Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Caritas Strodthoff shares on a recent tour of St. Boniface Church, Manitowoc, Wisconsin and its place in our Community history.
Yes, St. Boniface Church, Manitowoc, is about to be taken down. With the help of Sister Pamela Biehl, a tour of the church was arranged to see the inside one last time. On October 1, Sisters Julie Ann Sheahan, Caritas Strodthoff, Pamela Biehl, Antonice Lauer, Mary Ann Tupy, Kathleen Murphy, Dolores Hermann and Elena Gonzales were treated to the history of the church and reasons for the final decision, sanctioned by the Pope.
Most of the smaller Mass related items that we would have been interested in had already been divided up among the other parishes in Manitowoc. We marveled at the beautiful statues of St. Patrick, St. Boniface, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Anne and Mary etc. which were standing around the front altar, along with the beautiful stained-glass windows, intricate carvings on the wooden pews, and metal work shaped like harpsichords on music stands. As we were leaving, several paintings were standing near the doorway. One was a painting of St. Boniface Church. A metal plate at the bottom dated the image as 1886 when our Sisters would have been teaching there. Mother Gabriel taught the St. Boniface school children already in 1868 before Father Fessler built the first convent/school combination in 1869.
Father Doug offered it to us as he was not sure anyone else would value it as much as we might because of—as he pointed out—the images of several Sisters walking around outside of the church. The painting was done in 1974—but, what a treasure. It is now hanging in the Motherhouse hallway if you want to see it. We were all very grateful for the time spent seeing this history that has so much meaning for our Sisters who taught there, especially our Foundresses.
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