This is a picture of Elder Bently taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him. Actually, his companion, Elder Johnson, was taking a picture of the two of us taking a picture of each other. This is what we do in our spare time while waiting for President Slovacek to finish his interviews.
Last Saturday, Marv, Matt and I drove to Kutna Hora to visit a couple of sites. The first one, Kostnice, would be perfect for a Halloween party. In English, it's called The Bone Church, because it's decorated in hundreds of thousands of human bones. Below is a bin of bones. There are 3 other bins like this one in the church. Those are real skulls you're looking at!
Above Matt's head, the foyer is decorated in human bones. The chandelier in the next picture is made out of every bone in the human body. Evidently, some monk centuries ago got the bright idea to clean up all the bones from the surrounding graveyard, and decorate the church with them. My question is, wasn't there a sane voice in the group of monks? Did it not occur to ANYONE that this might not be such a good idea?? Who wakes up in the middle of the night and says, "Yes! Of course! We need to decorate the church in bones!" ??
Another site we visited in Kutna Hora was St. Barbara's Cathedral. It is a beautiful place that was built in the 1400's and was added onto throughout the centuries. The paintings and murals are masterful.
Usually Cathedrals bother me with their opulence; but this one has a different spirit. I was impressed by their devotion to the Lord, which is shown through their works of art.
Elder Johnson in the foreground is from Salt Lake City, as is Elder Bently.
2 comments:
That bone church is really really creepy.
Otherwise, it is so beautiful over there. All the buildings and art and history!
I love your blog.
Ellen, your comment: "I think he puts something else on it, but I quit listening to him after he mentioned the ketchup" made me laugh out loud. That is just a vintage Ellen comment. Those lucky missionaries!!
Kathy
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