The Art and Architecture of St. Mary's

The building of St. Mary's Catholic Church in 1934 was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of Father Thomas J. Martin, whose grave can be seen at the northeast corner of the church. Father Martin spent all but the first six years of his priesthood in Helena, and his fondest wish was to leave behind him a beautiful and lasting monument to the church and to the people whom he loved and served for so many years. He was certainly a man of great courage for he began this dream right in the middle of the depression years. And, too, he must have had an eye for beauty and talent, for he chose three virtually unknown young men in their twenties and early thirties to build St. Mary's. In the years to follow, not one, but all three of these men reached international fame, each in his own separate field.

The architect was Charles Eames. This church was his first large commission, and one that he always spoke of as being one of his finest works. Mr. Eames gave up his work as an architect, achieving fame in a number of fields. He was considered the Number One furniture designer in the United states, and his name is considered to modern furniture design what Frank Lloyd Wright's name is to architecture. He designed the famous Eames chair, which was the "father" to all molded plastic furniture. Eames is referred to as "a Renaissance Man in a gray age of single-track minds." There has been a 90-minute TV special written covering his life's works.

When St. Mary's was begun in 1934, it is hard to say whether it was ahead of its time or several hundred years behind the times. During this period the people were accustomed to the Renaissance type churches - those with lots of clouds and sunbursts and angels - with faulted light-blue ceilings and light and airy walls. However, in Europe, Mr. Eames had studied the building of Gropius, whose theory was that "form follows function", and the works of Mies Van deRohe, who designed with the feeling that "less is more". Eames combined their more abstract works with the plain primitive buildings of the Early Christian Era. These early churches were not "pretty churches", but had a special beauty in their medieval way. They were built in the shape of a Latin cross and always faced east in the anticipation of the coming of Christ. They had a large wall space with very little window space, and they were usually dark with dark ceilings and exposed beams. Mr. Eames followed all these ancient designs. He decorated the large ceiling beams with appropriate religious symbols and kept the brick interior very simple and austere like many of the early church buildings. The early Christians only had earth pigments with which to work, so their churches were done entirely in warm earth colors. The brick walls of St. Mary's were painted a dusky rose in keeping with that age. Even in the light fixtures Mr. Eames achieved a medieval feeling. The lights were made to resemble the world, half in darkness, half in light. As you enter the church and walk toward the altar you see the world in darkness, but they are so placed that after receiving Our Lord, and then turning to leave the church, only the light and no darkness can be seen.

The stained glass windows were created and installed by Emil Frei. In his lifetime he was considered one of the world's finest window designers, and anytime there was repair work to be done for the Vatican, Emil Frei generally did it. There are a number of ancient church symbols incorporated into the windows of St. Mary's, but most of the symbols are Mr. Frei's own. They interpret, in his own way, the teaching of the church and the Bible.

The mural on the sanctuary wall was painted by Charles Quest. It too, was his first large commission. Mr. Eames suggested that the mural be decorative in character, not realistic, and designed to relate well to the simple, austere design of the building. A pretty Renaissance in oil would not have been appropriate or successful over the rough brick walls, so Mr. Quest, in keeping with the Early Christian feeling, decided to use pictorial forms similar to the mosaics found in the Byzantine churches. Mr. Quest and his wife, Dorothy, spent many months on the sketches and designs for the mural and did extensive research into church history. The background of the mural was done in a grayed-pink, slightly lighter than the church walls. The mural itself symbolizes God, the Father, supporting in His arms and extending to the world His crucified Son. Above and back of God's crown is the triangle which represents the three aspects of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The rays of light surrounding God's halo suggest the spiritual illumination radiating from His Divine Presence. Painted inside the miter-like crown are two adoring angels, facing the Holy Spirit symbolized by a Dove. The large angels on either side of God the Father are holding the chalice and wafer which represent the body and blood of Our Lord. Below the crucified Christ is a row of Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. From left to right they are Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Hosea. "These prophets and their teachings provided the sound base upon which Christianity was founded and these six standing figures seem to express a solid wall of strength protecting the gentle truths of the Church." Mr. Quest always upheld this type of art in churches. He felt that there was too great an influence by photographic type art. And on the other end of the scale he felt that the wildly abstract paints with their gaudy colors and harsh patterns had a tendency to focus attention on the painting itself rather than upon God. During his lifetime, Mr. Quest's works were exhibited in 89 museums throughout the world, and his works now are in the permanent collections of 42 museums in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and England. In 1960, when the old cathedral in St. Louis was restored, he was commissioned by His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ritter to paint a replica of Velaquez's "Crucifixion" for the altar.

