Sovereign Grace & Blue Monday

On Ina Rd. in NW Tucson AZ is a church I have passed many, many times.  I finally stopped yesterday to get some photos of this adobe/mission style church. Their facebook page says they are a Bible-centered Christian church.  Joining today's InSPIREd Sunday.  Join Beth & Sally for this wonderful meme!You will see lots of beautiful churches from around the world.  Thanks to the two of you!

There didn't appear to be a bell in the bell tower.

Since the sky is SOOO blue in my church shots, I decided to also join in again with Blue Monday, another awesome meme by another Sally.  Here are some more "blues":

2006 at Nags Head NC

With Mom 2006 Manteo NC

Sailing with my daughter in Southport, NC on my brother's sailboat about 1996

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church

This church captured my attention as we drove by one day.  We had never been down that stretch of road before so had never seen the church.  I went back a few days later to get pictures.  This beautiful church is my offering for this weeks InSPIREd Sunday.  Thanks Beth & Sally for this great meme!

For Memorial Day I want to remind everyone to honor our fallen veterans, even if only in your heart tomorrow...their sacrifices are great because they gave all they had to give.  God bless their families, and may this country always be a God fearing, free nation!

A Tucson Assembly of God

For InSPIREd Sunday, hosted by Beth & Sally, I would like to share one of the churches on the NW side of Tucson:

Oracle Union Church

On our way back out of town (Oracle) yesterday we passed this wonderful little stone church.  I am not sure of the denomination, but I asked to turn around so I could get some pictures to share. Joining InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally.  For more great churches from around the world, click HERE.

Catholic Church N of Tucson

For Beth and Sally's InSPIREd Sunday, I present a lovely church we saw on an afternoon drive recently...

This is Santa Catalina Catholic Church located at the base of the Santa Catalina mountains northwest of Tucson, AZ

St. Martin's

Another post from our Texas years...this is St. Martin's church for InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally.  Click the LINK to enjoy other beautiful churches from all over the world, thanks to these two ladies!  St. Martin's is listed as "The World's Smallest Catholic Church" and is located outside Warrenton, TX on rte. 237.

The Church began in 1888 as a mission of St. John the Baptist Church of Fayetteville, eight miles to the west.  It was used for about 27 years for weddings, funerals, and an occasional mass.

 Today the area of Warrenton and Round Top hosts the largest Antique Fair west of the Mississippi in the fall, and guests come from all over the country to enjoy the East Texas ambiance and great antique finds.  Round Top is also home to world-class music institute The International Festival-Institute (see my latest post HERE).  The church is open for viewing with a registration book and donation box near the door.  Descendants of the 60+ people buried in the cemetery still maintain the grounds and the church. In order to keep its active status as a Catholic Church, a memorial service is held annually in the church on All Soul's Day, Nov. 11.

St. Ann's Catholic Church

In Tubac, AZ is St. Ann's, built in 1929.  It was however built on the foundations of the 1767 Santa Gertrudis de Tubac which in its turn had replaced the original church built there by Father Kino and destroyed in the uprising of the Tohono O'Odham which largely razed Tubac itself.

We were there right before dusk and did not go in, though I understand it it usually open.

This flikr photo shows the interior.

The tile street sign features the church.

Joining InSPIREd Sunday with thanks to Beth and Sally!

My Friday Five and InSPIREd Sunday

Joining in with Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five. Thanks Tanya for this fun meme!

1. For InSPIRED Sunday I would like to share the mission at Old Tucson.  This is not the original building because that one was destroyed by fire.  It is also not really a real church, but one built for use in many movies filmed at Old Tucson Studios.  I did attend a service there once, though, in the old church before it burned...our good friends were married there.  I carried the wedding cake I made for them over Gates Pass and down to Old Tucson.  To see a post about Old Tucson, which is a tourist destination, click HERE.   And here is the church...

