VALPARAISO – The Catholic faithful, acknowledged as the true treasure of the diocese, can appreciate other gifts offered locally, from sacred liturgies to supportive charities. The Church’s buildings and art are also faith-affirming as tactile reminders of giving glory to God.
Among the more than 50 churches, 20 schools, several shrines and hallowed grounds in the Diocese of Gary are often overlooked or hidden gems. In a series of features, believers can discover these properties and avail themselves of the beauty that surrounds them.
Since its completion in 1931 as a home for the ministry of Slovak Franciscans of Pennsylvania and a place of pilgrimage, the former Seven Dolors Shrine in Valparaiso has welcomed generations of area Catholics. Complete with stone grottos and a Stations of the Cross path, the addition of a large chapel in 1959 and the eventual decline in the number of friars led to the interest of Gary’s first shepherd, Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, in making the building a parish church.
Starting in 1967, Our Lady of Sorrows, a name inspired by the patroness of Slovakia, has operated as a parish alongside a shrine. With the departure of the last Franciscan administrators, a vibrant faith family continued, focusing on inspiring liturgies, comprehensive religious education and festive gatherings such as regular fish frys.
In his fourteenth year as pastor, Father Paul Quanz leads his flock through the liturgical year, always keeping an eye on the beauty of the prayer trail, wooded grounds and warm church that draws worshippers. The many traditional touches to the building makes him “happy to have gotten a church that looks like this.”
Colourful European stained glass showcases the scenes of the Blessed Mother’s sorrows at the foot of her son’s cross, and impactful saints from throughout Christendom. A floor-to-ceiling crucifix dwarfs the tabernacle and altar below, keeping the eye of the churchgoer on the corpus framed by illuminated tiles.
“I get the best view in the house because when I am in the sanctuary, I get to look at the window up there,” said Father Quanz of the Mater Dolorosa stained glass. “That is just great. People don’t get to see it until they’re walking out, and half the time they don't look up.”
Tucked inside altar nooks, once used by friars to say their daily Masses, are painted scenes of the life of Christ and the story of St. Francis of Assisi. Characterized as mid-century Slovak-inspired paintings, the scenes feature gold leaf evidencing the flourish of brush strokes.
Jozef Cincik (1909-92) was a Romanian-born Slovak who studied law and art in Prague. His main inspirations were preserving the cultural legacy of his homeland through design and painting, while authoring works including 1958’s “Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel.”
Father Quanz’s favourite Cincic work is a panel painting showing the Risen Christ standing near representations of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne (which diocese encompassed Northwest Indiana at the time of the painting.) Father Quanz’ late friend, Father Frank Torres, had curated the piece from the sanctuary of the shuttered Holy Rosary church in Gary.
“I thank God for (Father) Frankie Torres pushing me to get this painting,” said Father Quanz. “He probably would have (saved) it, but it would have been in his warehouse somewhere. He had the vision – I can't do it because I don't have the vision or the taste, but I can appreciate it because I know it is good.”
The OLS pastor noted that Cincic did not sign his art, likely out of respect for its display in a holy place. In a way, he said, the Slovak-American's signature is in every corner of the pre-Vatican II A-frame building.
Father Quanz pointed out Cincic’s detailed blueprints for not only the frame of the building, but also each of the 19 themed, French-made stained-glass windows.
The pastor is not the only one eager to share more broadly the church’s visual legacy and hidden treasures.
In 2023, bulletin editor Mary Kay Reinert embarked on a multi-week printed education effort, complete with photographs. “We would like to feature our beautiful stained-glass windows,” she wrote. “Depending on where you usually sit in church, you may not notice some of the beautiful windows. We hope you enjoy learning about all 19 of them.”
Reinert composed historical pieces on holy men and women from St. John of Capistrano, patron saint of military chaplains and jurists, to a combination window featuring art of St. Anne and Little Mary. The bulletin entry read about the Virgin Mary’s mother “St. Anne certainly was watchful of Little Mary with reverent tenderness, teaching her to pray and her religious traditions. St. Anne is the patron saint of women in labor and grandmothers.”
Our Lady of Sorrows is located at 356 W 700 N, just south of South Haven. For more information, call (219) 759-2400 or visit ols-parish.org.
Caption: Father Paul Quanz, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, points to details of unidentified artwork set in the nave of the Our Lady of Sorrows church in Valparaiso on March 20. The artwork at the circa 1958 church was created by the late Slovak artist, architect and author Jozef Cincik, who was commissioned by Franciscans who resided at the former Seven Dolors Shrine. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
