Sometime in 1972

I got a call to run ouit to Loretto to take some pix of wind damage to St. Miehael's church. When I got there I saw a small moonscape, a few fallen trees.

Since I had been experimenting with different films at the time, I loaded a roll of infrared b/w film, and was rewarded with a few very dramatic views (none suitable for newspaper, of course).

Directly under that fallen tree, I knew I would find the tomb of Prince Demetrius Gallitzin, the Russian prince that brought Catholicism to the Alleghenies.

A quick general lookaround revealed the damage was contained almost completely to the area of the crypt.

I shifted back to Tri-X to make some money shots.

Several trees had blown down, but only this one hit anything significant, and there was virtually no damage outside that iron fence, other than the uprooted trees themselves.

A few steps closer, I could see the damage was really, really, REALLY localized.

I dug out this roll mostly because I remembered those IR frames, and wanted to try making an art piece out of one of them.

But here I sit, with the V-Twin engine of my personal waybac machine throbbing between my knees and I have to reflect:

With most excellent hindsight, I wonder just what else happened in the Priest Prince's church that day in the early 'seventies.

When I was studying to be an insurance underwriter, I would have instantly classified the damage claim for this as an "Act of God" and denied any cash damages to the property owner.

For the record, the "officail" church of Gallitzin's priesthood was a little chapel which still stands in a field near Hastings. It is an humble structure (but has Tiffany windows).

St. Michael's in Loretto is a much grander place, with many more rooms. There is a monestary and a convent nearby, and a university that claims allegience as well.