I’ve been on a roll lately with churches so I’m going to stick with that theme for another week.
Just up the street from the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto is a prominent Catholic church called St Patrick’s.
This is a rather busy parish because it contains a shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help – one of many throughout the world.
I was in the neighbourhood on a rainy Wednesday, and people flowed in and out of the church, both before and after the noon-time mass.
The inside of the church was bathed in purple light … I’m assuming for the Lenten season. It looked regal and awe-inspiring.
I could write an entire (and overly long) post just about Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the building next door for the Redemptorists – the common name used to refer to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which is dedicated to missionary work throughout the world.
… but that’s not what this post is about.
The point of this post is really about the building directly across the street from St Patrick’s. It is simply too perfect.
It’s a pub.
It’s a pub with the best name that I’ve ever seen. Even better, it too has a great door.
I considered using the title Good and Evil for this post, but decided it might be a little over the top. However, since I opted for lunch at the pub rather than visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, you can guess which side I chose.
Feel free to judge me.
Thursday Doors is a weekly photo feature hosted by Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0.
*************************************************************************************
Thank you again to Mary from As I Walk Toronto for a great afternoon together, including an excellent lunch at the Sin & Redemption Pub.
My Life Lived Full 
This is very late but I wanted to say I am trying a game of catch up on posts which I follow but don’t always see likes or posts ready to get to, Joanne!
I loved the door on the pub because it was more appealing than the church doors. I enjoyed the sanctuary with purple hued lighting! 💜
LikeLike
Thanks Robin 🙂
LikeLike
You’re welcome. Glad you haven’t had ant mishaps while I have been waylaid from reading, Joanne.
Happy soon to arrive “really” Spring! 🌷💮
LikeLiked by 1 person
Third from the top is my favorite. Excellent post. Thank You.
LikeLike
Thanks 🙂
LikeLike
First, I protest that this is an ugly building. It’s wicked! I mean gorgeous!
Second, can I join you instead of judging you? 😉 (The pub door is more inviting.)
LikeLike
The pub door was very welcoming and the food was excellent! You would be always welcome!
I’m glad to hear that St Patrick’s has at least one fan. I found it to be just a big concrete block.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantastic name for a pub. One can indeed find both inside. I have noticed that many pubs are located right across from churches. It’s a fascinating tidbit to reflect upon. 🙂
LikeLike
That’s an interesting find! I’ve never noticed before – I guess the pub names weren’t memorable enough 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantastic post! You had us going on a different course, and then suddenly tacked and took us to the pub. I loved the purple light inside the cathedral. And the pub is wonderful, with the name, door, and even stained glass. Beautiful stone work too.
LikeLike
I wonder how many people over the years have done exactly what we did – go inside the church to look around and then cross the road for a beer and lunch at the pub? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Applesauce… Perpetual help sure sounds good to me! Beautiful post, Joanne. The interior is beautiful but that purple light really sets it off. I love the designs in the arched windows above the doors. Happy hump day. Hugs.
LikeLike
Thanks Teagan! Happy Hump Day to you too!
LikeLike
I’m all for lighting candles & prayer, but Lunch is very important too! Thank you for sharing all these lovely doors! Old fashioned pubs have such humorous, tongue-in-cheek names!
LikeLike
Actually, now that you mention it, that’s so true! The best pubs all seem to have great tongue-in-cheek names! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d be right with you at the pub Joanne. Great minds and all that. The name is so clever! I would want to find the witty individual who came up with it and shake her or his hand. I’ve not seen that purple light in my prehistoric days of church going. I’d be interested to know what it symobolizes.
LikeLike
I will be back in this neighbourhood in April after Easter. I’ve made a mental note to go back and check out the lighting in the church. My theory is that it will no longer be purple. Maybe this time I will screw up the courage to talk to the priest 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Be brave. I’ll be hiding right behind you. 🙂
LikeLike
hahahaha!!!
LikeLike
Excellent choices, Joanne! Title, intro (lovely building and interior), great pub and “door” across the street, and decision to enjoy lunch and a beverage in Sin & Redemption! This was a great post!
LikeLike
Thank you 🙂
We all need a little sin – and redemption
LikeLike
Beautiful location.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That pub tho…
Seriously, the doors are great, the lighting in that church is beautiful, AND THAT PUB! 🙂
LikeLike
That pub is the best 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago at a restaurant just up the road and we walked by this pub on our way to the AGO afterwards. We both laughed at the name and the juxtaposition with St. Patrick’s across the street. It is now on our list to visit the next time we’re in the neighbourhood.
LikeLike
I think you’ll enjoy your lunch there. They have a good menu and my lunch was great.
LikeLike
The church doors are gorgeous, and the inside is lovely.
That Pub owner has a great sense of humor! I won’t judge. I’d be right with having lunch in the pub. 🙂 The window is amazing!
