A Secret Altar Revealed
Our annual ritual followed an order. First, we would open the side door of the hollow wooden altar and turn on the inside light. Then we would move the altar cloths away and slightly lift up the wooden altar mensa in order to remove the wooden altar frontal by sliding it out. Next, we would carefully place it off to the side. This exposed the statue, seen inside the altar, resembling the deceased body of Christ laying in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
For every day of the year, except this day, the statue was always covered in a painted canvas sheet that was crumpled up and used as a dust cover. My job was to remove it and arrange it in front of the statue's base, as a decoration. I would then proceed to dust off the statue, while kneeling in awe. Christ laying on a slab of stone in his tomb touched my heart with the fragrance of divine thoughts. There was not a year that went by that I was not overcome with emotion at the sight of this unsurpassed artistic excellence.
My grandfather, Louis Sonnen, had been entrusted with this job when he was a young altar boy in the 1920s. The School Sisters of Notre Dame were his teachers at Assumption School and they depended upon the older altar boys to help with such projects. My grandfather was the organist and choir director, and when the nuns left in the 1960s, his duties expanded and he recruited his children and grandchildren to help.
Under his direction, all flowers were also arranged and so later in the day we would carefully place dozens of Easter lilies around the altar, creating a heavenly aroma that reflected in some way the sweet balm of Heaven.
A True Work of Art - Both Statue and Altar
The statue was created by the famed Daprato statuary company in Chicago. Founded in 1860 by Italian brothers, Daprato has been well-known for generations in the United States, well respected for their life-like religious statues. The anonymous artists, known only to God, did a fine job. The placement of this recumbent Christ had one purpose - to enhance the devotional prayer of the faithful. The life-like features and rich color have stirred hearts and the religious fervor of many countless faithful who have come here to pray on Good Friday.
From a historical and artistic point of view, the statue with its hidden sepulchre is an outstanding example of ecclesiastical art in the United States.
In addition, the custom designed wooden altar and reredos behind it are a work of fine art, dating to about the year 1880. The wood carvings and decorations are a feast for the eyes, a garland of beauty, made of linden wood by German immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century. This is the same wood that has been traditionally used for cuckoo clocks. Quite popular for church decoration due to its softness and the ease of which it can be carved, it is covered in a rich, dark stain.
When visitors and parishioners enter by the side door of the church and first turn to see the altar, I recall in my youth an almost audible gasp by some the moment when they would catch sight of the statue. The mood was enveloped in a hushed silence with burning candles. This helped create an environment conducive to prayer on such a day of mourning - when Christians commemorate the passion and death of Christ in anticipation of the joy of the Easter Vigil. On the following day, Saturday morning, the statue was once again covered in its dust sheet by my father and the altar was closed, as has been done for so many years since the 1880s.
Eastern Theology and a Notable Son of the Parish
As a side note, in the Byzantine tradition Holy Week is called the Great Week or the Week of the Bridegroom. Christ is depicted as the Bridegroom, while His suffering and death on the cross are seen as the culmination of His love for humanity, His "bride." This imagery takes on new meaning with the mystery of Pascha (Easter), when during the Resurrection Matins, Eastern Catholics proclaim: "Christ has emerged from the tomb like a Bridegroom from the bridal chamber, filling the women with joy!"
This brings to mind the twentieth century Liturgical Movement that sought to elevate the piety of the faithful by leading them back to the pure fountains of the sacred liturgy. Included was a desire to promote studies of the Eastern traditions. The godfather of the movement in the United States was Fr. Virgil (George) Michael, OSB, a prominent voice in the area of liturgical studies who was born in St. Paul and grew up at the Assumption parish where he was an altar boy in his youth. His grandfather, his mother's father, had been the Assumption's first organist.
In those years the Assumption was under the care of Benedictine monks from nearby St. John's Abbey. Fr. Michel was born in 1890 and graduated from Assumption School in 1903. Like many male graduates of the Assumption in his generation, he was sent upon his graduation to St. John's Abbey Preparatory High School. He went on to become a Benedictine monk and in 1925 founded a liturgical review known as Orate Fratres.
The Tradition Lives On
This tradition is deeply rooted in European liturgical history. The custom of a sculpted effigy of Christ that depicts Our Lord laying recumbent in death has long been seen in Europe, at least since the fourteenth century. The lifelike depictions are a common enough sight in various countries, including France and Germany. The custom responds to an innate desire of the human heart to mourn and lament the death of Christ.
A big thank you to the next generation of curators at the Assumption church, including Simon Pick and Bill Tierney and all the many helpers who work hard to decorate and prepare this liturgical space for a rich and memorable Easter Triduum. By their many hours of service, these helpers continue a great tradition, give glory to God, and help inspire all present to a deeper piety and personalized religious experience.
It brings great joy to see this tradition continuing at the Assumption, without interruption, through the generations. I know how powerful the experience can be for those who gather here to pray on Good Friday, knowing that the original tomb of Christ in Jerusalem is today empty and that, "Christ is risen, He is truly risen!"
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| The recumbent statue of Christ, produced by the Daprato Statuary Company |
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| The altar decorated for Good Friday services |
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| The same altar on Maundy Thursday, with the removable altar frontal in place |
