Sunday!! - Re-dedication Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Boyd

Don't worry, the pews will be back in order before the Bishop arrives!

My baptismal church, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Boyd, Wisconsin is reopening its doors for a Mass of Dedication of a Church Already in Use (yes, that's what they officially call it) on Sunday, March 19th at 11 a.m.

The church has been closed since last fall for an extensive renovation project. Since I can't make the drive for the Mass, I requested and gratefully received a tour of the church earlier in March.

St. Rose of Lima

In 2012, St. Joseph, St. Rose of Lima Church in Cadott, and Holy Family Church in Stanley merged to form All Saints Parish. The Boyd church site is the most historic and largest of the three. To represent unity among all three church sites, new medallions were painted representing the patrons of the Cadott and Stanley churches. All three church sites will continue to have weekend Mass.

Many of the historic elements of the church are being preserved, like the high altar.

Guardian Angel window

Surprisingly for a church nearing 90 years old, there were few structural concerns that needed attention. However, not all of the decorative improvements could be made in this project. The stained glass windows will need to be cleaned and reinforced in the future. Even without a window cleaning, I couldn't help but notice how the new color palate of the church walls brought out the color of the windows, even on the cloudy day that I visited.

Angels float on the precipice above the Sanctuary.

Presentation of the Christ Child

Repainted organ pipes

Such a refreshingly new, but historic-feeling look!

According to Father Felix, the decorative renovation is meant to roughly follow the original design of the church dating from the 1920s. I am planning on visiting the church again after it opens to the public to share more details on the changes in this magnificent building.

Got to have a little fun, right?

In December 2013, just as I was starting the blog, I took photos at St. Joseph's, which you can see here: http://roamincatholicchurches.blogspot.com/2014/02/st-joseph-catholic-church-boyd.html 

St. Joseph Church, All Saints Catholic Parish
719 E. Patten St.  Boyd, WI 54726
http://allsaintscathcom.com/

Thanks again to Father Felix for taking time out of his schedule to give a tour of the church while still in construction mode and for offering a few of my text notes!

Upcoming Event!: Open House at St. Mary's Oratory, Wausau, on September 10th

Courtesy of St. Mary's Oratory.

St. Mary's Oratory, part of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, is opening its doors for tours this Saturday in Wausau, Wisconsin. From 10 am to 3 pm, young adults from the Oratory will be guiding visitors through the church building at the top of each hour. Being one of Wausau's oldest church buildings, St. Mary's is sure to be an architectural treat for those who make the trek!

The Open House coincides with the Wausau Festival of Arts, which brings over 100 professional artists to town to show their crafts.

According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, this building is the oldest in Wausau to be continuously used as a church, dating back to the 1890s.[1] Built on the site of Wausau's first Catholic church, it was designed by Adolphus Druiding, an architect known for his work on many churches, including Chicago's St. John Cantius.[2]

Left: St. Michael the Archangel

Right: St. Florianus (St. Florian)

As is all too common in many older Midwestern cities, St. Mary's congregation shrunk in size throughout the 20th Century and was threatened with closure. The Institute of Christ King Sovereign Priest was given permission to move to St. Mary's in 1999 and has worked tirelessly to restore beauty to the building.

On my way to a family vacation in Northern Wisconsin in 2014, I stopped by the Oratory unannounced to go to Confession (as Catholics tend to do). At the same time, I was given a wonderful tour of the church by one of the former Canons (priests) at St. Mary's. The photos in this post come from my haphazard attempt to capture the tour. 

Most of the artwork in this post and throughout the church were acquired during the lengthy restoration process and have wonderful stories of their own. To really appreciate the beauty of St. Mary's and hear these stories in-depth, I encourage you to make a visit at the Open House!

St. Mary's Oratory

325 Grand Ave, Wausau, WI 54403

http://www.institute-christ-king.org/wausau/

Additional Sources
[1]http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=Nrc:id-4294961467-dynrank-disabled,N:4294963828-4294963814&dsNavOnly=N:1159&dsRecordDetails=R:HI29256
[2]http://www.cantius.org/go/about_us/category/parish_history/

The Month of Ma(r)y and Explaining a Really Long Rosary

Take a look at the photo above. The character in the statue is carrying what looks like a Rosary, right?  There is a crucifix, the first few beads for the opening prayers, and beads in groups of ten for each decade of the Rosary.  Here's where it get's fishy.  A typical Rosary has five of these decades, but clearly there are a lot more here.  I counted fifteen decades.  That's 150 Hail Marys!

