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The High Altar
he
High Altar, of Gothic design, was consecrated on November 22, 1908,
by Bishop Webb of Milwaukee, and is a memorial to Father Moffett. The Altar
was designed by Horace Wells Sellers and his design was executed by Edward
Maene, a gifted Belgian sculptor.
The Altar proper follows the lines of the tablealtars of the early Church
and is made of English red stone. The Altar is surmounted by an elaborately
carved oak reredos which is designed in the form of a triptych. The central
panel shows a large painting of Christ by Frederick Wilson. Our Lord is
shown in priestly vestments, reigning from the Cross. This portrayal of
Christ the King was a new idea when designed by Mr. Sellers, seventeen years
before the feast was instituted. Two kneeling angels hold tapers on either
side of Our Lord. The figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary and S. John fill
the side panels. The statues carved of wood, on each side of the central
panel (from the top down) are:
Gospel
Side
- S. Michael in armor with his spear thrust through the dragon.
- S. Clement holding his anchor while at his feet are his miner’s tools.
- S. Alban is the young Roman soldier who gave his life for Christ in Britain; he carries the palm of martyrdom.
- S. Augustine of Canterbury, a missionary to England; upon his breast is a flaming heart, typical of his devotion and zeal for Christ, and at his feet the Norman porch of Canterbury Cathedral.
Epistle Side
- S. Gabriel holds the lilies of the Annunciation.
- S. Catherine of Alexandria holds her palm of martyrdom; the wheel and sword are at her side
- S. Athanasius is shown with the triangle representing his faith in the Holy Trinity.
- S. Columba, the Celtic monk and missionary was a musician and set the Psalter to music; he carries a harp in one hand and a parchment Psalter in the other, by his side is the little coracle which bore him across the Irish Sea to Scotland.
Directly above the central panel is a figure of the Virgin and Child enthroned. The statues and baldacchino over the reredos were polychromed by Robert Robbins of New York.
Each of the eight statues in the reredos have plaster casts which were made
before carving. They are placed throughout S. Clement’s buildings,
with the exception of S. Alban the Martyr, on loan to S. Alban’s Church,
Olney.
On December 8, 1993, the High Altar was solemnly consecrated with the full
traditional rites by the Rev’d Canon Barry E. B. Swain, under license
from the Bishop of Pennsylvania. A marble altar stone with relics of Roman
martyrs in its cavity was let into our stone altar.
