OLD STAINED GLASS FOR A NEWLY UNIFIED PARISH

Transcription

1 OLD STAINED GLASS FOR A NEWLY UNIFIED PARISH Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, Irvington, New Jersey by Judith Hiemer Van Wie The Catholic Church in the Northeastern United States has faced many crises in recent years. An ongoing concern is the declining number of Catholics in the area and the dwindling number of priests able to minister to them. The hardest hit by this issue are the inner-city churches, which are also the most heavily burdened financially by ongoing maintenance, repair, and restoration expenses. The Dioceses facing these problems have been taking action, after great deliberation and consideration for the congregations involved, while realistically examining the financial restraints of supporting floundering parishes. Some of the solutions Diocesan officials have tendered include assigning a pastor to two and sometimes three parishes. This is a heavy responsibility for the priest, who must rely on lay support to continue charities, devotions, and sacraments at each parish, while grappling with the intricate financial issues they face. The work required to meet the needs of each parish is often too much to expect of one man, yet there are many who are rising to the occasion, stretching their abilities to the limit, but this sometimes leads to burnout. Another successful but more sensitive solution has been the merging of parishes. Officials carefully examine the financial status, the socio-economic make-up of the parishioners, and condition of physical plants. They then seek to unite parishes in close proximity to each other at the location best suited to meeting all the needs of these sometimes diverse communities. Detail of the Assumption window. Many of the inner-city churches were established by the different ethnic groups that immigrated here in the last two centuries. Those people have moved on, retired, or relocated, leaving the 124 The Stained Glass Quarterly

2 The Nativity Window (left) and the Resurrection Window at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, Irvington, New Jersey. churches to a new wave of immigrants, most of whom have no ethnic connection to the old parishes. Despite this, there are still strong emotional ties to the church where one s parents were married and their children were baptized. Closing these and asking the members to now take part in a parish on the other side of town can cause deep-seated feelings of resentment that become a major challenge to the pastor now trying to blend these groups into a new parish community. Good Shepherd Parish in Irvington, NJ, is an example of a merged community that has found new life and vitality under the guidance of their Pastor, Father Frank Rocchi. This new parish consists of the combined communities of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Maplewood and St. Paul Church in Irvington. Since 2005, approximately 473 families have joined to form this new parish, whose plant offered a large The Stained Glass Quarterly 125

3 The Visitation (left) and the Assumption of Mary windows at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, Irvington, New Jersey. worship space, community hall, and grade school. Built in 1948, the facility is modern but facing maintenance issues expected of construction of this age. In addition, the worship space was never graced with stained glass. The window frames in the church had been replaced sometime in the last 40 years with budget, residential-type vinyl units. The 72" x 186" windows offered large areas of fenestration that flooded the nave and sanctuary with light. The vinyl units were never engineered to fill such a large area and were starting to show signs of stress. In addition, Father Rocchi saw the potential of enhancing the worship space and bringing the community together on a meaningful project by installing stained glass windows. Unfortunately, budgets were limited. The window frames required replacement to retain stained glass, adding to the overall cost of the project. Father Rocchi reached out to the Archdiocese of Newark, whose Office of Development and Property Management have been doing remarkable things to document and preserve their patrimony. Archdiocesan Art Historian Troy 126 The Stained Glass Quarterly

4 Interior, before and after. The Stained Glass Quarterly 127

5 Crucifixion (detail) Simmons, MA, CC, had catalogued the art works at Our Lady of Lourdes, a closed chapel in Union City, NJ. Among their treasures were 31 stained glass windows created by Hiemer and Company Stained Glass Studio, Clifton, NJ, in Ten of the stained glass windows portrayed New Testament Biblical figure groups depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary. These windows were approximately 42" x 57". Seventeen additional windows, approximately 42" x 37" depicted the busts of various Apostles and Saints of popular devotion. The windows were designed by Hiemer & Company staff artist Simon Berasaluce. Born in Deva in the Basque region of Spain, Simon Berasaluce received training at the Royal Academies in Madrid and Barcelona. Upon completion of his studies, he spent some years at the Maumejean Studio in Paris where he received awards for his work. He won an international competition for stained glass design at Sacre Cour in Paris. Despite his award, the committee chose to have a French artist execute the work. In 1951, he joined Hiemer & Company, bringing with him the emerging styles and techniques being practiced in Europe. 128 The Stained Glass Quarterly

