The Beauro County Register Article on Cherry Illinois Church

In Cherry, IL, many of the faithful parishioners of Holy Trinity Church felt that there was something lacking since the modernization of all its artworks in the 1970s. Long-time parishioner Mary Rooney recalled the beautiful original stations of the cross that used to adorn the wall of Holy Trinity before the change. It was her love of the traditional stations that sparked Mary’s children to begin what was a year-long search for a set of stations of the cross that were similar to the church’s original pieces. During this timeframe, Mary Rooney’s children found a collection of stations that resembled the preexisting pieces and even some of Holy Trinity’s original pieces; however, at the time of the discovery the pieces were in desperate need of repair. Following upon the suggestion of Holy Trinity’s pastor, Rev. Patrick Fixsen, the pieces were shipped to Heritage Restoration and Design Studio for a complete restoration.

At Heritage, our goals were to restore the stations back to their original look and to maintain their antique value; therefore, re-enabling the collection to be beautiful guides to prayer and meditation once again. Stephen Berlinger, one of Heritage’s Assistant artisans stated, “It was a great joy to assist in the restoration of these exquisite stations of the cross especially since they will be going in to active use in a parish community.”

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Article by Lindsay Vaughn of the News Tribune

Before you know it, Lent will be upon us again. As is traditional, stations of the cross play an important role in many people’s lenten traditions. Heritage Restoration has made and restored many sets of stations of the cross over the life span of our company. Recently, we restored a set of stations of the cross for an Illinois church. This is their story….

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This is a wood carved evangelist set that Heritage Restoration and Design studios has

SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John hand carved in wood

imported over the years from Southern Germany. These statues have absolutely amazing detail and are all hand carved. Believe it or not, these 15″ don’t cost a fortune either. For the entire set, including import fees, they only cost $1270.00! These beautiful units are generally mounted onto pulpits and serve as beautiful teaching tools. This set comes complete with the 4 evangelists and their symbols.

• Saint Matthew and the Angel
• Saint Mark and the Lion
• Saint Luke and the Ox
• Saint John and the Eagle

Our Lady of Guadalupe (La Virgen de Guadalupe) is becoming a very popular image of Mary in American churches. To cater to this need, Heritage Restoration and Design, Inc. has released a cost effective and beautiful statue.

Statue face close up

Crafted out of hard fiber resin, this 56 inch statue is suitable for both indoor and outdoor situations. In outdoor situations Heritage recommends that the statue be used in either its stone angel finish or 5 layer bronze finish, as they are most resistant to the elements. The base of the statue is configured to support rods and dense concrete for installation where theft is an concern. For indoor use, this Guadalupe statue can be finished in the traditional full color.

Heritage’s full color paint job on this statue is exquisite. Heritage’s artisans have studied  both the imagery and history of Our Lady of Guadalupe to develop this accurate three dimensional image.

Also available are matching pedestals and statues of Saint Juan Diego.

Pricing:

56” Our Lady of Guadalupe

Stone Finish: $ 997.50
Bronze Finish: $ 1499.00
Full Color Finish: $ 2999.00

Contact Heritage Restoration for other information including bulk discounts and other sizing options.

For more images please check out the youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oZ23x9KGoo

Building altars is one of our favorite jobs at Heritage. This week we are pleased to show you one of our most popular designs and some of its many customizations. If you are in the market for a new sacrificial altar, odds are this unit can be configured to meet your needs.

Standard Configuration

Corinthian Capitals, Last Supper Relief, Rope Molding

One of the standard configurations of this altar is where the front face has a 3D relief of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Having this scene on a sacrificial altar is not only beautiful but liturgically appropriate. The columns are configured in the corinthian style. For added detail, a rope molding was added beneath the altar top. This unit was made with heavy wood construction for a maximum life-span.

Changing the Last Supper

White Sacrificial Altar, Corinthian Columns, Rope Molding

Another configuration for this altar is with out the Last Supper. In some churches, it looks best not to have a busy altar. Removing the Last Supper Scene or replacing it with, a lamb resting on a book is another viable option. Here is a short list of other possible configurations:

• Plain
• Lit Mural
• Hand Hammered Metal Icon
• Mosaic
• Marble Panel, or Faux Marble Panel
• Other Reliefs, ex: Lamb on Book or  Pelican Nursing Young

Swapping out the Moldings

So lets say that the moldings are not what you are after or that they don’t fit with the style of your church. Not a problem. There are a vast amount of moldings that can be applied to this configuration. Here are a few of our common moldings:

• Rope Molding
• Various Leaf Moldings
• Woven an Patterned Moldings
• Fluted Moldings
• Gothic Moldings
• Romanesque Moldings

Changing the Columns

There are also many column options that can be used on this altar.

• Iconic Columns
• Corinthian Columns
• Doric Columns
• Solomonic Columns (like the Bernini’s Baldachin)

Materials and Finishing

Full Color Last Supper, Marbleized, Real Marble Top (shown via CGI), Gold Gilding

In a similar manner as the columns and moldings, there are several types of materials and finishes that are available.

Rededication of Church in College Station, Texas

Materials:

• Solid Wood
• Marble
• Wood and Marble Combination

Recently, Heritage was given a very interesting project. We were asked to design and build some near life size statues, from scratch! These statues need to be traditional kneeling angel statues, one configured for the right and the other for the left. The angels needed to have an intricately detailed structure, a high quality paint job, and be configured to hold sanctuary lamps.

First of all, the statues needed to be designed. To do this, Heritage artisans developed sketches based off of traditional concepts for kneeling angels. Following these concepts, they then retrofitted the design to allow for a torchiere.

From our custom design an original clay model was built. This model was hand tooled until the image was in the general configuration of the angel. Next specialized molds were cast of this statue, in order to have a form for the final fiberglass casting. After this point, the process was restarted and modified to construct the companion angel with a mirrored configuration.

Next, Heritage Artisans casted the angel statues in fiberglass. Fiberglass is a very hard and durable resin material, that is rugged enough for outdoor deployments and is paintable for interior situations. After the initial casting, the new fiberglass statue was hand tooled again to get the extra level of detail that was needed to meet our quality standards.

Lastly, the statues entered into the painting process. During this phase, beautiful colors and detailied shadows were added to the angels. Also gold gilding was applied to the statues, to highlight important details. As a finishing touch, glass eyes were added to the units for an extra level of realism.

The final cost to the client, was: $4060. For the pair.

For pictures of the statues come and see Heritage’s Youtube page or their website:

Kneeling Angel Statue

www.heritagerd.com