Many many church goers flocked to this sacred site then later the numbers declined.  Mount St Alphonsus monastery became empty,  pervaded with solitude and changed to a non-denominational wedding venue (according to the signage).
The members of the well know international religious order who built the monastery, came to Singleton in the Hunter as their first port of call in the early days and have recently left the Hunter area possibly for ever.
The large size of the monastery of 1887 makes it unique in Newcastle.
New innovative uses for the building can be imagined if we happened to have a bigger population.
If in doubt, turn it into a wedding venue (or aged care)!  Secular society still likes to hark back to vestiges of a church wedding. Same with Christening - some people like the idea - that's it.  Baptism can become useful with spin offs to do with church schools and the like.

More input on the problem fig trees comes from centuries ago with something for both sides of the debate (while taking liberties with the quote).  The scriptures describe a scene at daybreak on the road outside Bethany.

He (Jesus) was hungry: and, seeing a fig-tree by the road side, he went up to it, and found nothing but leaves on it.  And he said to it, Let no fruit ever grow on thee hereafter; where-upon the fig tree withered away.  His disciples were amazed when they saw it;  How suddenly it has withered away! they said.  Jesus answered them, I promise you, if you have faith, and do not hesitate, you will be able to do more than I have done over the fig-tree; if you say to this mountain, Remove, and be cast into the sea, it will come about.   If you will only believe, every gift you ask for in your prayer will be granted.  (Matthew 21 Knox translation 1945)

On hearing a visiting scholar I delved into the scriptures despite my limited knowledge.  Like Knox,  the visitor,  Fr Nicholas King SJ,  is an Englishman, an elder scholar, Oxford lecturer, translator and witty speaker who will be in Hamilton on Sunday 11 September, with, no doubt, fine commentary and delightful in-depth music to illuminate the Psalms. An hour or two of esoteric contrast to an otherwise grim anniversary.

 I understand the above quote is parable-talk. One explaination refers to this strange, almost unbelievable action of Jesus (the only time he worked a miracle not from kindness of heart) as really a parable in action...the withered tree marks an unforgettable impression and is metaphor for those who didn't get it and bore no fruit or right reponse to the new insights

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New life New hope!
the little old church in Gresford

Anglican Parish of S.Stephen, Adamstown

Religion aside, one day we will probably value the heritage in community buildings such as this.  Very good, bad or indifferent they hold the story of lives, community effort, history and craftsmanship.

  A sacred space and multiple use? Yea, what does the future hold? Upkeep is costly. Iconoclasts are never too far away.   These words are not targeting this particular church but the general situation. 

E-waste recycling yesterday.  The parking lot was like a moto-cross circut and we were 'flagged' into the 'pits' and surrounded and the drop-off was accomplished in record time.
E-thics. What leads us to participate in recycling? Why have any quarms at all about waste?  It is much easier to ignore these issues.
As a young parent I tried to take responsibility around matters of right and wrong, but, good grief, children learn from our example and from everything our community happens to value.
Now that I am older it becomes more of a mystery how children learn. Is there a role for formal education surrounding, dare I say, morality? And that includes education in all its guises.  How much guidance of children is good guidance? What are negative influences? Mentoring is a buzz word. Success equals morality?
Schools have new ethics classes to help fill a gap and, I guess, the subject will be suitably tailored for youngsters. Or is that dummed down? I've heard of experiential learning.
Get with it! Everything is relative. 
The increase in suicide in the young of this generation has a  number of causes. The glorious shift to individualism and doing your own thing is a two edged sword. There is no going back.
I imagine this overall trend provokes fundamentalist reactions, even violence, amongst those who don't want to go there...yet. 
Well, I suppose I will go and empty the recyle bin now.

Baptismal Font.
Das music. We may sing about living waters but with  J S Bach it was a different story. He was familiar with church surroundings such as this, and week after week he created a wealth of  music for liturgies. Were the congregations left stunned by his magic? Just imagine if the music had been discouraged by fundamentalists.
For us, it is just too good to be true, to be able to experience, at will, the unconditional gift of his music. And not only church music.
This week, Bach's Saint Matthew Passion came to us in a performance from Europe, very stylish, perfect and original German language for that special edge from the soloists all from ABC Classic FM and their search for Australia's most popular musical work.

