The Painted Church

On the “Big Island” of Hawaii a Belgian priest and confrere of Father Damien, Father John Berchmans Velghe, created within a tiny Victorian church an extraordinary series of paintings in the years 1900-04. St Benedict’s Church enjoys a location of unmatched splendor high above above Kealakekua bay. For his congregation – then Hawaiian – Father Velghe transformed the ceiling of the nave into a forest and the sanctuary into a vast cathedral ambulatory. yet most interesting are the paintings on the walls of the nave. For, in stark contrast to today’s pastoral approach, Father Velghe sought out images that are unusual, drastic or ecstatic. Daniel and the handwriting on the wall, St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, Eve weeping over the dead Abel…and finally, a horrifying if sadly damaged rendering of hell. The Hawaiian inscriptions on the columns accord well with the striking pictures.

For more on the church: http://www.thepaintedchurch.org/about.asp

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/mar/01/travel/tr-24226

Hell!

The handwriting on the wall.

The soul of the dying awaiting immortality.

The nave becomes a forest of trees – a recollection of the origin of the column in Greek architecture?