St. Francis DeSales Cathedral

Welcome - St. Francis De Sales Cathedral Parish

2235 First Street, Baker City - OREGON 97814

Tel:541-523-4521    Fax:541-523-8362

Parish E-Mail: sfc@uci.net   Fr Julian: julianmlt@uci.net

Check a new feature: PHOTO OF THE WEEK (further down, after the recent updates.) All photos are by Father Julian.

                                       RECENT UPDATES______________________

2010 Updates

(January 18) Quail and deer from Richland (further down)

2009 Updates

(December 26) 2009 Christmas scenes in the Cathedral and around the parish (further down)

(December 15) Children's Choir at Burrito Breahfast (in "Photo Album")

(December 2) Oh dear! More deer.... from Halfway! (further down)

(November 5) More water color paintings by Fr Julian (further down)

(November 3) Turkey and Pie Dinner photos (in "Photo Album")

(October 22) Photos of the Powell Butte Diocesan Center (in "Photo Album")

(October 6) Photos of the Children's Memorial blessing (in "Photo Album")

(October 6) Photos of the Altar Society Tea and Fashion Show (in "Photo Album")

(September 30) Photo of the Children's Memorial (further down - Photo of the week)

(September 16) Photos form the annual parish picnic, included a group parish photo

                                         (in "Photo Album" link)

(August 29) Photosabove Baker City and the Cathedral (further down)

(August 29) The new Confessional being constructed ( in "The Cathedral" link)

(August 23) 80 new scenic photos of the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake

                                and other animals and curiosities met along the way (further down)

(August 8) New summer photos and some watercolor projects by Fr Julian ( further down)

(July 8) Newly found paintings of Sr Rigoberta and Sr Rose de Lima (in "Our Communtiy" link)

(June 15) New historical photos from Esther Monk (in "Parish History" link)

(June 14) Ordination in the Cathedral on May 22, 2009 (in "Cathedral Events")

(May 29) Photos from the Stations around Town held April 1 (in "Photo Album")

(May 2) First Holy Communion photo (in "Cathedral Events")

(April 27) Photos from Mount Angel and Tulip Farm (further down)

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Photo of the Week

I came a cross a family of quaint quail in Richland on January 16, and I share some photos I took of them, even though they were trying to run away from me, not knowing that I was only hunting them with my camera...some deer were also in the vicinity, as well as three turkeys.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Christmas in the Cathedral and around the parish

These are some photos I took of the Cathedral, decorated for Christmas, as well as the Nativity. You can also see two photos of decorations of the Boruch family (9th Drive, Baker City,) parishioners of ours, who won first prize in the home decorating competition held in our community.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Oh dear! More deer from Halfway

Furry and Feathered friends

Some scenes from the northeast of Oregon, including a blue heron, some deer and a harvest moon.

Fall Foliage

Someone told me that these are leaves of a chestnut tree, See how beautifully they turned their colors in early October in Baker City.

(click to enlarge and enjoy)

Over Baker City

On Saturday August 29, I had the opportunity to fly over Baker City and some neighboring towns with parishioner and friend Steve Ellis. In a one hour flight, we were able to fly over the Cathedral, the entire town of Baker City, through the Powder River gorge towards Halfway, along the south side of the Wallowa Mountains, passing by North Powder, the Elkhorns, Haines and back home. I share with you some of the photos I took on this historic and memorable flight. The first photos shows the pilot and his passenger after a safe landing, then Halfway, North Powder and Haines, and the rest is over Baker City and quite a few above our Cathedral. Enjoy!

(click on each to enlarge)

Summer photos by Fr Julian - the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake

These are some of the photos I took while visiting the Oregon coast and Crater Lake in mid-August 2009. These are 40 predominantly scenic shots. The second group of 40 photos (further down) contain other photos of animals and other curiosities encountered along the route.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

More summer photos

These are some more miscellaneaous photos I took along my trip to the Oregon coast, encountering various animals and other curiosities. Enjoy them and praise the Lord for the beauty He gives us when we least expect it.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Summer scenes from around Eastern Oregon

These are some photos taken by Fr Julian during the summer months of 2009, including some flowers close-ups and a tremendous graceful gliding feat of a blue heron in the Powder River.

