We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bryan Istenes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bryan below.
Bryan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Since I started visiting all 185 Churches in the Diocese of Cleveland since 2016, I have seen so many beautiful Churches, and been able to celebrate many special occasions at them as well. Notable special occasions include celebrating monumental anniversaries for various Churches, such as their 75th, 100th, 125th anniversary, or other important dates in that Churches history. I have also attended Mass at various Churches for several priests ordination anniversaries, and even a newly ordained priests first ever Mass. Additionally I have attended several installation Masses for Churches that got a new pastor. Several of these special Masses were celebrated by the Bishop. I have been to Mass in 14 different languages. (English, Latin, Spanish, Polish, German, Hungarian, Korean, Lithuanian, Vietnamese, Croatian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Italian) I have been to Mass (Divine Liturgy) in several different Catholic rites, including Byzantine, Romanian Byzantine, Marontie, Ukrainian Greek, Ukrainian Greco, and the Traditional Latin Mass. I love being able to attend Mass (Divine Liturgy) at different Churches and know that I can follow along and know what’s happening every step of the way, even if I don’t speak the language the Mass (Divine Liturgy) is being offered in.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In January 2016 I went on a retreat called Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) https://northcoasttec.com/. This retreat brings together teens and young adults from all over the Diocese of Cleveland, unites them in community and prayer, and forms a deeper appreciation of our Catholic faith and how to live out our Catholic faith though the Paschal mysteries. I made countless friends from this retreat, who live all over the Diocese of Cleveland. (The Diocese of Cleveland has 185 Churches covering 8 counties and 3,400 square miles) In the months following this retreat, I started going to Mass with some of my friends I made from the TEC retreat. I would go to Mass with them at their home parish. Once I started to going Mass with my friends at their Churches, I realized I had already been to quite a few and decided to start visiting them all in the Diocese. Sometimes when I am going to a new Church, I would drive past a Church I had already visited before. I love when I meet new people and they say they live in a certain city and I immediately know what Church(es) are in their city, it’s a nice ice breaker question whenever I meet someone new who is Catholic. I am a fan of the older style Churches and love the feeling of nostalgia I get when I walk into a beautiful Church for the first time. The pandemic slowed me down a lot when Churches closed to comply with Government regulations. Watching Mass virtually was not the same. Sometimes in the winter, I would have to reschedule my planned visit to certain Churches I hadn’t been to before, especially if they are an hour away on a good day. I have had several Churches, where I showed up for Mass, and they didn’t have Mass due to a special even going on in the Church and did not update their website to reflect the fact there was no Mass. Had I been born a few years earlier; I would have been able to visit some of the Churches that closed in the Diocese between 2008 – 2010. The Diocese had 224 Churches prior to the closing/merging of some. I have more goals of Churches to visit, I want to visit all the Basilicas in the US. Congrats to the Diocese of Columbus for getting their first Basilica. I have been to 13 Basilicas so far.
: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want to continue to visit as many beautiful Churches as I can, while I am still able to. I like sharing pictures of beautiful Churches with people as a means of evangelization. I want to share the experiences and history of beautiful Churches with people who are unable to go there themselves.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Some people may have only ever been to a handful of Churches, and may not know that some of these beautiful Churches exist, often times right in their own backyards. Each time I walk in a new Church, I enjoy looking around at the stained glass, statues, and stations of the cross, before Mass and taking all the beauty in. I also enjoy trying to find the Church cornerstone at every Church I go to, some are more hidden that others.
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