Whenever we go anywhere, if there is a cathedral in the town, I insist on visiting it. I am in awe of the architecture in these churches, probably more so after I read what goes into making them and then after reading Ken Follett's novels "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End". If you haven't read either yet, I highly recommend them both.
On the first Sunday we were in Toronto we attended mass at St Michael's. When we first arrived at the cathedral, one could see part of it under renovations (the first picture which is the back end of it). It didn't diminish the impact of the church as you can see from the other pictures above. St. Michael's was actually built by William Thomas and was financed by Irish immigrants. Construction started in 1845 and was finally finished in 1848. The cornerspace has some fragments of a stone pillar of the old Norman York Minster Cathedral in England and some small pieces of the oak roof of that same cathedral. For those of you who didn't know or were curious - St. Michael's is a 19th century interpretation of the Minster's 14th century English Gothic style which is why it doesn't completely look like something from the 14th century. It is home to the world renowned St. Michael’s Choir School which we did get to hear during service. What amazed me was how packed the service was with no special event going on. It has such a welcoming feeling and draws crowds in from all walks of life - yes even the homeless. The choir brings tears to your eyes - they were that good and the choir that sang that day wasn't even the one that tours. We heard afterwards that there is a long line of people on the waiting list to be in this choir. They reminded me of the Vienna Boy's Choir.
The inside was stunning with stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross. I only had one picture of the inside turn out as of course while we were inside for Mass, the heavens opened up in Toronto and one is not allowed to use flash cameras inside. The one picture that did turn out shows the great stained glass “crucifixion” over the sanctuary, which is a masterpiece of the noted French artist Thevenot, and was donated by the Most Reverend Armand-Francois-Marie Count de Charbonnel, second Bishop of Toronto and was installed in 1858. The picture does not do it justice. This cathedral is definitely one thing that I loved about Toronto. There was another cathedral in Toronto - the Angelican one but my ankle wimped out and we never got to it.