Watercolors by Fr Julian

Further down you will see a selection of watercolor paintings I did since I picked up another hobby of watercoloring this past July. They represent various scenes from Oregon and Malta, besides other local subjects, abstracts, and two Nativity scenes I created for my Christmas cards.

(click on each to enlarge)

 

Who still says God doesn't exist?

During our annual Retreat at Mount Angel, I was able to take a few more photos to share with you. The first few are of the Abbey Church, inside and outside, plus a few Icons they have displayed around the Abbey.

The rest is a spectacular display of God's beauty in the forms of sparrows, finches, warblers and hummingbirds, plus a colorful heaven of tulips at the Monitor Wooden Shoe Tulip farm. Enjoy!

(click on each thumbprint to enlarge)

Holy Week and Easter at the Cathedral

These are some photos of the decorated Cathedral, the first one on Holy Thursday, the others on Easter Sunday. The last one shows the team that helped in the decorating with flowers and other decorative items. From left to right are: Claire Duncan, Catalina Corona, Judy Schroeder, Tay Mohr and Marilyn Bloom. Thanks also to all those who brought flowers for the altar.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Spring 2009 photos

I share with you a new set of photos I took during March, from the Owyhee River to some elk grazing in Halfway, from a newborn cow at the Colton ranch to swans flying away in the Baker Valley, from snow geese passing over Vale to new lambs in Pilot Rock, from antelope near Brothers on Route 20 to rocky formations in the John Day Fossil Beds Monument.

All photos by Father Julian.

(click on each to enlarge and enjoy)

Who says God doesn't exist?

Whoever says that God does not exist, encourage them to see some of these photos, and let them decide for themselves. Between Wednesday January 14 and Friday January 16, a blanket of fog covered the entire Baker Valley, and frost started to form on trees, branches and anything that was exposed. A winter wonderland slowly but surely descended on the entire area. These are some pictures I took in my free time, covering every corner and every field in Baker County to capture the best shot and find the best angle. After taking 400 photos, I chose the very, very best for you to admire here. These are just 50 of the best, but the other 350 photos are just as beautiful. There is no order in which these are pasted - I have a few around the Cathedral, in the local Golf Course and out in the country, besides some close-ups of frosted branches.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

 

Statues in the Rectory attic

Attics and basements are usually ignored and mistreated. In the Rectory attic we store all the decorations for Christmas and other items we don't usually use regularly. In one of the rooms there is an altar, which I was told was used by one of our past Bishops to say private Mass. It is not used anymore, but a few statues and crucifixes are placed on top of the altar, and on an occasional morning with a colorful sunrise, I usually go up there and see something like this. Enjoy these inspirational photos, which I took on the early morning of January 10, 2009. (click on each photo to enlarge)

More Scenes from around the Cathedral + Nativity Play

Here are some scenes from around the Cathedral at Christmas time, including 4 photos of the Nativity play presented by our pre-school children. You will some photos with icicles framing our Cathedral, and a hand made paper-mache presepio from Malta.

All photos by Fr Julian....more to come soon.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Winter and Christmas around Baker City

These are some scenes of the neighborhood of Baker County during the harsh December we all experienced this year, 2008.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

A Rainbow from heaven

On Saturday October 4th, the feast of St Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of nature, as I was driving towards my mission church in North Powder, a beautiful rainbow appeared after a rain storm, and here are some pictures I was able to take within 10 minutes. It was the sharpest rainbow I've ever seen, especially made more striking with the dark gray sky behind it.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

 

Photos from the Northwest country roads and rivers

In early August I took a brief trip to take some more photos to share with you. There is no particular order in these photos. Just click and enjoy. They were taken in Eastern Washington, around Pend Oreille Lake in Sandpoint, along the Mission and Bitterroot mountains in Montana, along the Lochsa river in Idaho, through the Lolo pass, in south-eastern Washington, through the Rattlesanke grade, some horses, some fish in an aquarium, a sunflower farm, some bucks' heads in country stores, and wherever the opportunity for a scenic photo presented itself to me.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Summer photos from around Baker County

As I drive around to my mission churches, I always come across nature scenes at their very best. Of course you always have to be on the lookout for the unexpected and the unpredictable, like swallowtail butterflies, bleeding hearts, lupines growing in the wild and other flowers that reflect God's beauty when you look up close.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Photos from my homeland, Malta

While visiting my family in Malta this past May, I was able to take a few photos (around 1352) and here I share with you a few of them, covering flowers, street scenes, some churches, religious artwork and other shots that show the colorful aspect of this small island, rich in history and religious culture.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Spring photos from Eastern Oregon

As I drive by to my missions and around the parish and for meetings, I'm always on the lookout for anything that speaks of nature. Enjoy these recently taken photos of geese and goslins, llamas and a northern harrier, elk, quarter horses and their colts as well as yellow-headed blackbirds.

