Welcome to St. Mary’s –
yesterday and today
Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, located
in the heart of historic German Village, beautifully brings together history
and tradition with a vibrant faith life. Considered by many to be the landmark building
of the area, St. Mary’s stands as a symbol of the religious foundation of the
German immigrants who settled here during the 1800’s.
In 1863, the German-speaking Catholics in south Columbus
began working toward a church of their own. Two years later, in 1865, the
parish of St. Mary’s was founded. A temporary combination of a one-room church,
one-room school and second floor rectory was erected at a cost of $5,000. This
building, located behind the present church, is now called the Specht Center after
the church’s first pastor, Msgr. Francis X. Specht.
In 1866, construction began on St. Mary’s, the third
Catholic Church in Columbus. Under the direction of architects Blackburn and
Koehler, the church was constructed at a cost of $40,000.00. The building is of
German Gothic design and is 62.5 feet wide, 140 feet long, 75 feet high and 60
feet clear. The ceiling vault is unsupported. On November 29, 1868, St. Mary’s
was dedicated by Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans.
In 1987, church leaders initiated a
major renovation to preserve the architecture and historical beauty of the
church. This renovation included: completely restoring the ceiling and wall
artwork, enlarging the sanctuary area, relocating the ambo, new carpet and wood
floor, refinishing the pews, installing new kneelers, establishing a north-side
entrance handicapped ramp, new public address system and new Stations of the
Cross.
On December 6, 1987, the community celebrated the
restoration of St. Mary’s in a dedication ceremony, with the Most Reverend James
A. Griffin, Bishop of Columbus, presiding.
In 1994, the slate roof of the steeple was replaced. In 1998,
air conditioning was added to the church, a gift of St. Mary alumnus Dr. &
Mrs. W. W. O’Donnell. In 2002, renovation of the Burkley Center provided office
space, restroom facilities, meeting spaces, and an elevator to aid
accessibility.
The organ
The original organ was made by a
local builder and was installed in 1875. In 1901, the present organ was built by the William
Schuelke Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and installed at a cost of $5,000. In the 35 stops in the great, swell, and pedal
organs, there are 2,250 pipes. It was later electrified, and in 2001, fully
restored.
The
reconciliation rooms
The current reconciliation rooms are in the
rear of the church. The
north reconciliation room was originally the baptismal area, and still has a
ceiling painting full of water symbols. Around the painting’s edges is
inscribed: “As the heart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul
panteth after thee, O God” (Ps.41:2). In the south room was the “pieta,” a
statue of Mary holding Jesus. This room also contained small vigil candles,
whose soot ruined the room’s ceiling.
Stations of the Cross
St. Mary’s 14 approximately
100-year-old “Stations of the Cross” are antique paint-on-copper pictures. They
depict incidents in Jesus’ last journey. These Stations of the Cross were
discovered during the disassembly of another church, and donated to St. Mary’s.
The pictures were framed by Lou Calderone, using pieces of the oak pews that
were removed during St. Mary’s renovation. The stations were hung the same day
as the 1987 dedication.
The steeple
The steeple, 197 feet above ground level, was built above
the tower in 1893 at a cost of $5,000. The clock was installed in 1894. In 1870,
the chime of three bells was hung in the tower at a cost of $2,200.
On
April 24, 1963 a new 500-pound stainless steel cross was placed at the top of
the church steeple. It replaced the old weather worn wooden one, which had
stood there for 70 years.
In
1994, at a cost of $147,000, the church steeple was restored. New copper
flashing was installed and all the slate was replaced. Pieces of the old
steeple slate were distributed as lasting remembrances of St. Mary’s.
The alcoves
The alcoves in the north and south
walls originally housed confessionals. The relics of saints are displayed in the
south front alcove of the church. A picture of the Divine Mercy is in the north
front alcove. The “pieta” is now located in the south rear alcove. A statue of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus is in the north rear left alcove.
The paintings
The ceiling design was originally
painted in the 1890’s. The ten ceiling panels depict some of the German symbols
and invocations of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.
