The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Custom cabinetry contains a new hand-carved, 42-inch marble statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico, flanked by a pair of stained-glass side panels depicting Castilian roses.
MONTEZUMA - A majestic mosaic imperiled by decades of water damage has been meticulously taken apart glass tile by glass tile and reassembled in the vestibule of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Catholic Church.
The collaboration between a master glass and tile artisan and a parishioner who's been practicing carpentry for several years yielded a wondrous area dedicated to the church's namesake, Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The custom cabinetry contains a new hand-carved, 42-inch marble statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico, flanked by a pair of stained-glass side panels depicting Castilian roses central to the story of the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to peasant Juan Diego in 1531.
A reconstituted mosaic of over 28,000 pieces of Italian glass tile at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Montezuma.
The new statue stands in front of the reconstituted mosaic of over 28,000 pieces of Italian glass tile that had previously formed the backdrop of a statue of Mary outside the church.
"I foresee in the future that on certain Mary and feast days that … people will gather here for prayers, especially on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is Dec. 12. I could see a prayer service happening out here, around the statue," said Father John Tonkin, pastor of St. Isidore the Farmer, Family of Parishes, which encompasses the Montezuma church.
Tom Hone of Classical Glass & Tile in Celina in early 2022 was asked to take a look at the front of the church where tile was falling. He determined the mosaic original to the church built in the '50s was not repairable due to water infiltration that compromised the integrity of the entire area.
Tonkin and parish leaders directed Ron Schulze, a parishioner, active church commitee member and retired fire chief, to recreate the mosaic inside the vestibule in a space previously used to display church information and accept prayer intentions.
"Ninety percent of the people that come into this church either come through these front doors or that side entrance over there and (we wanted) to create something inviting to see as you walk in," Schulze said.
In late April 2023, Hone began removing the more than 30,000 pieces of tile and made repairs to the masonry and statue of Mary on the outside of the church.
Tom and his wife, Carol, spent several months cleaning the glass tiles before getting started on building a new mosaic. Tom also went about designing and crafting stained-glass windows that incorporated the Castilian rose.
Tom Hone of Classical Glass & Tile made the stain-glassed windows of a new display in the vestibule of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Montezuma.
Hone said the design for the new mosaic was generally a nod to the original outside the church.
"We tailored that a little bit. We put a few more stars in than the original had. That effect of the hills and the gold at the bottom, that was not part of the original design," Hone said.
"But it's very reminiscent of the topography and the geography around here," Tonkin pointed out.
"Sure, and also relative to the Juan Diego story of how he met Our Lady and how he was called to a hill and saw her," Hone remarked.
Hone said it's believed the Orsoni Company of Venice, Italy, made the individual glass tiles, noting the green and gold tone glass tiles are backed with gold leaf, making the colors "pop."
"I've built several thousand stained-glass windows," Hone said, noting he's been in the business for 44 years. "And I've done a lot of mosaics in my career, the vast majority have been in natural stone."
This was hands down the most complex glass mosaic he had ever built.
A detail of some of the 28,000 pieces of Italian glass tiles constituting a reconstructed mosaic behind a statue of Mary inside Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Montezuma.
Meanwhile, Schulze set out to build cabinetry out of red oak to hold the stained-glass windows, mosaic and a new Our Lady of Guadalupe marble statue.
"He did an incredibly accurate job of building a very difficult combination of cabinets," Hone said of Schulze's handiwork. "The half round shape of the mosaic surround was a real challenge to build and it was dead on accurate. His work was beyond my expectations and was truly impressive."
To top it all off, cutting-edge, dimmable LED lighting was installed at the recommendation of Dickman Electrical Supply in Celina to illuminate the stained-glass and mosaic, according to Hone.
Pictures taken of the statue show a halo-like effect surrounding Mary's head in what Hone called "the happiest mistake in my career."
"I don't know how we could of even built that into the equation if we'd specified that," he said. "The way that turned out was like, 'Oh, my word.'"
Tonkin dedicated the mosaic, statute and stained-glass windows on May 10.
"We've been on this project for two years, the way it's unfolded over time," Hone said.
"The whole project, from start to finish, I've probably got several hundred hours in it, from helping Tom on the outside to the cabinet work in here," Schulze added.
The two men enjoyed working on the project together.
"Ron and I had never met before this. We spent a lot of time together after we got this started. There was a lot of back and forth," Hone said. "As it turned out, we had the skills it required and we each had the tools that were required and we just got it done."
A statute of Mary outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Montezuma.