LikeLike
I love it when I find something unusual that makes me laugh. This pub certainly fit that category. Whoever came up with this idea has a brilliant sense of humour 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
I like set of three so I find those church doors appealing as well as all the lovely stonework. Those purple lights are stunning. I love a clever name on a pub!! And a lovely door is the cherry on top! 🙂
LikeLike
Now that you mention it, the triple doors is a common theme with large churches. Now I wonder if that’s a deliberate nod to the Holy Trinity … or just that architecturally it looks grand 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmm… that would be interesting to know. In a quick dig, somebody said a nod to Holy Trinity. An article at The Institute for Sacred Architecture states that a Catholic Church should have an odd number depending on the number of naves…3,5, or 7 and the middle door should be the largest.
Whatever the case, it does look grand!
LikeLike
There’s an Institute for Sacred Architecture?!
Isn’t it interesting the details we can call up now on a whim? This is the kind of trivial detail that I seem to remember afterwards 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I only just found out it existed. Quite amazing all the things there are in the world!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely pictures as always! Neat idea that purple light in the church!! Hee, hee, I would head for the pub too, mainly for the cheeky name!! Thanks, Joanne. 🙂
LikeLike
I can’t help but wonder what the church officials feel about that pub across the street 😉
LikeLike
Heh, heh! I know, eh?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, this is just door perfection, isn’t it? What a fun area to visit. And I agree about pretty doors, ugly building.
LikeLike
The first time I visited this area a year ago, I took a photo of the doors and not the building. Later when I was looking through my photos, I wondered why I hadn’t bothered to take one.
On my 2nd visit, I understood 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Was the food sinful or redemptive? I have to agree, St. Patrick’s is as ugly as a fresh picked spud but the purple interior is uplifting, to be sure. Can’t wait for your St. Patrick’s day post!
LikeLike
The food was sinful, of course … or perhaps just my selection 🙂
I like that – ugly as a fresh picked spud. hahahaha!! I’m going to remember that one 😆
LikeLike
Too funny! I love the play on words as well as the good-spirited (the kind that is served in a glass) nose-tweaking of their neighbor across the street. The purple lights inside the church are lovely… I wonder how they did it, though. Did someone have to get up on really tall ladders and change every bulb (hopefully BEFORE visiting the pub for a bit of sin), or do they have a selection of colors for various church observances which only require a flip of a switch?
LikeLike
You think like I do, Janis. I wondered the same thing about the lights and assumed it was some kind of digitally controlled colour display.
I plan to go back some time after Easter and check out the lights again. If they’re still purple, I’ll know it wasn’t just for Lent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been to AGO, so ought to recognise this, but I don’t. I’m more sorry about missing the exquisitely named pub than the church, splendid though it looks with its purple lighting!
LikeLike
You certainly get around! When were you in Toronto?
LikeLike
April two years ago. Very, very cold!
LikeLike
ha! April always seems to be cold 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Forgot – this is my other blog I’m writing from – it’s Jesh~
LikeLike
I like the name Junieper 🙂
I wouldn’t have guessed it was you!
LikeLike
Good you didn’t guess – it means it’s different enough:) Thanks for coming by!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, what are you talking about? I wished you had called it good and evil! Maybe you don’t know this yet about me, but I’ve always have been a rebel:) Where I grew up on, a pub would be a only sin, and no redemption! But ever since hubby did his internship in a Catholic hospital, I understand that side of the tracks much better. You’re on WordPress, you know most wouldn’t judge you, or?
LikeLike
hehehe! That was said tongue-in-cheek. I know this crowd pretty well. As I suspected, they would all join me in the pub 🙂
LikeLike
Not judging. You were serving a greater good, bringing doors to people who don’t have easy access to pub doors of their own. Thank you for your service, Joanne.
These are great doors. And the inside of the church is beautiful. Love the pub !
LikeLike
Yes, we provide a vital public service. While we were watching TV earlier today I even caught myself commenting on the doors in show 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha – that’s funny. I have thought about doing a post on TV doors. Actually, I did one on Twilight Zone Doors. A few years ago.
LikeLike
That would be a great post, Dan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Someone around there besides you has a sense of humor, Joanne. Cool purple lights in the church, but I’m afraid the pub would call me too. I love the name. 🙂
LikeLike
It’s one of those names that makes you wish you had thought of it first 🙂
I had no doubt you would be joining me in the pub!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehe. Yup. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure you’re not beyond redemption for visiting the pub! After all, it was for art – the art of the door.
LikeLike
It was a sacrifice, but someone had to do it 😉
LikeLike
I mean, what good is redemption if you don’t do a little sinning first? I would vote for the pub too 😉
LikeLike
We have a great party starting to form in the pub! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, I read through the comments right after I posted and I didn’t see any votes for the church (except that the photos were good), all of them were for the pub…
LikeLike
What is it they say about blogging attracting like-minded people? 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well then here’s to redemption: cheers!
