It was a sunny day on Saturday and there was work being done on the continual restoration of the former German Roman Catholic parish of St. Liborius. I know many readers and former parishioners are upset about its current use as a skate park and arts center, but my continued opinion is that it is…
Tag: St. Liborius Church
Death of St. Joseph, Calvary Mausoleum, Revisited
I took another look at the sculpture group from St. Liborius, which was moved from the church when it closed to the mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery. It is framed by Modernist windows by Emil Frei, which is fitting as it was once backlit by earlier stained glass by the same family when it was in…
St. Liborius, Interior, Revisited
Easily the posts that have elicited the strongest emotions from my readers have been the ones concerning St. Liborius, which was converted into a skate park after the previous owners had begun to let the building slip into property tax default. I recently made a return visit, and there are several changes in process at…
St. Liborius, September 2018
I know many of my readers are not thrilled with the current owners of St. Liborius, but I do want everyone to consider what happens to buildings with huge maintenance expenses that are abandoned. Taken for example the rectory, which is not owned by the same people as the church building. It is rapidly falling…
St. Liborius, Early January 2017
The light was wonderful on Saturday, so I snapped some photos of St. Liborius, one of my favorite churches in St. Louis. I actually like the contrast of brick and stone better than if it were completely cut stone.
A Side Altar from St. Liborius, Calvary Cemetery
Update: I photographed and identified this group in May of 2020. The sculpture group I found long ago in Calvary Cemetery’s mausoleum came from one of the transept altars, as can be seen below. Sadly, that altar, or what is left of it, is largely destroyed as of 2012.
St. Liborius High Altar Reredos, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Eureka
We finally got into Sacred Heart out in Eureka, which has long been known for being the new home of many of the sculptures from the old St. Liborius in St. Louis Place. The new priest graciously let us look around and drew our attention to the Crucifixion sculpture group from the high altar. It…
St. Liborius, Before the Completion of the Spire
Valued reader Bob Shea also provided this intriguing photograph of St. Liborius before its iconic, and now truncated central spire was built. I also am interested in how rural the neighborhood looks in the background. This is probably sometime in the 1880s. See the church as its looks now here.
St. Liborius Angel?
Update: Most likely not, as we later were able to view the sculptures in Eureka. It’s been long said that many of the sculptures from St. Liborius in St. Louis Place ended up at Sacred Heart in Eureka. I had the opportunity to get inside, but I didn’t really see any thing that jumped out…
Rarely Seen Views, St. Liborius
Perhaps as enjoyable as viewing the interior of the church was the chance to step into the private, intimate spaces behind the scenes of the church. For example, the angles created by the exterior of the apse as it butted up against the bridge to the rectory, or the steps that descend down into the…