Conrad Schmitt Studios of New
Berlin, Wisconsin repainted the ceiling during the renovation of 1987.
Photographs and stencils of the original ceiling were used to reproduce the
design, which had been damaged by years of wear and deterioration.
On the north side closest to the
altar and moving back:
Thurm Davids/Bitte fϋr uns (Tower of David/Pray for us)
The Tower of David was the strongest tower in the wall of
Jerusalem and survived the destruction of the city.
Geistliche Rose/Bitte fϋr uns (Mystical Rose/Pray for us)
Goodness and holiness flower in the saints. Mary, the queen
of saints, can be called then the “Mystical Rose” and in her are found the
mystical mysteries.
Ehrwurdiges Gefass/Bitte fϋr uns (Vessel of
Honor/Pray for us)
Mary a pure virgin held in her womb the Savior of the
world.
Sitz der Weisheit/Bitte fϋr uns (Seat of
Wisdom/Pray for us)
Mary can be called the “Seat of Wisdom” because wisdom
became incarnate in her son Jesus whom she carried in her womb.
Spiegel der Gerechtigkeit/Bitte fϋr uns (Mirror of
Justice/Pray for us)
Mary, responsive to the will of God, reflects God’s own
holiness. She mirrors the holiness of God. She is the “mirror of justice.”
On the south side closest to the
altar and moving back:
Elfenbeinerner Thurm/Bitte fϋr uns (Tower of
Ivory/Pray for us)
The Ivory Tower exists as a sanctuary to help those who are
lost find their way home.
Goldenes Haϋs/Bitte fϋr uns (House of Gold/Pray for us)
Mary was the temple of God; her womb “housed” the Lord. She
is the “House of Gold.”
Arche des Bundes/Bitte fϋr uns (Ark of the
Covenant/Pray for us)
The Ark of the Covenant contained a
piece of manna, the rod of Aaron, and the tablets of the covenant, tokens of
God’s agreement with the people of Israel.
Himmelspforte/Bitte fϋr uns (Gate of
Heaven/Pray for us)
Mary, we greet you as the Gate of Heaven because you are
the Mother of the Gate of Heaven, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
Morgenstern/Bitte fϋr uns
(Morningstar/Pray for us)
Mary is the “Morning Star” that heralds the coming of
Jesus, the sun of justice and the dawning of the day of redemption.
Between 1930 and 1935 Gerhart
Lemars, a native of Munich, Germany, completed the sanctuary paintings. The
ceiling painting of the apse represents the dome of heaven with the eye of God
encased in an equilateral triangle, representing the Trinity. The oval symbols
near the face of the apse are symbols of salvation. The angels hold instruments of Jesus’ passion and stand over the Latin
which translates, ‘Behold the wood of the cross on which hung the salvation
of the world...Faithful cross, most noble tree of all.’
The fresco oil paintings, which
flank either side of the sanctuary above the side altars, were signed and dated
1867 by Wenceslaus Thein and William Lamprecht, Cincinnati, Ohio. The painting
on the left depicts the Epiphany of the Lord (the visit of the thee kings); the
one on the right depicts Jesus, Mary, Joseph and St. Anne in Joseph’s carpenter
shop. Their frames are actually part of the paintings.
The Crucifix
Parishioner Thomas
Zinner constructed the near-life-size wooden crucifix hanging from the dome
above the apse. Measuring 10 feet by 12 feet, it was first hung in the
1930-1935 period. Four symbols at its extremities represent the four
evangelists Matthew (a human head), Mark (a lion), Luke (an ox) and John (an
eagle). The crucifix was removed in 1987, refurbished and replaced in its
original position in 1998.
Stained-glass windows
St. Mary’s Church has a total of 13
stained glass windows. No records are known to exist regarding the stained
glass windows in St. Mary’s Church. The original windows were not pictorial.
