Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Madonna and Child - Boston Public Library
Wishing a very Merry and Joyful Christmas to all of our readers!

Thank you for the gift of your readership, friendship, and patronage. May the Infant Jesus give you each the gift of His heart, to love, imitate, and cherish this Christmas and always. What can we give Him in return?

"What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart."
~ In the Bleak Midwinter

www.catholicembroidery.com

Friday, December 21, 2012

A Christmas Legend


The Embroidered Tablecloth - A Christmas Legend

The brand new pastor, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When he saw the church, it was very run down and needed much work. He set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

He worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"

The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of thewoman. She had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike. He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Restoration Rectory - Royal Refectory


Next to the restoring the Fleur-de-lis office of the rector, what could be more important in a church property restoration than in tackling the refectory? A place where the community comes together daily in the spirit of good conversation, delectable food, and family-like conviviality, the refectory deserves to be a space well-decorated and comfortable. 

Working once again with a talented seamstress, the application of embroidery on custom drapery was carried out to perfection! 

We modeled the triple crown design after the crowns displayed in the wall paper and matched the colors appropriately. Instead of large sheets of fabric interrupting the flow of the room, the embroidery helped to tie everything together with a royal touch.


St. Francis de Sales, to this day, looks on in approval. What do you think?


Friday, December 14, 2012

Restoration Rectory - Fleur-de-Lis Office


The various applications for embroidery never cease to amaze! In collaboration with an expert drape designer, we were able to furnish this office of a St. Louis rectory with the city's saint's noted symbol: the Fleur-de-Lis. 


This was part of an ongoing restoration project for one of St. Louis' finest historical and spiritual Landmarks


It was quite a treat to see the transformation of many bare and ascetically barren rooms into beautiful spaces for the work and life of the Church - thanks to many helpful hands!

Next up: the Refectory!