The interior shot of the purple light in the church is awesome. Nicely done 🙂
LikeLike
I always feel a little self-conscious taking photos in a church so I rarely do it. My elementary school years with nuns and the regular reprimands still cling to me like a bad smell.
I couldn’t resist this one because of the lighting … even though it was taken at the end of a noon mass with people still filling the pews and the priest standing only about 20 feet away. I expected to get yelled at any minute
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve done a post on both of them as well, a while ago! Unfortunately I haven’t been inside either of them. The church looks wonderful with the purple lighting.
LikeLike
Great minds think alike 🙂
I’m trying to get better at exploring the insides of public buildings I think are interesting. Most of the time I feel too shy to walk in, and even more reluctant to take a photo.
LikeLike
Nit too fussed about the doors, but love the light inside the church. Purple light for Lent? Never knew. And I would be more than happy to join you in a spot of lunch in the sinner’s lounge 😉
LikeLike
… and it’s a sinner’s menu too. You would approve 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome images Joanne and a perfect name for a pub for us sinners 😀 Is there a pub around the block called purgatory for those who don’t believe in redemption ?
LikeLike
hehehe! Good one. Too bad someone hasn’t thought of doing that!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, you know on what side of the street to find me, don’t you?
LikeLike
Keeping me company 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha…good one
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like both sides of the street, Joanne, and both buildings with their doors. Someone had an excellent sense of humor and on an aside, yes, the purple would be for Lent. I wonder whether the drinks at the pub had similarly humorous and religious-themed names. 🙂
janet
LikeLike
The menu was a fun read with sinner related food options. Since we ordered bottled beer, I don’t know what the cocktail list might have looked like.
For some reason, a beer with lunch just doesn’t sound quite as naughty as a Mary Magdalene Margarita 😉
LikeLike
🙂 I agree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No judgement over here, I would have been right there with you at Sin & Redemption!
LikeLike
I knew I could count on you to join me 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Terrific name for a pub! So . . . did you sit in the Sinner’s pub, Redeemer’s lounge, or the Most Wanted bistro?
LikeLike
Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a Most Wanted! 🙂
LikeLike
This is a true trifecta, Joanne. Great pub name, great door….and great post!! 🙂
LikeLike
Location, location, location!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Joanne–you are too funny. What a great name for the pub. Surely, the parishioners of the church get a chuckle out of this.
LikeLike
What an interesting justaposition. I wonder if the pub is trying to cater to the priest crowd. I’ve always thought a more apt name for a Catholic Church would be, “Our Lady of Perpetual Need”.
LikeLike
Having a lunchtime drink in the pub is not sinful, surely? Perhaps if you become inebriated. And in that case, maybe there is a “hair of the dog” cocktail called Redemption. I am guessing that “peche” with an acute accent means “sin”. At first I thought it was peachy!
LikeLike
That is too funny. I was on my way to the pool yesterday and I passed a place called (I kid you not) Revelation Reptiles! I assume they sell animals to snake handling churches?? Needless to say, I did not go in to check it out.
LikeLike
After visiting and truly admiring the St. Patrick’s Church, you were entitled to some refreshment and nourishment leaving the name of the pub to the reader for interpretation.
LikeLike
Great minds think alike! 🙂
LikeLike
The post title was great clickbait, Joanne. I knew that the post would be church photos, but only sort of – had to open the post to find out for sure. And what a great surprise to see the name of the pub. I love clever names! This is absolutely the best pub name ever for its location. A runner up for me is a coffee shop in Whitehorse called the Aroma Borealis.
LikeLike
I too LOVE clever names and Aroma Borealis is a great one!!
Sadly, my brain just doesn’t think that way to come up with clever word play, so I really appreciate it when I find it 🙂
LikeLike
Love this post, and I judge you smart for picking a good place for lunch that also had a great door and played so well off that gorgeous church. Good one. 🙂
LikeLike
I give Mary credit for suggesting we stay and eat there. This was not the first time I’ve been by this way, but I thought it was just a bar lounge. I had no idea it was a restaurant … and a good one too.
LikeLike
Imagine telling friends, “I went to Sin and Redemption” today. Then leave its to them to figure out what you’re talking about. Great turn around from what you led your readers to think your essay was about. Fun post.
LikeLike
I’m glad the fun came through 🙂
… but I couldn’t help but wonder what the Redemptorists across the street think about it 😉
LikeLike
Haha! Love that pub. I’d be choosing it as well – great name!
LikeLike
… and the food was good! 🙂
As was the beer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the leaded glass over the pub door and the lighting in the church. I’m probably passed redemption so it would be the pub for me too. 😎
LikeLike
Then I would be in good company 🙂
LikeLike