(Featured photo: The elements have taken their toll on the century-old stained glass windows at Church of the Most Holy Trinity. Charmain Z. Brackett/Augusta Good News)
When hard west winds drive rain against the Church of the Most Holy Trinity’s historic edifice, the century old stained-glass windows often leak.
The years and the elements have taken their toll leaving visible buckling and distortions, and the installation of a protective glass over the windows has only made things worse as the placement left little room for the windows to expand and contract with changing temperatures, according to the Rev. Jacob Almeter, the church’s pastor.
The church is making efforts to restore its windows created by Franz Mayer and Co. of Munich in the early 1900s.
The concert Sacred Music Throughout the Ages will be at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4, at the church, to benefit the restoration project.
It will begin with Gregorian chants, some of the earliest sacred music in the Catholic church, and will follow the development of the music into the Renaissance and Romantic periods, he said.
Variations in music came in different regions.
“In different parts of Europe, the style changes,” he said.
The parish choir and the children’s choir will be featured, and they will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra.
“It’s neat to hear the sound,” he said. “The way the sound travels in this church; it’s perfect for that kind of music. It just carries.”
The concert itself will be free; however, a suggested donation of $20 will go toward the stained-glass restoration.
Almeter said a capital campaign will be launched soon. The estimated cost to repair the windows is $650,000. Twelve windows — six on either side of the building – will be removed from the structure, cleaned, reglazed and re-leaded. Any cracked or broken pieces will be replaced before they are re-installed into the building.
The three windows around the altar are not part of the current restoration project, he said.
The concert isn’t the only way funds are being generated.
Almeter said the diocese which oversees the church plans to apply for several historic preservation grants; some of which require matching funds.
He said that descendants of those who originally sponsored the windows a century ago are still living in the area and have made some contributions to continue their families’ legacy. Also, a family festival was held in the fall to help raise money.
He said they hope to start the restoration process within the year.
The Church of the Most Holy Trinity was formally organized in 1810 and is one of Georgia’s earliest Catholic communities, according to a pamphlet on the church’s history. Construction on the Telfair Street building began in 1857, making it the oldest Catholic church building in the state of Georgia.
The Civil War delayed some work on the building.
Construction of the bell tower began in 1889 and a bell was donated in 1894.
While Baltimore artist John Mullen ran a blockade during the Civil War to complete work on the three marble altars, legend has it that the Jardine organ, which was built in New York, was too bulky to be smuggled through, and it did not arrive until 1868.
The church was consecrated on April 12, 1863.
It was popularly known as St. Patrick’s from 1863 until 1971 when Sacred Heart Catholic Church was deconsecrated and merged with St. Patrick’s.
To donate to the restoration project, visit the church website here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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