I shudder to think what baptisms would be like.
A church built entirely of ice and snow has opened in Bavaria — a century after villagers first built a snow church in an act of protest.
The church at Mitterfirmiansreut, near the Czech border, is more than 65 feet in length and boasts a tower. It’s made up of some 49,000 cubic feet of snow.
The structure was bathed in blue light as it opened Wednesday evening with a blessing from Dean Kajetan Steinbeisser.
But when the ancestors of today’s villagers built the first snow church in 1911, they weren’t thinking just of architectural achievement.
Steinbeisser says: “It was meant as an act of provocation — believers from the village got together and built a snow church because they didn’t have a church here.”
You can see more pictures of its construction here. And a video, which shows the structure being blessed, is below.
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Cool!!!!
…Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Reminds me of building snow cathedrals with my 12 year-old son here in northern Vermont. We would put candles in walls and we would pray in the perfect silent peace, and it was not cold at all. I would read stories to him too. Inside the structure is very cozy and warm, but you need to keep a good snow pack on the floor or it can get wet. I would pile a huge amount of snow with our large tractor and then spay the exterior with water from a pressure washer to form a hard semi-transparent shell, then dig out the interior usually leaving a pillar or two to support the roof. It’s a blast and your children will never forget the experience. I never did. The only trouble with kids is that they grow up and move out and leave dads no one to play with anymore.
Paul L.–
Sounds like a book waiting to be written!
Go for it!
Dear Deacon, If you are interested in how a Baptism could turn out in the “ICE CHURCH,” goggle “Baptism Eskimo Style.”
God Bless – MTMelvin
Well, if Superman can have his icy Fortress of Solitude, I guess the God-man can have his Ice Church….