Whilst taking photos of the other day from Kirra Point Lookout, my camera happened upon an old church building, sitting atop a hill in Coolangatta.
Camera poised, I took a closer look.
Well, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Coolangatta may not compare to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, but by the standards of this area, it really is a magnificent church building.
The foundation stone was laid on Easter Monday of 1925, with the first mass in the completed church held on January 2nd, 1927, making the church eighty-five years old.
Being married to a Catholic for many years has taught me that any indecipherable words, relating to anything Catholic, will no doubt be Latin. “HIC EST DOMUS DEI” (which you will see above the doorway here), I have discovered, translates to “This is the House of God”.
Apparently the church is in need of funds for repairs to the building. Excuse me for possibly sounding cynical, but I’m quite sure that if the local parishioners cannot come up with the required funds, head office may be able to chip in a dollar or two.
And so they should. A building as grand as this deserves to be cared for. If I hear of any upcoming fundraising events, I will make a point of attending, to help this worthy cause. Perhaps I should encourage my husband to attend a few masses at this church, just to help their fund-raising along. Every little bit helps.
Taking photos of the church high up on the hill, from the position of standing down on street level, really gives the illusion of the church scraping the sky, and just look at the colour of the sky!
Have you ever seen any more brilliant a sky-blue than in these photos? It was blinding in beauty! A gift from God, you might say.
Just down the hill and around the corner is another beautiful Olde House of God, this time St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
Being a Protestant myself, I felt more of a personal connection to this church. It has a wonderful welcoming “feel” to it, and is kept in the most immaculate condition.
The plaque on the side wall of the church tells us that the foundation stone was laid on October 31st, 1937, making the church seventy-five years of age this year. We can all only hope that we are in such a good state of repair when we reach the age of seventy-five!
I really liked the arched windows around the building. Some of the windows were stained in pastel colours, but the sunlight would not allow me to take a successful photo of those. Perhaps that would be a photo for a day with less brilliant sunshine.
Although the old buildings in my area of Australia are few and far between, I have really enjoyed taking photos of, and learning something about, the history of the old buildings around me.
I do hope you have enjoyed visiting these churches with me. 🙂
In My World 