St. Anthony Church Tour

Click here for a photo tour of St. Anthony Catholic church 

As you come through the main entrance of St. Anthony Church from First Avenue, you see a statue of St. Anthony on the south side holding the Christ Child. The Mission Cross (crucifix) is on the north side, suitable for prayers for the missionaries.

The Baptismal Font – Catechumens (those to be baptized) enter the pool, are baptized and emerge into a new life in Christ.  The pool is at the entrance of the church building because Baptism is how we enter the Church’s Body.

The Organ Loft is where the choir originally sang. Murals are of St. Cecilia, the Patroness of Music and King David, with a lute, the writer of the Psalms. The Schaefer Pipe Organ was built in Schleisingerville, Wisconsin.  It was installed in November, 1902 for $4,105.  This is one of only a few unaltered organs like it left in the nation.  It was originally powered by water. In 1988, after a major restoration, its value was set at $200,000.

The congregation sits in the Nave.  Murals above the Nave are original and depict the events of Jesus’ life. Also included in the Nave are the fourteen Stations of the Cross that were hand carved in the Tyrol province of Austria and were installed in 1907.  All of the Stations were restored in 2004.

The four stained glass windows near the sanctuary and the Rose Window in the organ loft are from Munich.  The other windows are art glass from Chicago. The original pews were made in Boonville, IN. St. Joseph Shrine (north) includes St. Joseph as the central figure and St. Henry to the left and St. Louis IX to the right. 

Mary’s Shrine (south) includes the central figure of the Blessed Virgin, Mary, Mother of God, crowned as Queen of Heaven. She is holding the infant Jesus. Mary is flanked by her parents, Joachim and Anne.  Each shrine contains a relic of a saint and tabernacles.  The tabernacle on Mary’s Shrine holds the Holy Oils: the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens and the Chrism.

The Sanctuary is the marble area that houses the altar, ambo (pulpit), presider’s chair and tabernacle. In the middle of the sanctuary is the Altar table where the bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and Blood of Jesus. The Tabernacle (vault) is  where the Eucharist, the Body of Christ is reserved.

The Apse, a semicircular end of church with dome, shows a mural that includes the Arms of God the Father w/Tetragrammaton (Hebrew for “Jehovah”), a dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the Risen Jesus clothed in priest’s vestments. To the left of Christ is St. Francis of Assisi and to the near left is the Blessed Virgin Mary.  To the near right of Christ is St. Joseph and to the far right of Christ is St. Anthony of Padua.