The Art of Saint Lawrence Church
An excerpt from the 1984 history of the parish (available here)
Inspiration for the architecture of Saint Lawrence Church came from the medieval builders who symbolized their religious beliefs in wood and stone. They dramatized teachings of Holy Scripture in carvings and stained glass. Their churches were austere, symbolizing a renunciation of the flesh and of materialism. They built them high, symbolizing man's reaching out to heaven for the promise of a life to come. They decorated their altars with symbols of faith and with niches in which sculptures of saints were set, reminding them of exemplary lives lived in imitation of Jesus Christ.
Saint Lawrence Church is a free rendering of the early English Gothic style of architecture. The distinguishing characteristics are simplicity and massiveness of composition. The main facade, which is flanked by a square tower, is marked by a great rose window, sixteen feet in diameter, and the main entrance doors which are designed in a unit. The facade on Buttonwood Street indicates low aisle walls with small twin apertures which are in marked contrast in size and simplicity to the large clearstory windows of the nave. Interest in these windows, as well as in the rose window, is heightened by stone tracery of varied design.
The trim, buttress caps, copings and window tracery are of Indiana limestone wrought in intricate mouldings.
Vestibule
The vestibule is of paneled quartered oak and plaster. Originally without decoration, the paintings and statuary were added later. The symbolism in the glass of the front door recalls events in the Holy Scriptures.
Sanctuary
The most striking feature of the interior is the marble sanctuary. In the center of its vaulted ceiling is a great boss in which the ribs of the vaulting terminate. The sanctuary threshold is Napoleon Grey marble (now carpeted) and the wainscoting is Porto Santo marble. The windows of the sanctuary and the rose window are executed in imported antique glass. In design, color and leading they are in exact conformity to the leaded glass of medieval times, corresponding to the period which has given inspiration to the architecture of the church. The sublimity of the sanctuary is expressed best in its altars. They were carved in Italy of Cenera marble and contain a tabernacle in which the Holy Eucharist is kept. Sculptures, also carved in Italy, fill the niches. The detail of the altars and sanctuary railing is worthy of note.
Nave
In the nave, the clearstory windows are of grisaille, allowing sufficient light to filter through, giving the interior a somber, mellow atmosphere and disposing the worshipper to personal communion with God. The trim of the piers and arches of the clearstory walls is limestone, the arches being relieved of their simplicity by delicately carved mouldings. The aisle wainscoting is Indiana limestone and the floors are laid with fire-flashed quarry tile.
Paintings
The paintings on the nave and aisle walls were commissioned in 1930 by Monsignor Peter Huegel, Pastor, and executed by the Dutch artist, DeGroot. They are done in the Byzantine style and reflect the art deco approach of the artist's time. The paintings depict the events related in Holy Scripture of the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His mission.
Stations
The fourteen Stations of the Cross, set in high relief in the aisle walls, commemorate the traditional pathway Jesus followed from the Court of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to Calvary, where he was crucified. Nine events of this sorrowful journey are related in the Gospels and five are rooted in tradition.
Side altars
In contrast to the essential and universal humanity portrayed in the paintings on the nave walls and in the Stations are the figures employed in the paintings over the side altars. The subjects here are of the spiritual world. This work is more formal and more in keeping with the Byzantine style.
Aisle walls
Small paintings on the aisle walls are symbolic representations of virtues to be practiced for spiritual growth.
Ceiling
The ceiling of the nave is one of the church's most unusual features, wood paneling elaborately decorated in primitive colors - black, white, red, blue and gold. Polychrome work of this nature has been little known in this country, but many of the European medieval churches were so decorated.
Bell
The story of the art of the church would be incomplete without a tribute to the artistry and craftmanship that creates the music of its bell. It was presented around 1880 by Father Aloysius Kuhlman, of Lebanon, to old Saint Lawrence (Walnut Street at Fifth). It became a much loved sound to those who lived and worked in the area. When the church was razed for the Capitol Park Extension the loss of the bell was lamented in a local paper. It was brought to its present site in 1917. The bell is 43" in diameter and weighs 1500 pounds. The wheel is 6'6" and its tone is G. It was cast by McShane Bell Foundry.
Symbols
- Front Doors: Keys - Keys of the Kingdom
- Dove: Holy Spirit
- Chalice: The Blood of Christ
Sanctuary windows
Figures in the sanctuary windows, from left, represent:
- Saint Rita, wife and mother
- Saint Mary Magdalen, first witness of the Resurrection
- Saint Matthew
- Saint Mark
- Saint Peter
- Saint Paul
- Saint Luke
- Saint John
- Saint Rose of Lima, first American saint (S.A.)
- Saint Ann, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
High Altar statues
Statuary in the niches of the main altar, from left, represent:
- Saint Lawrence, martyr, deacon
- Saint Anthony of Padua, noted for almsgiving
- Saint Agnes, virgin, martyr
- Saint John the Baptist
- Saint Aloysius, patron of youth
- Saint Helena, credited with discovery of the Holy Cross
- Saint Clare, co-founder of Poor Clares
- Saint Stephen, first martyr
Nave paintings
Subjects of nave paintings, from right front:
- The Annunciation
- The Visitation
- The Nativity
- The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
- The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.
From left rear:
- The Resurrection
- The Ascension
- The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
- The Assumption
- The Coronation