Welcome to My Blog

Saint Mary of the Mount
 Pittsburgh, PA

Hello. My name is A.J. Olding. I'm Catholic and I like to visit Catholic Churches. My girlfriend, Sarah, and I have a goal of visiting 100 Catholic Churches together. Since March 10th of 2024, we've visited over 80. I don't think that makes me an expert on Churches, but I do think I've grown some knowledge of what exists and I've experienced a lot that would be cool to share.

While visiting Holy Resurrection Melkite Catholic Church in Columbus, OH for Vespers a few weeks ago, we were asked by a parishioner if we're doing a vlog of this project. I don't really want to vlog, so I'm trying this blog as a way to document the experience and share what I've experienced with others. I would love to write about every Church I have seen and will seen. I'm not sure if I'll accomplish that. I may write about other places we visit as well and I may write about some places I visit alone.

Here's a list of all the Churches we've visited, sorted alphabetically by city.

Saint LukeBeavercreek, OH
Sacred Heart-Divine MercyBellevue, KY
Church of the Incarnation Centerville, OH
Saint Francis of AssisiCenterville, OH
Holy Name Cathedral Chicago, IL
Old Saint PatrickChicago, IL
Saint AlphonsusChicago, IL
Saint ClementChicago, IL
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini ChapelChicago, IL
Saint John CantiusChicago, IL
Saint Mary of AngelsChicago, IL
Saint Michael Old Town Chicago, IL
Assumption Catholic Church Chicago, IL
Annunciation ChurchCincinnati, OH
Holy Cross ImmaculataCincinnati, OH
Old Saint MaryCincinnati, OH
Saint Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church Cincinnati, OH
Saint Francis De SallesCincinnati, OH
Saint Francis XavierCincinnati, OH
Saint Mary (Hyde Park)Cincinnati, OH
Saint Peter in Chains Basilica CathedralCincinnati, OH
Holy NameCincinnati, OH
Immaculate Heart of Mary ChapelCincinnati, OH
Saint CeciliaCincinnati, OH
Saint Ignatius of LoyolaCincinnati, OH
Saint Monica-Saint George Cincinnati, OH
Holy CrossColumbus, OH
Holy Family ChurchColumbus, OH
Holy Resurrection Columbus, OH
Saint Francis of AssisiColumbus, OH
Saint John the BaptistColumbus, OH
Saint Joseph Cathedral Columbus, OH
Saint Margaret of CortonaColumbus, OH
Saint Mary, Mother of GodColumbus, OH
Saint Thomas More Newman Center (Buckeye Catholic)Columbus, OH
St. AloysiusColumbus, OH
St. ChristopherColumbus, OH
Christ the KingColumbus, OH
Holy NameColumbus, OH
Immaculate Conception ChurchColumbus, OH
Saint TimothyColumbus, OH
St. PatrickColumbus, OH
Cathedral Basilica of the AssumptionCovington, KY
Mutter Gottes KircheCovington, KY
Saint Benedict Covington, KY
Saint John the EvangelistCovington, KY
Saint Bernard Dayton, KY
Emmanuel Catholic Church Dayton, OH
Holy AngelsDayton, OH
Holy Cross Lithuanian Catholic ChurchDayton, OH
Saint Anthony of PaduaDayton, OH
Saint MaryDayton, OH
Holy Family Catholic ChurchDayton, OH
Holy Trinity Catholic Church Dayton, OH
Saint Joseph Catholic Church Dayton, OH
Visitation Catholic ChurchEaton, OH
Blessed SacramentFort Mitchell, KY
Saint GabrielGlendale, OH
Saint Agnes ChurchJefferson, NH
Saint Mary of the Assumption Basilica Lancaster, OH
Saint Vincent Archabbey BasilicaLatrobe, PA
Saint Lawrence Lawrenceburg, IN
Our Lady of VictoryMarble Cliff, OH
Saint Bede The Venerable ChurchMentor, OH
St Mary of the AssumptionMentor, OH
Saint JosephNorth Bend, OH
Old Saint PatrickPittsburgh, PA
Saint Anthony ChapelPittsburgh, PA
Saint Mary of The Mount ChurchPittsburgh, PA
Saint Peter ChurchPittsburgh, PA
Saint Stanislaus KostkaPittsburgh, PA
Saint Mary of the Assumption Springboro, OH
Saint JosephSpringfield, OH
Church of the Most Holy RosarySyracuse, NY
Saint AndrewUpper Arlington, OH
St. AgathaUpper Arlington, OH
Saint Colman of CloyneWashington Court House, OH
Saint Paul the ApostleWesterville, OH
Saint JosephWillmette, IL
Saint ColumbkilleWilmington, OH
Saints Faith, Hope and CharityWinnetka, IL

Sarah and I live in Ohio. The bulk of our visits have been in the Archdioceses of Cincinnati, Columbus, and Covington (KY). If any of the Churches pique your interest, feel free to ask me to write about that church next. I think I'll be coming back to this post to update the list as I go, so come back!

I'm titling this blog "Thank You for This Church" because at many of the Churches I say my prayers and, prompted by this project, many of the prayers are thanks to God for the beautiful Churches I have seen. "Thank You for this Church" has been said in many prayers of mine. It seemed like a good name.

I hope you enjoy this project with me.



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Holy Cross Lithuanian (Dayton, OH) #25/100

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I'm choosing to write about Holy Cross Lithuanian Church first for a few reasons. It's the church I most recently attended for a Sunday Mass, it's one of my pet favorite churches in this project to visit 100, and they have a Lithuanian Independence Day Sausage Dinner coming up in a week that I want people to know about. Exterior Picture from Wikipedia. (The rest of the pictures will be ones Sarah or I took ourselves) I've been to Mass here twice. They only have 10:30 AM Sunday Mass now, unfortunately, but my first time attending was a Thursday night last summer. Sarah and I chose to come here solely because it was an easy place for both of use to meet on a week night. It's a very unassuming building from the road, but as you walk up to it from the parking lot across the street the quirks are obvious. There's unique geometric shapes to the steeple that almost feel retro futuristic, like something out of an old Science Fiction comic. There's fun colors to the ...
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Saint Rose (Cincinnati, OH) #87/100

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Rose image laid into the floor in front of the Altar  Last night, Sarah and I attended 7 PM Saturday evening Mass at Saint Rose along the Ohio river on the East side of Cincinnati. This is a Church many in Cincinnati know for it's highly visible location. From Eden Park, from the property of Immaculata Church in Mt Adams, and even from across the river at the parking lot of Saint Bernard Church in Dayton, KY (Not Ohio. There's another Dayton) you can quickly pick out the iconic riverside red Church. I think most people who attend Church here drive and park in the back. It's along Riverside Drive, just below Route 50 in a neighborhood that doesn't appear to be very walkable today. The first thing I noticed as I got out of the car to walk into the Church were lines painted against the back of the Church marking the high water marks of several different floods since 1800. This is a pretty cool piece of Cincinnati history right there and plays well with the Riverside nature...
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