Media/Arts

Aug. 17, 2006

Windows of St. Mary’s Basilica featured in public programming

Beth Kozik has admired the stained glass windows in St. Mary’s Basilica since the 1950s, when she attended grade school at the parish.

“We always used to go to Mass in the basement,” Kozik said of her grade school experience at the Basilica. “But then on Good Friday or a really important occasion we all came up to the Basilica for Mass.

Kozik, who favors the window focusing on “Jesus and the little children,” is not going to miss a history lesson on the stained glass windows provided by KAET-TV, PBS Channel 8, at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22.

“We always looked at the windows. It was probably why they didn’t want us up here, because we paid more attention to the figures in the windows” than the priest, Kozik laughed.

The windows of St. Mary’s Basilica will be one of four pieces of Arizona history featured in “Arizona Stories,” a series that focuses on the unique history of the Grand Canyon State.

The new program began airing last June and focuses on four persons or places of Arizona in each episode.

“These magnificent stained glass windows have watched over so much of the Valley’s history,” said Greg Giczi, general manager of KAET Channel Eight. “We felt it was important to remember the history of the oldest Catholic church in Phoenix.”

“KAET Channel Eight has a long and proud track record of chronicling Arizona’ s history,” said Beth Vershure, KAET Channel Eight station manager. “As the centennial draws closer, we are committed to celebrating our history and defining our legacy on TV and other media in ways that inform, involve and inspire. ‘Arizona Stories’ is just the beginning.”

“Arizona Stories” will also be featuring Catholic ministry in the Diocese of Tucson in an upcoming episode. The series will showcase the Mission at San Carlos, a mission with a Catholic focus that is also dedicated to enhancing the native Apache culture and spirituality, Aug. 29.

The “Arizona Stories” feature about the stained glass windows of St. Mary’s Basilica recognizes the windows as “perhaps the finest stained glass windows in Arizona.”

The history of stained glass windows in the Church is briefly explained in the feature, along with the more detailed history of the windows of St. Mary’s. Jeff Campbell, former parish manager of St. Mary’s Basilica, and Fr. Alonso DeBlas, associate pastor of the parish, are interviewed in the episode.

Campbell describes the recent re-leading renovation the windows underwent to strengthen their structure in a building with a foundation that is literally being shaken by the downtown Phoenix construction surrounding the Basilica.

The re-leading process is necessary for stained-glass windows every 100 to 125 years, said John Phillips, an art glass expert who worked on the St. Mary’s windows renovation project.

According to Phillips the windows were “generally in good condition” but needed to be maintained like any other piece of art glass.

M.L. Frye of St. Louis, Missouri crafted the stained glass windows in St. Mary’s Basilica in the early 1900s. According to Fr. DeBlas, the artist traveled with the completed windows by train across the country to Phoenix.

St. Mary’s stained glass windows share the “Arizona Stories” stage with the historic La Posada railroad lodge in Winslow, the birth of suburban Phoenix through John F. Long and the heroic World War I fighter pilot Frank Luke, Jr., after whom Luke Air Force Base in Glendale is named.

Dick Bauer, a St. Mary’s Basilica parishioner for 25 years, understands why “Arizona Stories” chose to focus on the windows of the historic church, a Phoenix “Point of Pride.”

“The whole parish has got a lot of tradition and the windows really add to that,” Bauer said. “I mean it’s a real church, none of this architecture that is all concrete. The people that come here, that’s what they love about it.”

Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun.

Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN
A colorful, stained glass image of Mary watches over St. Mary’s Basilica parishioners from a high window.

Basilica on PBS

What: St. Mary’s Basilica will be featured in PBS’ “Arizona Stories.”
When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22 KAET-TV, PBS Channel 8
For more information visit: www.azpbs.org/arizonastories