2.  I also wanted to say something that relates to the Childcraft books I shared before.  Childcraft were made by World Book Encyclopaedias, and I discovered through your comments that some people had amazing memories of them, but others had never heard of the books.  All I can say is, if you didn't have a set as a child, you were really missing something.  My Great Aunt Lena was a school teacher, and she also sold World Books.  It was through her that we got our set of encyclopaedias and also the Childcraft set.  There was something else, and it was probably a gift for buying the set, but I remember this poster with great fondness .  We had it on one of our bedroom walls for many years and I used to love to look at all the details.  Nothing represents Americana better.

3. Another trip down memory lane this week was seeing Kristin of Texas's (onceuponaramblingblog HERE) post about The International Festival Institute (called Festival Hill).  It is located in Round Top, Texas, and it was where I worked at Administrative Assistant to James Dick for five wonderful years.  A summer musical festival is held there for the upper crust of music students, as well as  monthly concerts during the year, and wonderful forums on arts and history.  Festival Hill is a magical place, and  I have so many amazing memories.  I also miss my many great friends from Round Top.  I have to share this youtube video with you that shows the breath-taking Festival Concert Hall.  Please click on the link....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnIP_GTVGaI

4. I have been reading The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone.  I read it once before in my early 20s.  I'd almost forgotten what a wonderful writer he was!  I met him once at a book signing where he was kind enough to sign my old copy of The President's Lady instead of the new book he was there to promote.  The Greek Treasure is about Heinrich Schliemann and his young Greek wife, Sophia who excavated and discovered the real Troy of Homer, and found Priam's treasure.  It has been a thrill to live in that world again, and discover Troy along with them...

Heinrich Schliemann was born on January 6th, 1822 as son of a Protestant minister in Neubukow / Mecklenburg (Germany). He described his life in the autobiography »Heinrich Schliemann's Selbstbiographie« (Autobiography of Heinrich Schliemann). On December 26th, 1890 he died after an ear surgery in Naples.
In 1870 he married the 18 year old Greek girl Sophia Engastromenos. On the photo above she wears the famous gold jewelry from the so-called »Treasure of Priam«, which Heinrich Schliemann had discovered in Troy.
The couple had two children, Andromache (1871-1962) and Agamemnon (1878-1954).

My book reviews are generally found on my sidebar but I reserved this one for my Friday Five.

5. My fifth random is to share some of the wonderful sky views of S Arizona I have taken photos of this month.  Our cloudless blue skies have been slow in arriving this season.  We even had a freak Autumn thunder storm two weeks ago:

The Santa Catalina mountains from my house

Tumacacori

I have been wanting to go to this old mission since before we even moved here.  We finally got to see it a few weekends ago.  Built in 1691 by Father Kino (who also built San Xavier Mission, see it HERE) for the Tohono O'Odham people, this lovely little chapel is located near the Patagonia Mountains and the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona.  I will be linking with InSPIRED Sunday, and also Bird d'Pot and Wild Bird Wednesday with this post.  It is a stunningly beautiful mission with a rich history and if you want to know more, go HERE.

The Visitor Center at the Mission.

Tumacacori Mission pronounced (Too-muh-kä'-ko-ree)

No one knows what Tumacacori means...it was a Tohono O'Odham word translated into Spanish for Father Kino when he asked the native peoples what the name of the place was.  No one is sure what was actually being said.

The interior took my breath away.  A recording of male voices, like one would hear in a Catholic church, was softly coming from above as we entered.  The photo below shows how the mission would have looked in it's earlier days, but I loved the "ruins."

A lovely little swallow was living in the walls of the inside of the mission.  I am having a little trouble with the id.  It looks more like a cave swallow than a barn swallow to me. (Maybe a bank swallow?) Update:  Thanks to Phil Slade for indicating this is a cave swallow.

Once stuccoed adobe brick...slowly deteriorating.

There was a pear tree with fruit on it in the gardens behind the Visitor Center. We had arrived almost at closing but the Ranger allowed us to have a look around.  We were so grateful for the time we had.  It was a moving experience.

 

The Gardens behind the Visitor Center.

A nice touch for the bird lovers.