6 Detail of an angel from the Assumption of Mary window. The Stained Glass Quarterly 129

7 Portrait of Mary His work for the Union City Chapel combined traditional portrayals with his unique hand. An expert portrait artist, he developed painting techniques that brought great depth and emotion to his faces. His articulation of musculature in anatomy brought a realism that was yet stylized. Later in his career, Simon was able to apply up to 11 layers of matte to any given piece before firing. It is the faces, the expressions, and the delicate interplay of light and shadow that make these enigmatic portrayals timeless in their representation of faith. The monetary value and this artistic quality is what Troy Simmons recognized as making the stained glass well worth preserving. With no place to store it and no new tenant coming into the Union City Chapel, it was decided to board up the windows on the outside to protect them from vandals until a time at which they might be moved. So it came to pass that the connection was made between Father Rocchi and the beautiful panels at Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel. Because of the historic connection, Hiemer and Company was brought in to remove the stained glass and move them to Good Shepherd for storage. The Journeymen sent to remove the panels were met with quite a surprise. The chapel was pitch black due to the boardup of the windows, and the electricity had been turned off when the building was abandoned. There was the addition- 130 The Stained Glass Quarterly

8 al problem of vagrants occupying the structure to get out of the elements. Vandals had trashed what remained in the chapel, upturning pews and leaving heaps of garbage throughout. When the Archdiocese was made aware of the impossible working conditions, Troy came in and consulted with Hiemer foreman Michael Lomazzo to remedy the situation. Mr. Simmons had electricity run in for the duration of the project and contacted local police to control the vandals and vagrants. The panels were successfully removed without damage, despite some stubborn putty bevels, and were found to be in excellent condition. After reviewing three bids for the restructuring of the windows, the archdiocese awarded the contract to Hiemer & Company. At this phase, the project moved to the drawing board, where foreman Michael Lomazzo, owners Judith & James Van Wie, and journeymen artists Linda Ebertz and Matthew Earrusso went through the panels to determine what the best configuration might be both for artistic balance and liturgical significance. A preliminary plan was submitted to Father Frank Rocchi, who then made some adjustments that better reflected the devotions of his faith community. After several layouts and paste-ups, a pattern of two single-figure windows and one figure group was selected for each of the 10 windows in Irvington. A simple rectangular background was used to fill out the windows, allowing the original works to show to their best advantage. There was a plan; now they needed structure. James Van Wie contacted David Sussman of J. Sussman, Inc., in Jamaica, Queens, NY, and they worked up a configuration that allowed the least amount of change to the old stained glass while engineering a frame that would properly support the glazing and stand up to generations of weathering. The tall James Van Wie and Fr. Frank Rocchi frames were constructed from Sussman s 6400 series extrusion, and a splice midway was provided for maximum support and ease of handling. The frame provides for the installation of 1" thick insulating glass to the exterior and stained glass to the interior. One final matter was a large transom window at the main entrance to Good Shepherd Parish. Father Frank Rocchi had stained glass panels from the old St. Paul Convent, which had been torn down. He also had a lovely old window depicting Immaculate Heart of Mary from one of the parishes combined in this building. There was also a beautiful panel of St. Paul, the namesake of the other parish. Father Frank had a dream of creating a window that told the history of this parish and the uniting of two communities to make a new faith family. At least a dozen layouts were created before arriving at the final design, which is completely composed of the old windows. Artist Journeyman Linda Ebertz removed the border ornament from all the convent windows and isolated the figure medallions. She then laid out four of the convent figures, the St. Paul window, the Immaculate Heart window, and one last window fragment depicting The Crucifixion. Linda manipulated the ornament to create flowing borders that seem to have been made for this window. It is busy and old but does exactly what the team and Father Rocchi set out to do: Tell the history of the Parish in stained glass. A J. Sussman 200 series frame adapted the steel tubing to receive the stained glass for a professional and serviceable finish. The installation of the beautifully refit stained glass transformed the worship space from a brightly lit hall to a sacred space conducive to public and private prayer. The subjects portrayed offer objects for private devotion. The beautiful blue glass, a mixture of Lamberts and Wissmach, fills the atmosphere with a gentle hue interspersed with spots of brilliant color as the light passes through different areas of the panels. The new atmosphere is reflective of a new parish. Two old communities have come together and created something beautiful together. The Archdiocese of Newark has saved beautiful works of art, and Good Shepherd Parish may now enjoy these works for generations to come generations who are no longer seeing themselves as a blended community but will simply be the members of Good Shepherd Parish in Irvington, NJ. Judith Hiemer Van Wie is President of Hiemer & Company Stained Glass Studio and a fourth-generation Stained Glass Journeyman. e The Stained Glass Quarterly 131