Fr. Edward McKenna Sends Best Wishes

We received a note from Fr. Edward McKenna, Associate Pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas (1965-1974) -- the last three years as Administrator of the Parish – and now a Senior Priest with the Archdiocese of Chicago.  Unfortunately, for us, he will be embarking on a chaplaincy for a cruise on September 30^th.  He calls this “a priest’s luxury vacation on the cheap!”

He shared the following memory:

I was never happy with the decision by the Office of Divine Worship committee to cover with beige paint the only known replica/copy of Francisco de Zurbaran's Apoteosis de Santo Tomás de Aquino that graced the back wall of the sanctuary.  An arrogant "expert in liturgy" made the decision to modernize [the] sanctuary, and had no thought of the artwork!

[Cardinal] Bernardin's renovation money was well intended; and I am proud of the present condition of the church, with all the surrounding parishes destroyed! It was a difficult time to be ‘pastor/ administrator’ and Cardinal Cody was always at a distance with the complex problems we had to deal with.

That it's all going today is a kind of miracle!

I bet a future redecoration could remove the offending paint and restore the original!  Oh, those progressive liturgists of yore.”

All the best with the beloved STA groupies!
Fr. Edward

Thanks Fr. Edward for your memories and best wishes for our September 30 reunion.  We hope you, too, have a grand time on your cruise!

Additional information about the original painting:

In 1627, Franciso de Zurbarán (1598-1663) began the painting of the great altarpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas, now in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville.  It was executed for the church of the college, also named St. Thomas Aquinas, and completed in 1631.  This is Zurbarán’s largest composition, containing figures of Christ, the Madonna, various saints, Charles V with knights, and Archbishop Deza (founder of the college) with monks and servitors, all the principal personages being more than life-size.

The style is baroque and the original painting is 486 x 385 cm or approximately 16 feet by 12 ½ feet.

Sources: Wikipedia.com and HISTORIA DE LA PINTURA ESPAÑOLA http://www.deyave.com/Arte/Pintura/historia-de-la-pintura-espanola/7-sigloXVII-Zurbaran.htm

Memories from a 1958 Graduate

MY NAME IS EDWARD NEVILLE, I AM FROM THE CLASS OF 1958, MY BROTHER PATRICK RIP. CLASS OF 1959, MY SISTER MARY RIP. CLASS OF 1954, MY OLDER BROTHER JIM WAS 1950. WE LIVED AT 5348 W. WASHINGTON BLVD.

PAT O'CONNOR (1960) WAS OUR NEIGHBOR, AND VIOLET SCALISE (1960) LIVED JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM US UNTIL HER FAMILY SOLD THEIR HOME TO THE JUSTIN MC CARTHY FAMILY IN THE MID 60S.  JOHN MC CAULIFFE (1960) LIVED ON THE SAME BLOCK, EXCEPT HE LIVED ON THE MADISON STREET SIDE.

KARL VITZTHUM (Architect of STA Church) LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM US.  MY MOTHER WAS DAY-TIME NANNY TO HIS GRANDCHILDREN. THERE WERE SO MANY OF OUR NEIGHBORS THAT GRADUATED FROM S.T.A. ON LOREL AVE. THERE WAS THE COITS, ALLISONS, LAUGHLINS, MC CARVILLES, RUSSELS, FOGARTYS, GREENWALLS, FURLONGS, HOLMESES, RIGNEYS, MC GRATHS,  MC KENNAS.  WE HAD FRIENDS ON EVERY BLOCK -- WHAT A TIME.
I LOVE THE PICTURE OF YOU AND THE OTHER 3 GIRLS IN THE BEND (Click here to see post).  THE LAUGHLINS ON LATROBE WERE FRIENDS OF OUR FAMILY.  WE KNEW SO MANY FAMILIES ON LATROBE, LOCKWOOD, LARAMIE, LONG, LOTUS.  WHAT YOU STARTED HERE BRINGS MY HEART, SOUL, AND MIND BACK TO AUSTIN, AND CHILDHOOD, AND SO MANY TENDER AND DEAR MEMORIES.

WE LEFT AUSTIN AND OUR GREAT PARISH IN 1968. BEFORE WE LEFT, FR. MC KENNA AND JUSTIN MC CARTHY GOT ME INTERESTED IN THE ORGANIZATION FOR A BETTER AUSTIN (O.B.A.)  IT WAS A GREAT ATTEMPT AT INTERGRATING AUSTIN IN A SLOW SANE MANNER. BUT THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC DYNAMICS OF THE TIME WERE AGAINST IT. WE HAD FEAR, PANIC PEDDLING, AND WHITE FLIGHT.  IT WAS A LOSING BATTLE.  IN JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS, SOUTH AUSTIN WENT FROM MOSTLY WHITE TO MOSTLY BLACK.

I WAS LIVING IN THE BIG HOUSE BY MYSELF IN 1967-68. MY FATHER HAD PASSED AWAY.  MY SISTER AND OLDER BROTHER WERE BOTH MARRIED AND LIVING IN DES PLAINES.  MY MOTHER AND OLDER BROTHER BOUGHT A RESTAURANT IN DES PLAINES, SO MY MOTHER AND YOUNGER BROTHER MOVED THERE AND WE HAD TO SELL OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL HOME ON WASH. BLVD.
I HAVE A  CLASS PHOTO SOME WHERE AND A 1958 GRADUATION PHOTO OF THE TWO EIGHT GRADE CLASSES, IN THE CHURCH, ON THE ALTAR, WITH MSGR. LONG.  COULD BE THE LAST GRADUATION CLASS HE POSED WITH.  (See photos in separate post elsewhere on STA Blog)

LAST YEAR I WAS TRYING TO CONTACT  PALOMAR STUDIOS (THE COMPANY THAT DID ALL THE SCHOOL PHOTOS) OVER THE INTERNET.  I WAS INTERESTED IN PURCHASING REPLACEMENT CLASS PHOTOS THAT WE LOST, BUT I WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE PALOMAR. IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO GET REPLACEMENT COPIES OF CLASS PHOTOS I AM SURE MANY PEOPLE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HAVING THAT INFORMATION.

Ed, Thanks for the great note and for supplying the photos.  I have put the photos up on two separate posts on the Blog.  
Also -- Does anyone know what happened to all the class photo negatives taken by Palomar?   If so, let us know and I will post the information.