They featured geometric patterns and religious symbols. They were designed to
fit gothic styled stone casements which had full-length dividers down the
middle. Original windows are still to be found on either of the stairways
leading to the choir loft, on either side of the organ, in the sacristy, in the
vestibules and over the doors entering the church.
Eight of the original stained glass
windows were replaced with painted pictorial stained glass windows. These
replacement windows on the north and south walls of the sanctuary each contain
five stained glass windows. Four of each of the five on the sanctuary walls are
hand painted “stained glass” windows and depict stories from the Bible, the
life of Jesus Christ, Mary, the Holy Family and legends of saints (St. Dominic
and St. Theresa). The remaining stained glass windows are made of actual
stained glass and are mosaics.
North Wall – First window from the altar
St. Dominic and Mary
This
painted “stain glass” window depicts St. Dominic with the rosary and Mary. This
window is dedicated to the remembrance of Monsignor Francis Xavier Specht, the
first pastor of St. Mary’s. (Zur Erinnerung Anden Hochwurd F X Specht, V.G.)
This painted stained glass window depicts the announcement by the angel
Gabriel to Mary that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God who was to be
named Jesus. (Luke 2:26-35) Dedicated to Fr. Benjamin P. Horny first regular
assistant at St. Mary’s (1886-1903).
The
Holy Family Third
window
This window depicts The Holy Family in a garden being serenaded by a
young cherub playing a violin. Music is important to Germans of all ages and
the early parishioners of St. Mary’s were very German. Donated by Regina &
Adam Dunkle
This
window depicts St. Mary Margaret Alacoque kneeling before Jesus who exposes his
heart to her. This window also is dedicated to Monsignor Francis Xavier Specht.
This event is not frequently depicted in religious art.
The
scene is idyllic, a pleasant, verdant spot beside a small stream or pool. The
blessed boys are attended by three cherubs and by a large, dignified, reclining
lamb (Agnus Dei).
The Immaculate Conception is presented as an icon rather than an event.
Mary is in an almond shaped nimbus edged with thirty stars standing on a
crescent moon. Under the moon a serpent, with an apple in its mouth, is crushed
by Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the new Eve.
The altar is at the center of our church, and at the center
of our faith. The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of
the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the
sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the
Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the
assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and
as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. "For what is the altar of
Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?" asks St. Ambrose. He says
elsewhere, "The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of
Christ is on the altar." The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and
communion in many prayers. The altar table in Christianity has been the focal point
of unity, reverence, prayer, and worship
The tabernacle, “tent” holds the
Blessed Sacrament. This gilded receptacle is placed in the center of the
reredos and reminds us that Jesus Christ is the center of our life. The
tabernacle candle is next to the tabernacle. It is lit when the Blessed Sacrament
is present.
The reredos is visible behind the main altar, standing 45'
high and 20' wide. This “prayer wall” was carved from white walnut by Allard
Klooter at a cost of $2,500. The reredos constructed prior to 1866 is older
than St. Mary. It was moved here from another church in Cincinnati. In a time
when many in the congregation were illiterate, a reredos or prayer wall
provided statues and pictures for the prayerful reflection of the congregation.
The reredos in St. Mary’s contains three statues all made of carved wood. The
center statue is Mary, Mother of God, holding the infant Jesus. She is
patroness of the parish under the title Mary, of the Assumption.
The statue left of center is St. Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of
carpenters; on the right is St. Boniface, patron of the German people. Arching
over the reredos is the Latin phrase “Ave Maria Gratia Plena,” or “Hail Mary,
Full of Grace.”
St. Mary’s ambo, where the Word of
the Lord is proclaimed, is today located to the left of the altar. Originally,
it was on the right side of the altar and elevated (readers had to climb steps
to reach it). The ambo canopy with a statue of the Good Shepherd is still in
place.
The Baptismal font with its copper
bowl and carved base has been in continuous use since 1868. The Baptistery
stands where the original ambo stood.
On either side of the sanctuary
are side altars. The one on the right is dedicated to St. Joseph and the one on
the left to Mary, Mother of God.