Southern Suburbs, Kommetjie, St Joseph Catholic Church

Abstract

Kommetjie, St Joseph Catholic Church. On the slopes of the hills in Kommetjie lies a beautifully located center of the Catholic Church of St Joseph. The center that overviews the area up to the sea, has a long church that is devoted to St. Norbert and whose founding stone was laid on 6 January 1991. The most impressive building though is a chapel devoted to St. Joseph and whose founding stone was laid on 10 May 1948. On the right hand side of the chapel stands a decorative tower in which hangs an impressive and beautiful bell. The decorations on the bell start with two triples of moulding wires just below the shoulder. In between are two sentences that surround the bell. On one side one reads Tell Out My Soul The Greatness Of The Lord. On the reverse side stands information on the founding: Eijsbouts Astensis Me Fecit 1983. Below the wires is a freeze that consists of a sequence of hanging flowers. Below the dedication of the bell one finds a neat emblem of the foundry. It consists of two concentric circles in which one finds a seal surmounted by the circular text Omnia Fiant Ad Gloriam Dei. On the seal figure three bells in the order 2 and 1, surrounded by branches with leaves. Above the lower bell figures a king’s crown indicating that the foundry was honored to be called royal. Indeed, it’s full name is Koninklijke Eijsbouts Asten. The foundry is located in Asten, a village close to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Under the seal but still inside the circles figures a small, Maltese cross. The decorations are finished by three moulding wires above the soundbow and another two on the lip of the bell. Despite its beauty, the sight of the bell is slightly spoiled by droppings of birds that have free access to the open tower.