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Date this page
was last updated 27 Sep 2007
Altar Statuary Did
you ever wonder who are the Saints that are represented by the statues above the
main altar? Thanks to our resident heliographer, Father Rick, here are the
stories. The statues that adorn our main altar are from North to South (your left
to right as you look at the altar): Sts. Charles Borromeo,
Catherine of Alexandria, Joseph,
Theresa of Avila, and Bernard of Clairvaux.
They were the gift of Bernard Salbreiter in memory of family members who
bore those names. At the time of
the donation he was the oldest living German in town.
Saint
Charles Borromeo
Location: far North
 St. Charles Borromeo (1538-1584 A.D.) was born of
aristocratic families, the second of two sons in a family of six.
He was always serious about religion.
In spite of a lack of native brilliance and a speech impediment, he
made good progress in administrative and theological studies.
He did so well, in fact, that he was running a large diocese at age
23 while he was still only a deacon.
He became a priest and bishop three years later.
The Protestant Reformation had challenged the Church with
a need for reform within itself. Charles
was a mastermind of the Council of Trent, which reformed seminary
training, revised the catechism, reformed the liturgy, and other
remarkable achievements. Curiously
enough, he was the favorite saint of Pope John XXIII who, as Angelo
Roncalli was made bishop in the church of San Carlo Borromeo, Rome
maybe those who selected John XXIII as an interim, caretaker pope who
would leave things be should have known better!
Teaching and administration of the sacraments were vital
to Charles. He had such regard for the Mass that he is said to have never
said any prayer or carried out any rite in a rushed manner no matter how
busy he was. Particularly
concerned with catechetical formation of kids and not being content with
the short instructions given every Sunday and Holyday, he founded the
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), which eventually numbered 740
schools with 40,000 students and 3,000 catechists.
This makes him the originator of "Sunday schools," 200
years before Protestant churches popularized the idea.
During a great famine in 1570, Charles sold many church
valuables to procure supplies and fed some 3,000 of the poor for over
three months. He even took
down the curtains in his house to make clothes for the poor.
While meetings, councils and administration of his diocese kept him
busy, he never lost touch with basic needs he once delayed is arrival
at a meeting until he was sure a shepherd boy he met on the road knew his
Our Father and Hail Mary!
Charles was acquainted with many of the great saints of
his time Pope St. Pius V, St. Philip Neri and St. Ignatius Loyola. He gave St. Aloysius Gonzaga his First Holy Communion.
Our statue of him depicts him as a cardinal archbishop
(red robes & skullcap) and holding a crucifix to which he appears to
be giving very thoughtful attention.
This is so appropriate as he was known to extend and apply Lenten
penances to himself throughout the year so strictly that a pope once had
to remind him to get sufficient sleep and eat properly to sustain his
health.
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Saint
Catherine of Alexandria
Location: North-Center
 St. Catherine of Alexandria was born in Alexandria, Egypt
in the 3rd century to a noble, possibly royal family.
Legend says that before she was baptized she had a very strange
dream. In it she saw
the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child in her alms.
When Mary asked Jesus to make Catherine His servant, He looked away
and said she wasn't pretty enough! When
she awoke, Catherine, already famous for beauty and intelligence, wondered
how she could ever possibly please Jesus and found no peace till she was
baptized. After baptism,
Christ again appeared to her in a dream, accepted her as His spouse, and
put a ring on her finger which she found upon awakening and treasured the
rest of her life.
Later in her life, Emperor Maximin II, the Roman ruler in
Egypt, pledged to persecute and exterminate all those who refused to
worship the gods of the state religion. Catherine, a gifted preacher, went
to see the emperor in an attempt to persuade him off his intentions. Her
presentation was so effective that the emperor called in the most famous
and wise philosophers of his realm to debate and refute her.
Catherine accepted the challenge her brilliance and eloquence
converted the philosophers in the emperor's presence!
He was so upset that he ordered the wise men beheaded and Catherine
imprisoned without food until she would submit to the state religion.
Angels reportedly brought her food.
From her prison cell she made converts of all her visitors,
including the emperor's wife. In
anger, Maximin ordered the immediate execution of all Christians, except
Catherine. Her beauty was
irresistible. He offered to
marry her and make her empress if she would reject her religion.
When she unequivocally refused him, he ordered her execution.
Bound between four wheels rimmed with spikes, she was to
be torn to death. As sentence
was to be carried out, the wheels miraculously broke.
Maximin finally had her beheaded.
Her body is reputedly buried in a monastery atop Mt. Sinai.
The year of her death is approximated as 310 AD.
She is the patron saint of girls, philosophers and
preachers. She is one of the
voices heard by St. Joan of Arc as well as one of the fourteen Holy
Helpers. Our statue shows her as young, longhaired and attractive with
the poise of a pageant participant. She
wears a crown (symbol of royal origins), holds a book (a reference to
great learning) and a palm branch (a token of victory over death).