Yes, there are people who are devoted to prayer, but how many folks really do 150 Hail Marys in a sitting?  What could this super-long Rosary mean?  Is it maybe just a Paul Bunyan-esque gimmick so people in the back of church can see it?  

Ok, it isn't anything too superfluous.  This statue is a representation of Our Lady of the Rosary.  The long Rosary she is carrying represents the fifteen different decades of the Rosary grouped by what the Church calls the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries.  Pope (now Saint) John Paul II added a fourth set of mysteries, the Luminous, late in his Pontificate.  If Our Lady's Rosary were up-to-date, it would have twenty mysteries and over 200 prayer beads!

Today marks the last day of May, often referred to by the Catholic Church as "The Month of Mary."  On my visit to St. Peter's in Stevens Point last month, I noticed this statue of St. Mary and the Christ Child and was surprised to see this huge Rosary.  A little explanation from the young seminarian at the parish and a bit of intuition clarified its purpose.

St. Peter's Parish

800 4th Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481
http://www.saintpetercatholic.com/

St. Peter's Catholic Church, Stevens Point

It's only fitting that this church visit came barely a week prior to the canonization of St. John Paul the Great, better known as the late Pope John Paul II, and lesser known as Karol Wojytła.  St. Peter's is one of very few, if not the only church that he visited in Wisconsin.  His visit to Stevens Point was largely driven by the strong Polish-American culture in the area^[1].  St. Peter's Catholic Church remains a bastion of this Polish-American culture in Stevens Point today, as seen in much of the church's artwork.

Note: Click on any photo to see it in greater detail.  The details in some of them will make it worth the effort!

Gothic altars reign supreme in the front of the church and statues abound.  There are 21 statues that I can pick out in this photo alone.  Church yearbook photos indicate that these altars and most of the statues have been in the church since at least the 1920s.

                  

Left: St. John

Right: St. Casimir, King of Poland

High Altar detail.

Left: St. Agnes, Martyr

Right: St. Peter, holding the "keys to the Church"

The Easter scene at the church is one of the more elaborate I have seen, complete with the empty tomb.  The smell from the fresh flowers filled the church on Holy Saturday afternoon.

                

Left: St. Hedwig, Queen of Poland

Right: St. Rose of Lima, first canonized saint from the Americas

Left: "Wypłyń na głębię." (Polish)  "Put out into the deep." (English)  Relating to the story of St. Peter from the Gospel of Luke.
Right: "Totus Tuus." (Latin)  "Totally yours." (English)  Motto of Pope John Paul II.^[2]

The floor was updated in the last few years with these and other religious artwork.

Not a terrific photo by any means, but worth a closer look (click to do so) simply to look at all the detailing that makes this rendition of Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child.  My limited translation tools did not generate a sensible translation for the message at the bottom either.  If you can translate the Polish well enough, feel free to comment at the end of the post!

St. Peter, from above the front door of the narthex.

St. Peter's is surrounded by a host of stately buildings.  The Parish school, which I did not photograph, is off to the right from this photo's vantage point.  The rectory is in the foreground in this picture.

Across the street to the side of the church is the Stevens Point Area Co-op.  Based on the stone at the top of the building, it was originally built as Kosciuszko Hall.  The Co-op has this to say about their building:

"The SPA Co-op building was constructed in 1909 and served the community for many decades, as a mercantile and grocery store on the main floor and a dance hall upstairs, before becoming a furniture store and warehouse in the 1960s.

The SPAC has dedicated itself to renovating and preserving this historic building.^[3]"

It seems safe to argue that a healthy Parish and Co-op aren't just good for the buildings they exist in, but for the neighborhood as a whole.

Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child at the portal from the nave to the narthex.

St. Peter's Parish

800 4th Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481
http://www.saintpetercatholic.com/

Many thanks to the young seminarian who gave a more detailed tour of St. Peter's after Easter Sunday Mass!  Also to the other folks who offered help in my visit!

