Country Churches of NZ 135. Our Lady of the Snows, Franz Josef

I wrote and illustrated Country Churches of New Zealand. It was published in 2002 by New Holland, Publishers and is still on sale in bookshops. The publishers have kindly agreed to me re-publishing some of the book’s images and descriptions in this blog.

OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS, FRANZ JOSEF

Our Lady of the Snows, Franz Josef, is designed like a Swiss church with a steep-pitched roof to shed snow.

Having been dedicated, opened and blessed on 23 December 1951 it's not old, but it is different. Small and intimate, it has the atmosphere of an appropriate place in which to consign one's fate to one's maker before taking to the mountains.

In the porch are two St. Bernard windows, one depicts crossed skis and a shield containing a loaf of bread and a flask of brandy, the other has a ski pole and ice pick crossed, and a coiled rope.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
.