The Anglican Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Cow Head, Newfoundland

This travelogue about the Anglican Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Cow Head almost didn't get written. That's because I thought I should at least have a picture of the church from the outside. It's a white-painted wooden church located on a property right on the water. Next to the church is a botanical garden maintained by the parish [1].

Cow Head has one of the longest sandy beaches in Newfoundland and is within sight of the Long Range Mountains of Gros Morne, just outside Gros Morne National Park [2]. You can visit a lighthouse built in 1909. The town has a population of about 400. An annual theater festival is held there, and there's even a new theater (named in honor of nurse Myra Bennett) across the street from the hotel, but that wasn't really of interest to me. The name Cow Head comes from a rock formation.

I need to go into a bit more detail now. In the area where I live, some say the Eifel is like the Shire in The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but here there are many churches, and these churches are open, meaning they are accessible to the public. These are usually Catholic churches, but as a Protestant, I have visited almost all of these churches in the area. When I travel, I also like visit churches, because they simply interest me. In all churches, you discover something you wouldn't have expected. And so, in this church, too, I discovered something I wanted to write about.

So let's move on to this church – St. Mary the Virgin. I visited the church late in the day, and the light was already dimming. But you could still see enough, and you can also edit pictures a bit to brighten up some of the darker areas. It's a simple church with a donated window. I was surprised in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland by how many beautiful stained-glass windows there were. Even the brand-new ones were created in a more traditional style, as was the case here. The church's furnishings were otherwise rather unsurprising, and the parament was green, as it was the time after Trinity.

Then I saw something lying on the back pew of the church. There were several copies of Our Daily Bread [3], which surprised me greatly. They were copies with Post-it notes with names written on them. Our Daily Bread is intended for daily use, with short texts and Bible quotations. I have to admit that I use them myself and always look at them first thing in the morning when I write in my diary. The organization is non-denominational. I just didn't expect these brochures in a rural Canadian church.

I hadn't taken any more photos of the Botanical Garden [4]. If you're visiting the place, perhaps because you're visiting the national park, you can easily walk past it; it's quite close. It's next to one of the few hotels.

 

Links and Annotations:
There isn't much information online.
[1] https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/attractions/35785522
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Head_(town)
[3] https://www.odbm.org/ or more appropriate: https://ourdailybreadministries.ca/
[4] I was asked on this (and other trips) whether I take too many pictures. No, I replied, I take too few. I've never been annoyed by a redundant photo, but I've often been annoyed by the ones I failed to take.

PS: Google Street View has a very nice photo and a loooong link:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cow+Head,+Neufundland+und+Labrador,+Kanada/@49.9139101,-57.7901225,3a,60y,339.4h,87.88t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1syx10rMuQe_jEcaeuMsgmTg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.1170077682904633%26panoid%3Dyx10rMuQe_jEcaeuMsgmTg%26yaw%3D339.3957136194582!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x4b7ecb824305bead:0x250a3483fbbd3ad3!8m2!3d49.9201645!4d-57.776401!16s%2Fm%2F03m9f5s!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D   

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