Restoration project nearly complete at St. Boniface in Wimbledon

To the casual visitor to St. Boniface’s Church in Wimbledon, the recent sanctuary restoration project is a beautiful sight to behold. For longtime parishioners, it’s a marvel.

A $70,000 project to restore church artwork, statues, stations and the reredos (backdrops) located behind the altar was completed in just six months. The restoration has reshaped the entire interior of the church. North Dakota-based liturgical artist Dennis Norlack not only repaired and repainted the Stations of the Cross. He created from scratch additions to the reredos to place platforms on both sides for two statues once thought lost to St. Boniface parish.

“To the left you have St. Cecilia, to the right you have St. John the Evangelist. And those two statues were actually in an old museum in town here,” said Father Sean Mulligan, pastor of St. Boniface. “They were originally a part of St. Boniface and they were taken out. They did a renovation I think in the early 70s. Those were taken out at that time, along with the base of the statue stands. When you came in here, as you can see in the old photo, the high altar (reredos) looked chopped off on the sides, because it was.

Narlock took molds of the existing spires on the reredos backdrop and built from scratch the additions on each side, utilizing the old pedestals in the process. He restored and repainted the statues of St. Cecilia and St. John the Evangelist. He also restored and repainted the smaller statues of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and repainted the crucifixion scene to match the twelfth Station of the Cross that hangs in the church. In fact, St. John the Evangelist is portrayed three times on the reredos, and his images are perfect matches of each other. The only deviation is Mary’s clothing. She is dressed in dark clothing on the Twelfth Station because she is Our Lady of Sorrows. But on the reredos she is dressed in bright blue. Father Mulligan says he hopes the completed restoration will inspire the faithful in attendance at Mass.

“The high altar of the sanctuary is pointing you up towards heaven,” said Father Mulligan. “You have the saints here because the angels and saints are with us at Mass. It's not just us and the Lord, but also heaven is here at the Mass, the angels and the saints as well. And so the sanctuary, in a special way, points us to heaven, in a sense represents heaven, as this is a place where heaven and earth meet in a profound and intimate way of Jesus coming down from heaven to earth in the Holy Eucharist, who we get to receive.”

Even the church’s patron, St. Boniface, has been restored and relocated to a place of honor overlooking the altar from the side of the sanctuary. Father Mulligan said with the restoration, there really wasn’t a place to put the figure. So Dennis Narlock agreed to build a new stand on the wall for the restored statue.

“His eyes now lead you to the altar,” said Father Mulligan. “If you look at him, he leads you to the altar to Jesus. And of course, he was missing the knife in the book. That's the symbol of his martyrdom.”

One addition to the sanctuary is a gift from the parishioners of the former St. Bernard’s Church in Oriska, which was torn down a few years back. The golden angel statues from that church now have a place of honor on each side of the newly restored reredos. If you are passing through Wimbledon, Father Mulligan invites you to look in on the restorations. And, if you are there on a Sunday, stay for Mass.