In 2015, after a donor gave $100,000 for the restoration of the altar railing, Bishop (now Archbishop) Gregory Hartmayer gave us permission to restore the altar railing.
Subsequent photos show the extension of the first step to accommodate the restoration of the railing and the last photo is the complete restoration.
We had stored the original removed railing in the basement of one of our buildings on campus. However, in the 1970’s the double gates to the main entrance of the sanctuary and one gate at a side entrance had been lost. We only had the other side gate.
New pieces needed for the altar railing were fabricated, looking identical to the older ones and new gates were fabricated to match the one we had—and there was no telling of the difference between the new and the original. Amazing!
2 comments:
Father McDonald,
You are the polar opposite of a priest who is clericalism on steroids. You were able to recognize that symbols are powerful: kneeling for Holy Communion reinforces belief in the Real Presence and acknowledging you were wrong in removing the altar railing. Bravo!!! Alas, with that level of awareness you will never be made a bishop!
Father, never underestimate the impact of the moves you made at St. Joseph's over the years. Your blog was the first place I saw an ad orientem Novus Ordo actually done somewhere (after reading Ratzinger's thoughts about ad orientem in high school). St. Joseph's was also the first parish I saw where the TLM and NO existed side-by-side. Between all that and your eventual restoration of the altar rail, it gave me hope that parish life could move toward tradition in more places.
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