It all started when Fr. David found himself admiring the noble and ornate monstrance at St. Paul parish in Lyons during an Advent prayer penance service.  "That is exactly what I would like to see for our new adoration chapel," he thought.  It wasn't because the current monstrance--the decorative metal stand that displays the consecrated host for Eucharistic Adoration--at St. Joseph's was insufficient.  It was a suitable vessel to display the Eucharist.  However, it was somewhat diminutive in size, and Fr. David wondered if it would look too small in the chapel that was being designed to be added to the parish church.  The problem was that a new monstrance, of greater size and of more decorative style, would easily run into thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.  And that was just too much given all the other expenses of construction.

And so, for those reasons, Fr. David let the idea of a new monstrance slip away.

Until a few weeks later, after a conversation with a priest and friend, Fr. Frank Coady, of the Salina diocese, the McPherson pastor learned that there was an antique monstrance available.  This monstrance, while tarnished with years of sacred use, possessed the more prominent size and ornate quality that had caught his attention earlier.  It's possible that the monstrance came from a Catholic church in Jamestown, Kansas, that had closed approximately ten years before.  After examining it, Fr. David was intrigued and asked to take the monstrance back to St. Joseph's to compare it with the current one.  Fr. Coady was happy to let him do so and generously offered the monstrance to St. Joseph parish only for the asking.

As soon as Fr. David returned to the parish with the esteemed liturgical vessel, he immediately took it to compare, side by side, with the other one.  He was impressed with the older monstrance's size and quality in comparison.  It was then that he began to plan to learn what it might cost to refinish the monstrance and put it into use at St. Joseph's.  He took several pictures of it, took a number of measurements, and, with this information, contacted two liturgical goods companies to request estimates from them on the cost of the work.

While engaging in e-mail correspondence with the representatives of those companies, Fr. David learned that such pieces had not been made for 25 years.  This one appeared to have excellent potential to be repaired and re-plated, restoring it to the work of art that it is.

As this was transpiring, Father also presented the monstrance to the parish Liturgy Committee to get their input about it.  When they, too, saw a comparison of the two vessels, they were equally supportive and enthusiastic about refinishing the older piece to serve a new purpose in the parish.  With a portion of a special monetary gift that was given to the parish, and with some assistance from the Altar Society, the estimated cost of $1600 to repair and restore the monstrance seemed like a reasonable cost.

With hope that the "new" monstrance will serve a holy and sacred purpose in the parish, Fr. David is now making preparations to send the vessel to F.C. Zieglers, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  There, in the hands of professional craftsmen, the monstrance will be renewed and restored to its original splendor to serve as a display for the Body of Christ in Eucharistic adoration.

Any donations offered toward the refinishing of the monstrance would be gratefully accepted.  Please contact the parish office.