 

On 17th October, Mary Mackillop will become the country's first saint. This little shrine is in the church in the suburb of Waratah.

A message from the Prime Minister refers to Mary as ...a courageous woman of willing spirit and deep faith, who from a modest background and with few resources, changed...lives...education and social justice (were foremost concerns).

While I might struggle with some of the spiritual aspects surrounding sainthood, I have due respect for her life well lived, and enjoy the commemoration, reactionary and counter-cultural as it is and how it flies in the face of sceptics, rationalists and most of all unromantics. 

Well, it's Sunday isn't it?
Timeless culture clothes a modern redeemer. A Koori inspired makeover of a traditional pius object.

Sainthood is powering ahead for Mary MacKillop and will be a first for this country.
In North Sydney, a chapel with her tomb has become a centre dedicated to her cause. A pink rose bearing her name was among the merchandising in an area set aside for a museum, cafe and shop.
Another glimps into the life of the Sisters of Saint Joseph is lighthearted and depicts them as a musical trio.

In the Hunter valley, the 'brown' sisters of Saint Joseph (of Mary MacKillop) were probably less numerous than the Lochinvar Sisters of Saint Joseph who had grown along different lines from after their shared beginnings as I understand.

Did the 'brown' sisters run schools that were achievement 'driven' which I heard was very important in some schools. Achievement and high expectations are hard wired in many people but it is not an aspect that I recall about my schooling and hence continue to find it a confusing issue.

The entrance to the Museum and facilities.

No doubt the bells will toll as a result of the tsunami. Shown is the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Glendenning, Western Sydney.
The Pacific Island communities of Tongans and Samoans are numerous and from Australia they financially and otherwise support their extended families back in the islands.
This grand church was opened last year by King George Tupou V of Tonga amid traditional colour. He was accompanied by Queen Mother Halaevalu Mata'aho and younger bro crown Prince Tupouto'a Lavaka. (SMH Oct 08)

This was no 'dark night of the soul'. No way. Once, as a guest at World Youth Day this young man found this country appealing and has returned here to seek to stay longer.
He was happy among former acquaintances and the crowd at a trivia night fund-raiser for the next WYD in Madrid and for funds for the bushfire appeal.
Night theme. Another idea was that of the Newcastle Knights League team, but the photo could be anywhere.
This is blog post number 1019!

The Great Hall at the University of Newcastle was open for business at the weekend. Academic and cultural events are seen in this centre opened in 1973 and built as a result of a public appeal. A tapestry adorns the wall and a pipe organ is both ornamental and is a fitting instrument for symbolic rituals.
I entered the hall. What was blazoned across the stage? Keep Watching the Ministry.....that you fulfill it.
Very apt but this line is from the Scriptures.
Had Art, Science and Religion been transformed into a meta-trinity? Packaged into an educational commodity of great potential. The names of subjects crossed my mind. Towards Nirvana and Capital Raising; The Tao of Management, Gender studies and the Papacy; Symbolic Order and Opus Dei; Extatic Levitation and Civil Engineering. I had vaguely heard of the end of history or was it.... the end of knowledge?
I realized the hall was full of chatty folk and children who were eating their packed lunches. No, this was really a church conference using the hall and taking their lunch break.

An avenue of trees leads to the small church of Saint James in Morpeth 1837.
Edward Close ( of Closebourne, see previous post) promised that if he survived the Spanish Peninsular War he would build a church as an act of thanksgiving. Rightly or wrongly.
(The pulpit is a replica of the thirteenth century lectern in Beaulieu Abbey where Tyrrell had served before his appointment to the Newcastle diocese.)
I noticed a shell motif in the church and the scallop shell of Saint James is associated with the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela which ends at the large ornate cathedral of Saint James (the antithesis of that at Morpeth) in which, I read, is the Botafumeiro - a hugh cencer that dispenses thick clouds of incense as it swings. (Maybe it rivals Faultcults Pendulum mentioned here recently). The Botafumeiro is operated by a pulley and manpower and takes 40 kg of charcoal and incense and swings almost to the roof of the transept reaching speeds of 60 km/h !

