Happy New Year and Most Popular of 2011

MAY EVERYONE HAVE a happy new year, in this the year of Our Lord 2012, and may this year be one of peace, prosperity, and joy.

In remembrance of the year past, here are some of the most popular postings and photographs from this website during 2010:



This is billboard, advertising the Latin Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory, showing a monstrance on the left, and the shield of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest on the right. The Flickr photo-sharing website, which hosts most of my photos, tells me that many people view this image every day. I'm not sure that I'd call this my best photo of the year, since I hurredly took it while driving, but it is certainly the most viewed.  My second-most viewed image is of the monstrance itself:



This fine piece of liturgical art was made for the church itself. A crop of this photo is seen on the billboard above.



A mosaic of the Crucifixion of Our Lord, at Resurrection Cemetery, in Shrewsbury, Missouri. The following mosaic of Our Lady is located nearby:





A bridge and railroad tracks in the snow, at Carondelet Park, in Saint Louis, Missouri.

A Snowy Night in Saint Louis shows photos that I took on one bright night in the snow. It was so rare and beautiful that I was up until past 4 o'clock in the morning snapping photos. Several of the photos I took that night, as well as more than a hundred others taken at other times and places will be featured — full resolution and optimized for print — in a forthcoming book to be published by Reedy Press.



Clifton Heights Park, in Saint Louis, at dusk.



Cardinal Burke, with seminarians, at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory.

Half a Billion is an article which discussed the architecture and philosophy behind the Gateway Arch, the great symbol of the City of Saint Louis, which is one on the most-visited tourist attractions in the world. The title of the article is the estimated cost of renovating and expanding the Arch grounds, which intends to correct some of the flaws of its existing unrelenting Modernist design.



I didn't take this photo of Archbishop Ritter, but it was one of the most popular on this website. Here His Grace leaves for Rome on an aircraft named "Star of Rome of the West"; he came back a Cardinal.

A Warning to Schools that are "Catholic In Name Only" sounds the alarm that the Federal Government now arrogantly decides for itself which schools are Catholic and which are merely Catholic in name only. The secularization of our schools must reverse.



Detail of a monument, at Calvary Cemetery, in Saint Louis.





Palm Sunday procession at the Oratory.



Mosaic at Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Church, in Crestwood, Missouri.



Young Conservation Area, in Jefferson County, Missouri. Photo taken by the light of the full moon. I've been inspired to take photographs at night ever since I've seen these photos of Cambridge University.



Forest Park at night.



Flora and fauna are always popular. See the posts Spring Flowers at Shaw's Garden, Spring Wildflowers, Mushrooms and Moss, and Birds, Beasts, and Bugs.



















The articles Photos of Fog and Morning Fog shows pictures taken while enveloped by mist. Fog obscures our sight, and so is a natural symbol of mystery and divinity. Fog is a good photographic subject: by breaking the rules of Photographic Modernism, fog forces the artist to fall back on the older and more delicate principles of Pictorialism.







Tower Rock, located in the Mississippi River.



Dawn over the Meramec River.



Archbishop Carlson at the Oratory.



Sculpted bust of Saint Francis de Sales, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.



Altar at Saint Peter Church, in Jefferson City, Missouri. This photograph has a muted color inspired by the old Autochrome process, the first practical method of color photography. See my posting Autochrome for more attempted examples of recreating the subtle color used by this French process . If you are technically minded and interested in this process, see my article Using ICC Profiles for Creative Color Control, which is located on my photography blog, The Refracted Light.



I was trained in the sciences, so I occasionally like to write on the subject. See Unsolved Problems and Higgs Boson Not Found. I got a degree in physics, but a close second interest of mine was theology; as a young man, I also wanted to be an architect and design cathedrals (and secretly I still do)! See my article Build Your Own Gothic Cathedral and New Geometric Patterned Art.

My interest in ecclesiastical architecture led me to dig more deeply into art theory. The subject of Catholic Art Theory is problematical, because not too much magisterial guidance is available, that is, we don't have too many authoritative sources; however, the great Catholic arts tradition speaks for itself, and as these churches and works of art were commissioned by our bishops, this tradition is authoritatively magisterial. There are a number of ancient and more modern philosophical works that proved to be greatly influential on this tradition. Also see the article Catholic Art, which goes into some detail about the great Tradition. Also see the article On the Sublime, which describes a very important idea in the arts, which tends to be sadly neglected or confused these days.

Altar at Saint Elizabeth Church, in Marine, Illinois.



Stained glass window at Saint Nicholas Roman Church, in Pocahontas, Illinois.

Saint Paul Church, in Highland, Illinois.



Silence! At the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.



Immaculate Conception, in Augusta, Missouri.



Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, at Saint Joseph Church, in Apple Creek, Missouri.



Holy Cross, in Cuba, Missouri.

Many of my readers come to this website come for the church photos. These posts proved popular this past year:

Photos of Saint Maurus Church, in Biehle, Missouri
Photos of Saint Joseph Church, in Highland, Missouri
Some Photos of Saint Mary's Church, in Alton, Illinois
Photos of Saint Elizabeth Church, in Marine, Illinois
Photos of Saint Joseph Church, in Louisiana, Missouri

And sadly, this posting, from a few days ago:

Saint Mary's Church, in Brussels, Illinois, Destroyed by Fire

Now as it so happens I've taken photos of many more churches this past year but have been too busy/lazy to post them. Perhaps during these upcoming cold days of winter I'll work on them.