The Main Altar

The following information is from the book, "Holy Family Parish: Priests and People" by Br. Thomas M. Mulkerins S.J. published in 1923.

Anthony Buscher, the builder of the main altar and carver of many of the statues and decorations, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1827. Coming to this country, he was employed as an ornamental carver in New York for a time, and then moved west and bought a farm in Kansas. His farm life lasted but six weeks. His love of the beautiful and artistic so wrought upon him, that he found farm life insipid and lonesome, and turned his face to the east, intending to return to New York. Stopping off in Chicago, he happened to visit Holy Family Church, and was so attracted to the church that he gave up the idea of returning to New York, and instead bought the property at 1123 S. May Street, and engaged in the business of carving Indian statues for cigar signs.

One day Father Darnen saw the wooden Indians being loaded into wagons for delivery, and, struck by the workmanship, invited Buscher to undertake the building of the high altar for Holy Family Church.

As has been seen, Buscher not only completed the altar, but carved all the statues for it and the statues of St. Michael and the Guardian Angel in the vesti­bule, as well as the decorations for several confes­sionals, the statue of St. Patrick and the stationary pulpit. 

The main altar is in the Gothic style and corresponds to the architecture of the church.  The foundation is of masonary up to the table; the altar stone is set and rests upon two brick columns, built all the way from solid ground, and is 9' 2" long by 29" wide and 2" thick.  The height of the altar, from the floor of the sanctuary is 52'.  The altar covers the whole width of the sanctuary extending 30' 3".  The sides are slightly curved and are built from the sanctuary floor up, gradually narrowing until they reach a pinnnacle of 1" in diameter.  

The main altar table is surrounded by a tabernacle with Gothic turrets, having a figure of an angel on either side between two gilded pilasters and represented as holding golden censers in their hands.  On the capitals of the pillars on each side of the tabernacle are the figures of two angels - one holding a scroll as if in the act of singing, and the other with joined hands as if in prayer.  The interior of the tabernacle is large enough to hold a dozen ciboria.  

The tabernacle is capped by several small spires, each topped with an electric light. In the recesses of the three turrets are: first, a figure of our Lord, in the act of breaking bread, and, in the upper niche, is a figure of the Good Shepherd, while on either side of the lower structure of the altar there are two wings, each having three life-size statues of the Holy Doctors of the Church. On the east side, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gregory the Great Pope, and St. John Chrysostom. On the west St. Basil the Great, St. Ambrose and St.Jerome. On top of these same turrets are statues of the parents of St. John the Baptist, St. Zachary on the Gospel side and St. Elizabeth on the left. At the sides of the main altar picture are the statues of St. Joachim, and St. Anne.

The main altar picture of the Holy Family is a fine copy of Murillo's masterpiece and is said to have been painted by a Jesuit Brother in Belgium. It con­tains the figures of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, with the Eternal Father above looking down with benignity on the Holy Spirit, as a dove, midway between Father and Son. Innocent cherubs float about, indicating their love and devotion to the three persons of the Adorable Trinity.  

Over the picture of the Holy Family, on what may be termed the third tier, are three statues-Faith in the center, holding aloft a cross; Hope on the right with the traditional anchor, and Charity on the left, holding a Chalice as the symbol of love.

0n the altar, as a whole, there are five Gothic turrets, each capped with six major and six minor spires; each, in turn, capped by an electric light. When the altar is illuminated it is magnificent-one of the most impressive sights to be seen in any church. The il­lumination is expressly arranged to display the beauty and architectural lines of the altar. The al­tar stands out about six feet from the rear wall and, within this space, ladders are constructed to extend all the way to the top of the altar. This enables the decorators to reach any part of the altar and explains the mystery of successful decoration that has puzzled many visitors.

The carvings on this magnificent altar, as well as in the sanctuary and upon the altar rail, are excep­tional. The most notable of these works is a repro­duction of Da Vinci's Last Supper, a beautiful work carved by hand, and extending the full length of the altar. The carvings on the altar are the work of Au­thony Buscher, who also carved several of the statues, notably those of the two altar boys, Faith, Hope and Charity, Saints Joachim, Anne, Zachary, Elizabeth and the six Doctors of the Church at the two wings, Sts. Jerome, Ambrose, Basil, Chrysostom, Gregory and Thomas Aquinas. The Last Supper was carved by Mr. Sebastian Buscher, a nephew of Anthony.

At an early date, the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, arranged with a crown at the top, were repro­duced with gas openings, which were lighted up on festive occasions. This device, made use of prior to the introduction of electricity, was for the time very effective, and, indeed, was retained until quite re­cently, long after electricity was introduced. It was discontinued not so much because of greater conven­ience, but because of the deterioration in the quality of gas supplied, which resulted in clogging the open­ings and interfering with the lighting results.