UPDATE No. 2: The response from parishioners has been overwhelming! There are just NINE windows left to sponsor!
As you heard last weekend, we have launched a preservation drive for our historic stained glass windows here at St. Ambrose Church.
These windows are century-old priceless treasures. The work represents a level of artistry that you’d be hard-pressed to find today.
The painterly scenic windows were created by the Franz Mayer studio of Munich, Germany. His work was so valued worldwide at the time that Pope Leo XIII declared his studio a “Pontifical Institute of Christian Art.”
The opalescent glass symbolic windows in the upper, or clerestory, level of the church were created by Henry Keck’s studio in Syracuse. Keck was an apprentice to renowned glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany.
It will cost the parish about $59,500 to have these windows preserved through repairing rotting millwork around the windows, re-cementing them and placing new acrylic protective covers over them to replace the ones that have clouded over. On a sunny day, you can already see the difference the preservation work by Associated Crafts is making.
This week all parishioners have been mailed a brochure explaining the process of sponsoring a window to help defray the substantial (but necessary) cost to our parish. Pledges have already been made toward several windows, so if there is one that you are interested, act quickly. Call the parish office at 754-2330 to make an appointment with Joe Maher or Phyllis Gonzales.
A century ago, our parish was founded by just 25 families. The gift they gave us, this beautiful church, must be preserved in their honor, for our own spiritual inspiration, and to preserve Western Broome County’s first Catholic church, St. Ambrose.
