SNOW!!

Since it's been a snowy weekend and many of you may be confined to your home, I thought I'd post a couple photographs of SPX in the snow. Unfortunately this is the 3rd major event we've had during our construction. Between the snow and rain, we just can't seem to get the cloister and future parking lot dry enough to grade. Maybe in the next couple weeks we can get the final grading completed.


Even with the snow, major work was accomplished last week. The trim work continues to go up and keeps looking better. In addition, the altar began to take shape.














Hope you've enjoyed the photographs around our campus.

GERMANY TO INDIANA TO GREENSBORO IN 110 YEARS

Around 10:00 AM on Monday, a truck from Statesville Stained Glass arrived at our construction site. Since we began making our "Place at the Table" we have looked forward to seeing the 100+ year old stained glass windows in their new home. In past posts, you have learned about the history of these windows and the process to restore them to their original brilliance. For this post, I tried to capture the installation in photos and video. Unfortunately the bright lights from the windows made video from my camera problematic. I was able to capture a small portion of the installation of the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" window which is at the end of the BLOG. Here are photos of the process beginning with inspecting the windows before unloading them.



Unloading the windows was a smooth process with the windows set out in sections. You can see Todd our Superintendent and Susan Melvin checking them out before they were loaded into the lift for their permanent home.



The next photos show how the windows fit into place and are clipped.



You can then see the Crucifix in front of two windows. Of course the missing window is the Nativity .



At the end of the morning, we had in place a view which we will be able to enjoy in person for years to come starting April 17th.



Of course these photos are above the altar, but there were also 10 windows installed in the Day Chapel. The following photos show several of the Day Chapel windows. In one Msgr. Marcaccio and Guy Lizotte discuss these windows with "Doodle" (our assistant superintendent).



In closing, I mentioned earlier that I had made numerous attempts to capture the installation in video. This footage was shot in the Day Chapel as the last section of window was installed. Its dark but hopefully you can see it OK.

JOURNEY FROM TREE TO CRUCIFIX

The long awaited week finally arrived when the Crucifix we will see each time we enter St. Pius X is now in place. This BLOG will show the story which began with logging one of our oak trees. If you read the December 23rd posting "What A Difference a Year Makes" you saw the video of a tree that nearly landed on the Building Chairman and Project Superintendent. The reason I took that video is that this tree provided the wood for the crosses that will be over both of our altars. I will take you on a pictorial journey from tree to Crucifix.

The photographs below show the plank that was used for the cross being sawed into a board and placed on a truck to be kiln dried. Tim Samelak, a parishoner, took this wood and built three crosses for us. One cross is being used over the main altar and the second one will be used in the Day Chapel. Since we had enough wood, a third cross was also crafted. More on that later.



We did an extensive search in order to find the perfect corpus for the cross. After over a year of searching and trying to find a corpus that we could rescue from another closed Catholic church we settled on the corpus hand carved by Demetz, who is the most famous Italian wood and statue carver. The corpus is chestnut wood and the detail is fabulous. This photo shows Scott Knox holding the Body of Christ after opening the crate upon its arrival at Priba Funiture.


After the corpus was mounted on the cross, we see workers from Rentenbach, including Todd D'Andrea (Superintendent) and Johnatan "Doodle" Kilby ( Assistant Superintendent), begin this journey as they carry the crucifix into our church.



Once the crucifix arrived inside, the process of connecting it to the pulley system that had been attached to the beam began. We had to raise the crucifix twice. The first time was to get the exact measurements for the cable. Below you see Todd D'Andrea do some last minute work in order for the cable to be attached to the cross-member, then you see the crucifix as it's attached to the pulley system which will lift it in place. As Superintendent, Todd went over and above the call of duty in staining the cross and making all the connections necessary.





Once the crucifix has reached the appropriate height, the first photos show the 3/8 inch steel cable which will hold it in place. You then see the first cable being attached to the steel beam.





This video shows a portion of the Crucifix being raised. Due to the slow process and limitation on the size of each video I was only able to capture a portion of the process.



As we conclude this writing, I'll end with several photos showing what we'll be enjoying for years to come. The crucifix is 33 feet in the air... the number of years that Jesus walked on earth.

A New Year Brings New (Old) Stained Glass Windows

At last! It's 2010 and our church is just a few months away from completion. If you think it looks amazing now, just wait until you see how the next step transforms the building.

Next week, the stained glass windows are scheduled to be installed. Salvaged from a Catholic church being closed, these windows will add beauty and a sense of tradition to St. Pius X. We last posted about the windows here.

Connie Book, one of our parishioners, created the video below which shows several pictures of the family of 21 stained glass windows, which were being restored at Statesville Stained Glass.

Connie also chatted with Lance Waggener, a manager with Statesville Stained Glass, who shares how stained glass windows are developed and gives some background on the business they do around the world.

What do you think of our stained glass windows? We'd love to hear your opinions in the comments.