St. Leo Church rededication marks extensive renovation
As with any building that is more than a century old, St. Leo the Great Catholic Church has been through several renovations, repairs and even a fire.
Now, the small 19th-Century neo-Gothic church, opened in 1905, welcomes its parishioners with a full renovation, including new flooring, furnishings and a striking decorative paint scheme.
With almost a year of planning and execution behind the work, St. Leo will hold a rededication of the church building Friday, March 12, with the Most Rev. Stephen Raica, Bishop of Birmingham, officiating. Joining the members of the church will be the many people who were involved in the design and execution of the renovation.
In the spring of 2020, the Very Reverend Justin L. Ward, S.T.L., both the Parochial Administrator at St. Leo and the Vicar for Sacred Liturgy for the Diocese of Birmingham, met with a Renovation Committee of parishioners to develop a comprehensive interior renovation. The committee included Brian Brooker, Kay Courtney, Casey Trusler and Denise Duke.
The group’s first act was to engage a liturgical consultant, and it chose Michael Raia of Studio io. The firm has assisted more than 50 Catholic parishes, dioceses, religious communities and retreat centers with consulting and design for beautification, renovation and new construction.
“The renovation is not intended to mimic the original design but come closer to complementing the original church,” said Fr. Ward.
“The primary goal was to restore a proper reflection of the heavenly realities of the sacred liturgy in the art and architecture of the church, while also accentuating and bringing back much of the Gothic detail that had been lost or obscured,” according to Studio io.
Almost all the wooden furnishings have been replaced, crafted by New Holland Church Furniture. The only exceptions are a vintage baptismal font and an antique reredos, an ornamental screen behind the altar that holds the tabernacle. The reredos was donated by Brooker. He and his nephew Alan Brooker refurbished it and the font.
The two antique additions “match really well the scope of our church,” Fr. Ward said.
New furnishings include an altar, ambo, communion rail with gate, redesigned confessional, pews and numerous interior door replacements.
Both the new and old are made of white oak, with a quatrefoil and lancet pattern repeated throughout. Justin Wilkins of Pickens County installed the repurposed heart pine flooring, found in Atlanta, throughout the sanctuary and nave.
What captures the eye first is the decorative paint scheme designed and executed by Andrew Hattermann of Murals by Jericho located in Peoria, Ill. Centering the vaulted sanctuary ceiling is the Holy Spirit, depicted in the form of a dove, surrounded by a deep blue field studded with gold stars.
Hattermann continued the scheme with frieze work and stencil designs decorating the sanctuary. He also designed the marble footings for the altar and baptismal font and the entry to the nave.
“For an artist, for your work to be meaningful to other people, it’s not just a personal expression,” said Hattermann. “You’re affecting people’s lives by inspiring them with the artwork. A church is no better place for an artist.”
Not everything has been replaced. Remaining is the original wainscotting and the Stations of the Cross. A painting of the Madonna and Child, originally in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Greensboro, has been restored and is the focal point of a Marian shrine adjacent to the sanctuary.
The entry has new tile, electrical work has been upgraded, and all the lighting fixtures now match.
During the renovation, the paneling once covering the front of the choir loft was removed, exposing original choir rail woodwork. It will feature wooden medallions depicting the seven sacraments.
One of the observations of the Renovation Committee, said Fr. Ward, was that nothing in the church was linked to its patron saint, Pope Leo. Now, on the choir rail, picked out in gold, is a Latin phrase, the most famous message from Pope St. Leo the Great taken from his Christmas message.
It reads, “Remember, O Christian, your dignity.”