 in remembrance of the 114,000 men and women of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 - 89,100 of them served overseas and 19,000 did not return.

The design for the Shrine of Remembrance was selected by competition among Australian artists and architects. Eighty-three designs were submitted and the winning design was by two Melbourne returned-soldier architects, Philip Hudson and James Wardrop.The inspiration for the external outline came from one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - the mausoleum at Harlicarnassus to Mausolus, King of Caria in South West Asia Minor.

On this Remembrance Day, Lest we Forget, here is an apt extract from Psalm 79:
2. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven,
the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.3. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem;
and there was none to bury them.

This post is part of the Psalm Sunday meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sunday meme,
and also part of the Scenic Sunday meme.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, KEW

The beautiful old Anglican Church on the corner of High St and Pakington St, Kew, is an imposing Victorian building. Begun in 1862 to the design of Charles Barrett, it has been heterogeneously extended over time, and is now of greater interest for elements like the Albert Memorial window of 1864, and for the fine reredos, carved by William Howitt to the design of Laver & Fick.

Holy Trinity has provided the spiritual home to a community of faith that has gathered to worship in a magnificent bluestone building since 1863. The church has been the focus of the Anglican Kew community in many ways over the years, and provides a traditional style of worship, and a contemporary family ministry with services and playgroup.

This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the Psalm Sunday meme.

Here is Bach's "Air on the G String"