Additional Sources
[1] http://journaltimes.com/news/local/wisconsinites-remember-soon-to-be-pope-s-visit-to-stevens/article_c9fb2ef8-6dde-5f26-b098-6f47a14ae510.html
[1] http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=55071&qstring=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wisconsinhistory.org%2Fwhi%2Fresults.asp%3Fpageno%3D61%26keyword1%3DU.S.%26search_type%3Dbasic%26sort_by%3Ddate
[2] https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/DailyTake/Article/TabId/736/ArtMID/13645/ArticleID/14269/Totus-Tuus-Prepare-for-canonization-with-Pope-John-Paul-II-Marian-consecration.aspx
[3] http://www.spacoop.com/history.html

Roadside Stop at St. Mary's of Częstochowa, Junction

An interesting stopover on the way to somewhere else...here is another closed church, St. Mary of Częstochowa in northwestern Clark County.  Opened effectively, if not officially, as a Polish ethnic parish, it stands at the crossing of two nondescript gravel roads that earned the glamorous place name of Junction (you can see it in DeLorme's atlas of Wisconsin).  The area around the church is not heavily populated, which probably led to the parish's closing in 1996.  However, on the last Saturday of the month, I am told the parish priests from nearby All Saints (Boyd/Cadott/Stanley) and St. Bernard/St. Hedwig's (Thorp) do Mass at this church.

I am not sure what the building's condition is, but I think the main altar is centered on a rendition of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa painting for which the parish is named.  

St. Mary of Częstochowa Catholic Church

W11686 Elm Road, Stanley, WI 54768

St. Joseph Catholic Church, Boyd

Here are pictures of St. Joseph Church, in Boyd, Wisconsin.  This church is part of the All Saints Catholic Community of Boyd, Cadott, and Stanley.  St. Joseph’s is 189 road miles northwest of Madison's Cathedral Parish and the State Capitol.

For a small-town church, St. Joseph's has an impressive group of statues.  Most visible among these are on the high altar on either side of the Crucifix.  Click on any of these photos to view a larger version.

Left: St. Patrick, Bishop and Patron of Ireland  

Right: St. Boniface, Bishop, Martyr, and Patron of Germany

It is common practice in Catholic churches to have a pair of angels positioned on opposite sides of the tabernacle.  Equipped with modern day torches, they make a striking presence with the Christmas trees. These photos were taken on the third day of Christmas.

From the front altar.

A great effort to revive the beauty in these statues is taking place.  A parishoner has taken several of the fading statues and repainted them back to life.  Above are pictures of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, found in the church basement, from March 2012 (left) and December 2013 (right).  One can only hope this effort continues for all the statues in this church.  A look at the statue's base indicates that it was made by Daprato Statuary Company based in Chicago, which is still in business as Daprato Rigali Studios.

From what I have found, St. Joseph's is not known for having a dominant single ethnicity among its churchgoers.  Perhaps as a result, we see statues of French, German, Hungarian, Irish, and other saints spread throughout the church.

Though it is hard to tell, I believe this is St. Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian who aspired to the priesthood though he died before ordination.  Poland's St. Stanislaus Kostka has a similar history, but most artwork of St. Aloysius displays him carrying the Cross in addition to lilies, alluding to his practiced chastity.^[1]  I chose to display this photo in grey scale as the sacristy window made conditions too bright to photograph in full color.

Infant of Prague

Easily the most curious statue display in the church.  In one of the steeples, a room stores the hidden statues of Saints Michael the Archangel, Vincent de Paul, Mary with her Immaculate Heart, and Catherine of Alexandria.  All of these statues are in various states of disrepair, but even with chipped paint and parts broken off, fine artistry is still evident.

Detail of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Queen of Egypt and Martyr.

St. Joseph and Child.

XII  Jesus dies on the cross 

Also impressive at St. Joseph's are the stained glass windows.  Again, the parish community picked an out-of-state company to bring these to life, now Emil Frei & Associates of St. Louis.  

Donated by Catholic Order of Foresters Sisters Court No. 1433

An unusual window in Midwestern churches perhaps; St. Margaret Mary Alacoque with Jesus, revealing His Sacred Heart.  This and other visions came to St. Margaret Mary in the 1670s, helping set the foundation for Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart to this day.^[2]

View from the choir loft.

St. Joseph is also the home base for the All Saints parish school, seen to the left of the church.  After having schools open in Boyd, Cadott, and Stanley at various points, the Boyd school location (also named for St. Joseph) was selected to reopen to students at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.  In the church basement, which also doubles as the school cafeteria, old St. Joseph's School memorabilia make a colorful appearance.

St. Joseph Church, All Saints Catholic Parish

719 E. Patten St.  Boyd, WI 54726

http://allsaintscathcom.com/

Many thanks to the parish Priest and Head of Maintenance who guided my visit and allowed me to photograph St. Joseph's.

Additional Sources

[1] http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/life-times-st-aloysius-gonzaga

[2] http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/lots323.htm