By Violet Hassler, Staff Writer
The glory of God shines a bit more vibrantly throughout the sanctuary of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church than it did a year ago.
And when its members look around them at the recently restored windows of their church they are seeing more than stained glass.
There is a “noticeable difference” inside the church since its stained glass windows were renovated a year ago, said the Rev. Kevin Ratterman.
“The colors are much more vibrant now than what they were before the project,” he said.
The project to renovate the church’s numerous stained glass windows — valued at more than $1.5 million — cost the church $165,000. However, all work was done on site, Ratterman said. They had feared the windows would have to be removed and, in some instances, replaced, which would have upped the project cost considerably.
“It was basically just cleaning and replacing of glass over the top and replacing broken pieces,” he said. There also was some warping of the glass, especially on the south side. On the north side of the church, where once ran a rock road, many windows had cracks or inconsistencies in the glass where re-placements had been set — in one instance there was a portion of stained glass re-placed with pane glass someone had just painted over.
At least they tried, Ratterman said, with a smile.
When the project was ongoing, Ratterman said he took a laser pointer and showed his congregation many of the problems found with the glass panes. Many of them had not noticed the cracks and replacement sections, and several were surprised at the extent of the damage, he said.
“People become numb to them because they are just always there,” Ratterman said. After the session “they looked at them in a whole different way.” He said some members of the congregationjoked that they wished he had not pointed out the problems because they became glaring.
St. Francis’ stained glass windows highlight the beauty of the sanctuary. The current church — built in 1922 under guard of Knights of Columbus members to protect the facility against a strong Ku Klux Klan force in Enid those days — literally was raised around those windows, which had not even been designed at the time.
The windows were constructed by Munich Studios of Chicago. There had been some talk of German origins, Ratterman said, but during the renovation they found the studio’s stamp “hidden” in parts of the stained glass.
The windows were made to the specification of the church, which was under construction at the time.
“These windows ... well, they’re just magnificent windows in their quality,” Ratterman said.
In fact, in terms of quality, he said, they are in the top three in Oklahoma, with windows in a church in Perry and one in southern Oklahoma.
Ratterman admits he had to get up to speed on history and knowledge of the windows during the restoration. Maintenance should be performed about every 80 years on the windows, he said, and next time replacement probably will be in the cards.
Stained glass windows are a vital part of the Catholic church that dates back to St. Francis of Assisi, for whom the church is named.
Back in days of St. Fran-cis, stained glass windows were used to tell Bible stories, for many could not read.
“They used the windows to know the story,” Ratterman said. “Truth be told, it is the same today.”
The children, he said, are first learning about the Bible through the stories portrayed by those windows.
Much of the history of the windows, the church and early day Enid can be found in a movie about the church — “The Seasons of St. Francis” — produced by Skeleton Creek Productions, a local film company owned by Rick and Larry Simpson. Copies of the movie are available at Simpson’s Mercantile and Movie Studio, 228 E. Randolph.
