Glass worker Joe Eppen seals the edges of the new polycarbonate covering on the front stained-glass window Wednesday at St. Francis Xavier Church in downtown Missoula. The Knights of Columbus donated money to update the window's protective covering, making the image more visible from the outside.

Article by Chelsi Moy, The Missoulian,
Thursday, April 16, 2009

Photo by KURT WILSON, The Missoulian

We Can See Clearly Now

Donation helps Church display window to the world

Workers peeled away the Plexiglas covering a stained-glass window at St. Francis Xavier Church this week, revealing a masterful piece of artwork hidden from public view for decades.

Above the steps leading to the church's front entrance is an 18-foot-tall stained-glass window depicting the Sorrowful Mother - the Virgin Mary, with a knife piercing her heart.

Inside the church, a massive pipe organ in the choir loft hides the window from the congregation's view. From the outside, the Plexiglas covering had turned yellow from years of moisture and exposure to the sunlight.

So for years, the stained-glass window has gone unnoticed by the world.

Until now.

The red brick church in downtown Missoula was built in 1892. The stained-glass windows were installed around the turn of the century.

The protective coverings on the outside of the windows were installed in the late 1970s, said parish administrator Mike Bloomdahl.

A year ago, local artist Lane Timothy painted a portrait of the stained-glass window from a photo. Timothy donated the piece to the Loyola Sacred Heart Foundation as an auction item at their annual fundraiser, Building A Scholastic Heritage, or BASH.

“Everyone thought it was so nice and that it should be visible,” Bloomdahl said.

Around the same time, members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization, were outside St. Francis Xavier collecting donations for their annual Tootsie Roll Drive to benefit Special Olympics. What struck the fundraisers was their inability to see the brilliant colors and masterful design work of the window, which at one time was one of the church's focal points.

The Knights of Columbus paid $5,000 to switch out the opaque Plexiglas for polycarbonate, a more heavy-duty plastic covering.

“How many people drive down this road a day and no one can see it?” said Kert Gordon, a member of the Knights of Columbus. “It might be nice for people to see that window.”

The eventual restoration of all of the church's stained-glass windows is a top priority for St. Francis Xavier, Bloomdahl said, but the total cost of cleaning the glass and replacing the protective covers would run hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's why the church is so grateful for the Knights of Columbus' assistance, he said.

“The window is so beautiful,” Bloomdahl said. “It's nice to see the window again.”

Coincidentally, St. Francis Xavier three weeks ago replaced the lights that illuminate the stained-glass window, he said. They had been broken for some time.

When the lights are on inside the church, outside viewers will have the best view of the window for the first time in years. St. Francis Xavier celebrates Mass daily at 8 a.m.

Missoulian Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260