Alongside her is a spiked wheel, the symbol of her martyrdom.
Trivia:
Wheels in themselves have traditionally been regarded having-symbolic
religious significance.
Rotating force is a symbol of divine power without friction, it
continues without ceasing. The throne of God is borne on flaming wheels
with eyes and wings in Ezekiel 1:15-21.
A flaming sword turned every way to guard against Adam
& Eve's return to the Garden of Paradise after their sin; in art
this text is sometimes represented as a flaming wheel.
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Saint
Joseph - Our Patron Saint
Location: Center of the altar
Saint Joseph is the father of our Lord,
devoted husband of Our Blessed Mother, patron of the worker, a happy
death, and our parish. His story is well documented in the Bible.
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Saint
Theresa of Avila
Location: South-Center
 St. Theresa of Avila (1515 -1582 A.D.) is one of the
greatest, most interesting and widely appreciated women in history in the
estimation of most biographers. She
is the only woman honored by the church with the title Doctor of the
Church. At age seven, she was
already attracted to a life of virtue, although she saw everyone in her
large, blended family of fourteen as holier than herself.
She played at being a hermit and tried to run away to become a
martyr. When she left behind
her childhood imagination, she had what we would recognize as a normal
adolescence: she loved romantic novels, was boy crazy and into high
fashion, perfume and her looks. So
much so, that, her father sent her to convent boarding school at age
fifteen to straighten her out. After
a series of illnesses, she became increasingly serious about becoming a
nun a result of her schooling her father had not foreseen,
which he resisted.
For a while people thought she was crazy because she had,
mystical visions, mystical experiences, and inner, intimate communications
with God in prayer. These
raptures and ecstasies (during which me sometimes levitated) made her the
subject of gossip, ridicule and disapproval.
Some thought she was a deluded, attention-seeking youngster.
Others thought her a hypocrite or demonically possessed.
Because of this atmosphere of doubt, she also doubted herself until
a counselor recognized her experiences as genuine, mystical gifts of truly
supernatural origin.
She wrote many books about her spiritual experiences.
They are simple to read and still very popular among those who
practice meditation. The most
famous is The Interior Castle. She founded many convents and reformed the lifestyle of nuns.
At that time the lifestyle of nuns had become too easy going.
Convents had become places for social gatherings and gentlemen
callers were entertained frequently.
Candidates were not screened for spiritual qualities, and the
appearances of indiscretions led to "nunnery" being a slang word
for a brothel. While her
reforms were opposed at first, the good order and prayerfulness that
resulted won her respect and real admiration.
To become a nun, a girl had to be sincere and intelligent:
A mind that is deficient or narrow never sees its faults, even
when shown them. It is always
pleased with itself and never learns to do right.
May God preserve us from stupid nuns!"
Intelligence, in these words directly quoted of her, was the
necessary soil for holiness.
Her busy life broke her health and she died in the arms of
a sister-friend shortly after receiving Holy Communion. There is a beautiful statue of her by the Italian artist,
Bernini (responsible for much of St. Peter's Basilica), in the Church
of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.
It depicts an angel piercing her heart with a spear to open it for
an intimate experience of God's love.
Our statue, while less emotional and artistic, represents her
accurately as a woman of great intelligence (with writing quill and book
in hands), in the typical habit of the Discalced (this means they don't
wear shoes, just sandals) Carmelite Sisters, and gazing upwards toward
heaven as if just attracted by a vision the Holy.
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Saint
Bernard of Clarivaux
Location: far South
St Bernard of
Clairvaux (1090-1153 A.D.) was a middle-aged man of vigor.
He is represented wearing white robe of a Cistercian monk. His right hand holds a monastery. He was involved in founding nearly 70. His left hand is empty, missing the original walking staff
that accompanies a public preacher.
He
was born in Dijon, France (I wonder if he enjoyed his Grey Poupon?), lived
a reportedly frivolous youth, but got serious when is mother suddenly
died. He convinced four of
his brothers and 27 other relatives/friends to all enter the monastic life
together. He chose the
Cistercians as they lived a strict, austere version of the rules of St.
Benedict. His very serious approach to life at first made him a bit
difficult with whom to get along. However,
it also contributed to his character and helped him be an excellent
student. He gained a
reputation for holiness, wisdom and learning.
He became an adviser to kings and Popes, an arbitrator of the many
political and religious disputes, a promoter of the second Crusade to
rescue the Holy Land from the Moslems, and was famed as an eloquent,
moving and convincing preacher. Amazingly
he had time to write extensively, even with the demands travel and counsel
put on him. He wrote famous
works on mystical prayer, some 300 sermons, 500 letters, studies of
Scripture, and even a book of guidelines used by Popes to govern the
church. The stress of
negotiating a peace settlement between a ruler and his citizenry led to
his sudden and untimely death. He
is the last of the great teachers referred to as a Father of the Church.
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