There is a picture above the organ that is difficult to see that portrays Christ the King in a Royal Crown and Vestments. Symbols in the picture portray the Trinity consisting of a Hand - God the Father, Chi-Ro - Christ the Son, and Dove - Holy Spirit. There are also paintings on the nave beams which read Salve Regina Mater Misericordiae (Hail Holy Queen Mother of Mercy), and five red cuts which symbolize the five wounds of Christ. Paintings on the chancel beams include mountains, sea, fish, Chi-Ro, and anchors symbolizing Christ our Hope; and crown of thorns, dice, thirty pieces silver in bag, sword-club, nails, ladder, spear, heart pierced, pinchers, pillar and rope, and chalice symbolizing the instruments of Christ's Passion and Scourging.

Over the entrance of St. Mary's there is a statue of the Madonna and Child. This was done by the well-known 20th Century sculptress, Caroline Risque Janis.

It was fortunate that at the time of St. Mary's construction the Kesl family was living in this parish. Vaslau Kesl had come here from Pilson, Czechoslovakia. He and his son, Oldrich, were chosen to build the church. The Kesls had been builders since the 10th century and had passed their skills from generation to generation, so the construction of a medieval church was a familiar task to them. This eliminated the difficult task of importing skilled artisans. The sons and grandsons of these men are still highly respected builders in this community today.

St. Mary's has been considered a masterpiece created by three brilliant and talented men. However, no works can better describe this church and its art and architecture than those words written by Dorothy Quest:

The large sanctuary windows were carried out in rich subdued colors of reds and blues. These windows represent Christ as King surrounded by figures representing the Old and the New Testaments. In the large center lancet window from top to bottom these various figures are represented: Angels in adoration, the four Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel and the seated figure of David indicating the lineage of Christ. Below the figure of Christ the Alpha and Omega emblems appear. The ribbons below the figure of Christ held by the angels read as follows: "Thou O Christ Art King Of Glory" and "Adoring On His Throne Thine Eternal Equal Son".

The left-hand window has a top panel with Adoring Angels. Immediately below these angels, we have four Patriarchs and two Prophets of the Old Testament, followed by a King of the Old Testament, the figure of St. John the Baptist and of Moses. Trumpeting angels indicating victory of Christ are shown below this group of figures.

In keeping with the two foregoing windows the right hand window again shows Adoring Angels on top. Various Saints of the New Testament, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gregory, St. Louis of France, St. Rose of Lima, and St. John Berchmans. Three of the Apostles, respectively, St. Paul with a sword, St. Peter with keys, and St. John with the chalice are next introduced. In a similar way corresponding with the left window, trumpeting Angels are shown below. At the very bottom of the window a text is inserted which reads "Full Are The Heavens And The Earth Of The Majesty Of Thy Glory."

The Side Sanctuary windows are devoted to St. Dominic and St. Bernard, because of their devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and to St. Anne and St. Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Virgin.

The four windows in the transept represent four offerings. The offering of Abraham, a bloody sacrifice and the offering of Melchizedek, an unbloody sacrifice, are both from the Old Testament. The opposite windows contain the Crucifixion as a bloody sacrifice and the Holy Mass an unbloody sacrifice. These then represent the New Testament. The Angels high up in these four windows represent the offering of Abraham by means of a broken staff, the Ark of the Covenant and a blindfold. Over Melchizedek's offering, the secular powers are represented by an Angel holding a scepter and a crown. Over the Crucifixion, the ecclesiastical powers are represented by an Angel holding a cross. And over the Holy Mass, the New Testament is represented by an Angel holding the Chalice.

There are six nave windows and each of these windows contains four symbols. The first two windows on the north (Baptistery) side, nearest the altar contains emblems of the eight Attributes of God reading from top to bottom.

Window #1

Window #2

Window #3

The first two windows on the south side nearest the altar contain symbols of the Eight Beatitudes reading from top to bottom.

Window #4

Window #5

Window #6