Morpeth and Spain, our mind has the power to make leaps and bounds but for how long? A new type of search engine - for want of a better word, Wolfram Alpha, aims to make all knowledge immediately accessible to everyone in a new cross-referenced form - as I understand. A wonderful advance but will it spoil all the fun of the chase?

The Green Cathedral. With traces of strewn rose petals. A sacred space beautifully set among the tall trees with a vista beyond the altar to the lake.
Survivor comes to mind and after all, this cathedral is touted as a Wedding venue! Or imagine flaming torches illuminating strange midnight rituals.
This setting is at Tiona and was founded in 1923 and the story relates to the Mormon Faith.
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons (USA) has direct descendents living north of Newcastle in Tuncurry-Foster. The great-great grandson and 300 direct descendents are in Australia (and have been described on Radio National interview).
In the early days of white settlement their forefathers built a church at Tuncurry and at Tiona a sacred place beside the Wallis Lakes in an unusual palm grove where church reunions and children's camps would gather.
(Nowdays the nice busy Camping and Caravan Park, surrounding the Green Cathedral, is a business that retains no links with church. Several buildings from the early days remain there.)
The local descendents are not united with the church in Utah and have moved into offshoots of the faith. Family and genealogy are very significant to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in Utah and hence they see the descendents as important and have notions of a Holy Grail bloodline which is revealed in more detail on Radio National (ABC) programs at these sites here and here.
Many people are probably entertained by the story Big Love, from HBO, on SBS TV, if they can suspend their disbelief in this far fetched tale of polygamy, which is very well cast (although is still well bested by Angels in America). The Mormon church (Utah) has distanced itself from the show and renounced polygamy over a century ago.

To other waters and lacrimosa or tearfulness. On Anzac Day a view of Wallsend Cemetry while the drama of Mozart's Requem sounded nearby (on the car radio) ...lacrimosa...lacrimosa...on that day of teaful wonder, when the tomb is rent asunder...Dies irae..(abc classic fm radio)
Our relative is buried there and on this anniversary, flowers were placed there, grown from a cutting, taken long ago, from her garden.

The Slit Lamp uses a high density light source to examine the eye (yes) for any disease processes. Check-ups are recommended.
A visit to the optometrist inclues a sight test using the well know Snellens chart with square shaped letters all, by and large, confined to the English language.

Things medical and the media discuss AIDS, its prevention and life with AIDS. It is a complex topic and talk of a ban on condoms is very strange to hear about when the issues are conflated and boast unusual conclusions. Preventative measures and health promotion is a key to the tragedy. Church spokespersons have their say on the topic but the church community always holds a wide range of beliefs, naturally enough, no two people ever think the same although the discernment of prevailing wisdom is a tenet.

South Korea. Day trips were popular with Koreans when they went walking in the National Parks or to remote old Buddhist shrines which had extensive woods and prayer halls and a wealth of sculptures, images and hand crafted works to surprise the visitor. The monk's clothing was distinctive particularly in another style in grey worn too by the women who also adopted baldness.
On a rocky hill-top a group of Buddhist monks asked for a photo with a tourist.

From the artist David Wright and the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Sydney.
Creation is glowing.

Seen riding in my suburb yesterday were two young men. Is it possible these two are present day missionaries making an admirable effort and representing a religion with origins in North America?

Black Swans are visiting Lake Macquarie these days.
All is not black and white for the Christian calendar has certain idiosyncracies and February 14th has links with Valentine as well as Cyril and Methodius.

Saints Cyril and Methodius were brothers who became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples a long time ago in the 9th century. Cyril was into the humanities and by and large is credited with devising an alphabet which became the basis for the Cyrillic alphabet used now in Russia and elsewhere. During his ventures he translated the sacred texts to use in the local churches.
The story of Cyril and Methodius involved both the Eastern and the Roman churches and as a result the saints are recognized far and wide.