To Mount Angel and back

As is customary, the priests of the Baker Diocese gather each year in Mount Angel Abbey and Retreat house. These pictures show some of my memories I captured on film during this week, including two of the Cathedral as it was decorated on the weekend of March 29-30.

(click on each photo to enlarge)

Winter scenes around Eastern Oregon

With the abundant snow we received since November, Eastern Oregon has turned into a winter wonderland. Here are some scenes from around our area, showing wild-life, deer and bald-eagles, cattle and horses, and simply spectacular scenery all around. Of course it always helps if you're carrying the camera with you, and you are patient enough to wait for the right shot!

(Photos by Fr Julian - click to enlarge)

Christmas Day while driving to my Missions

These are some winter scenes I came across while driving to my mission Churches in North Powder and Halfway on Christmas Day -

a true gift from God which comes unwrapped but with a lot of Love.

Occasionally we have some special visitors around our county, and these are some photos I took on Sunday March 11 of a beautiful bald eagle, perched on a tree on Old Wingville Road

                    

Sometimes I feel lucky that I am in a certain place at a certain time, as was the case on Sunday July 23. Just as I arrived from my mission Church at Unity, I see the sky becoming more and more impressive with a variety of cloud formation. Then, all of a sudden, the sky turned pink, and I stopped my car in front of the Cathedral, and this is the result....

Again on November 26, another herd of deer with one big buck were pasturing in a Hereford field, and here are some pictures from that encounter.....stay tuned, because I'm sure I'll encounter more deer and share the phots with you...

On November 12, as I was driving to my Mission in Unity,

I came across a big 5-point buck with a harem of deer,

grazing in a field. Armed with my camera, I went to work quickly,

and here are some of the results.........he is one lucky buck,.......

with plenty of girlfriends to choose from......

Some Foliage Scenes from around Baker County -

Tamarack Trees especially visible (all photos by Fr Julian)

Sunset on Phillips Lake, and an encounter with deer in Hereford -

I discovered that I'm a pretty good hunter.....

You see, I shoot deer....with my camera!

                

 

Inside the Cathedral

Cathedral in the spring

Cross at

Unity Mission

Inside the Cathedral

Click on the above 4 thumb-nails to view a larger image of each picture

                    

   

A Historic Cathedral & Living Community

St. Francis de Sales Cathedral is located on the corner of First and Church Streets in Baker City, Oregon. It is considered the Bishop's parish, and so the Bishop presides at the major liturgical feasts and sacramental celebrations. There are approximately 450 registered families in the parish and mission churches.

The foundation stone of the Cathedral was laid in 1906, and the Church was officially opened in 1908. So in 2008, the cathedral celebrated its centennial. The Cathedral boasts of beautiful stained-glass windows from as early as 1923, as well a pipe organ, a piano and two choirs.

The Parish has now one Mission Church, which the priest visit weekly to celebrate Mass on weekends. St Anthony's in North Powder is now served by the priests from La Grande. And St Joseph's in Unity is now a part of the parish in Vale.

   St Therese Mission - Halfway

     

                    St Therese in Halfway, outside                      St Therese in Halfway, inside

Every first and third weekends, Mass is held on Saturdays at 3 PM. On the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays, Mass is at 4 PM in the winter months, and 5 PM in the summer months.

Masses are also celebrated in St. Elizabeth's Hospital, three times a week, in the day-chapel, which was renovated and opened officially in May 2005, as well as the local prison. So believe it or not, the priests have to take care of 6 Churches within this parish, and they're not even given a helicopter!

We are an active, thriving community. Programs and services offered by and for the parish include:

In addition, we are actively involved in the surrounding community of Baker County, providing the following:· Food Bank on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM to Noon

  • Use of our facilities by different community organizations,
  • Meeting space for Alcoholics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous,
  • A charity fund to give financial help to those in need.

 

 

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