The Stations of the Cross were made by a local artist Cody Harrington, the son of a member of our parish. These works are done in pencil on 11’’ by 17’’ paper and then enlarged.  They were inspired by the film “The Passion of the Christ.” While this film does not include all of the 14 Stations of the Cross, the frames and still photographs of the movie were used as models for the drawings. The emotion and gravity of the images reflect an aspect of Christ’s Passion that is usually stylized. Here, the reality of Jesus’ suffering is a powerful and moving force.

To view the gallery of our Stations of the Cross, click here.  

In 2010, St. Jude commissioned local artist, Andy Buchanan, to create his artistic interpretation of the renowned Giotto fresco, "Christ Washing the Apostles' Feet". The 120-square foot mural is in the arch above the main doors to the church.

The Narthex is a gathering space. It is similar to the courtyard in this way. The large central doors or the “great doors” are important, both architecturally and liturgically. They symbolize the parish’s welcome of our community. These doors are fourteen feet tall and hand-made of solid black walnut. They are intended to last for many lifetimes. Some of the business of preparing for the Mass is conducted here, in the narthex. We have an information table, and the eastern doors open into support areas, restrooms, nursery and vesting sacristy.

The primary purpose is for people to have a place to greet one another and share joys, sorrows and needs. Typically, a narthex is not a devotional space, so that the conversations that are necessary in greeting one another can comfortably take place.
 

This part of the church is traditionally called the nave. It is a unique word but it finds its origin in the Latin word for ship (“naves”). Since the nave is the central place where the people sit, it looks something like a Roman galley, where slaves sat on benches and powered the ship with oars.

One of the requirements that we gave our architect was that we wanted the church to be filled with natural light. One aspect of Gothic architecture is that is allows a building to be illuminated with natural light. Stained glass windows then help provide both a colorfulness and a consistency to the natural light.  

The ceilings were designed to hide the sources of light. The upper ceiling reflects light from the high clear story windows that are visible from the outside, but not the inside. The natural lighting is indirect. The lower side ceilings hide the artificial light source. The only other light comes from the sconces and aisle-way pendants. The lack of ceiling chandeliers was intended to leave the upper space of the church completely open and unobstructed, to give us a reminder of the mystery of the heavens above us.

As we stand by the baptismal font, it is important to understand visual focal points. Depending upon which entrance someone uses, the baptism font may be the first thing people notice. It stands here as a constant reminder of our entry into the church, and our touching the water and making the sign of the cross, renews our sense of belonging to God and his church. The flowing water reminds us of the living water that Jesus spoke of in the Gospel of John (John 4:10). The font is made in the shape of a cross because, as St. Paul tells us (Romans 6:3) we have been baptized into Christ’s death. As we die to self, so we live to God in Christ Jesus.

The pews are a custom design specifically for this building. They are designed, as is the whole building, to communicate a sense of lightness, welcome and peacefulness. The floating plane, held up by the black walnut dowels is an imitation of the ceiling. All the furniture in the building follows this design. The pews are solid maple, trimmed with black walnut. They were constructed by New Holland of Pennsylvania.

The shape of the church floor plan is one of the most significant factors in designing a church. Ours is a “cross” shape with the central nave forming the vertical leg of the cross, and the two transepts forming the horizontal arms. Although this shape is common to ancient buildings, the lack of materials that could easily span large spaces lead to some of the most innovative and beautiful construction pieces. Roman arches and a variety of vaults were invented to carry the load of the roof across a large open space. Our steel frame construction has removed the need for those, but we have simulated the feel of those ancient building elements in the shape of the upper roof over the nave. From the outside, the cross shape floor plan directs the architecture in such a way that it is unmistakable as a church. While we have tried to create a welcoming and warm space, the cross shape tends to be a little more formal.

One of the interesting things about our building is that the transepts are designed and constructed in a way that allows them to be expanded. The thin wall below the round windows were removed in 2012 and the shape of the chapel added to the end of the transept, creating another 350 seats.

Obviously, the main focal points of the church are the altar, tabernacle and crucifix. These describe why we are here. Of these three, the one that cannot be dispensed with is the altar. It is the most important focal point, and it is, therefore, placed on the axis (the center line) of the main nave and the transepts. Once again, the altar is constructed of shell limestone and weighs over 5,000 pounds. We have designed the lighting in the church to further enhance the focus of the crucifix, tabernacle and altar.

Our church is blessed to have the relics of several saints entombed underneath our altar.  To understand more about why Catholics have this practice, you can read a great article by Philip Kosloski by clicking here.  

The angels above the altar and sanctuary are inspired by the scripture,

“You nourished your people with food of angels and furnished them bread from heaven.” Wisdom 16:20

Although originally referring to the manna given in the desert, this passage has always been seen by the church as an Old Testament prefiguring of the Mass. Another passage from the New Testament,

“I looked again and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.’” Revelation 5:11-12

Click here to see all of our angel and stained glass windows. 
 

St. Jude and other statues

Again, all the statuary was carved in northern Italy and represent commissioned designs. Fr. Tim went to Italy to sit in the shop of the woodcarver and collaborate on the exact representations of the saints that expressed our parish’s spirit. These include the statue of the Blessed Mother with the child Jesus. We wanted to capture an aspect of the maternal affection of Mary. In a gentle gesture of care, she holds the child asleep on her lap.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, canonized on September 4, 2016, founded the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries as of 2012.  This organization cared for the poor, orphans, and others in need in many countries.