DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — As if by the flip of a switch, natural light has disappeared from three cherished stained glass windows at the Oratory Church of St. Boniface.
One of those windows depicts the 8th-century missionary legacy of this parish’s patron, St. Boniface. It is titled “The Window of St. Boniface Preaching to the Pagans.”
However, there’s no mystery about what is obstructing the light, said Father Anthony Andreassi, the church’s administrative vicar. The problem, he explained, is a new 40-floor tower nearing completion outside the church’s south wall.
In addition, more anticipated high-rise construction is expected to block light to windows in the church’s north wall, which includes “The Window of the Martyrdom of St. Boniface.”
“People are very sad on Sundays,” Father Andreassi said. “They ask me, ‘When are we going to see those windows [shine] again?’”
multi-level New York Telephone Company Headquarters. The parish subsequently plastered over this Patrick Keely-designed window, but it was rediscovered, restored, and backlit during a renovation in the 1990s.
According to Father Andreassi, it’s going to be awhile. Although the parish is exploring solutions to bring light back in through the now-darkened windows, that can’t happen until after the south-side construction is complete, which won’t be until this summer at the earliest.
One method to remedy the problem, Father Andreassi said, could be adding bulbs on the exterior of the building that shine on the glass from the outside. The same thing might be accomplished with exterior mirrors that could grab natural light and redirect it onto the windows, he added.
The church plans on hiring a lighting consultant to help develop an effective remedy to revive the windows’ historic significance.
Meanwhile, Father Andreassi noted, a twist of irony clings to the origins of the new tower. “The thing is,” he said with a grin, “it’s us.” The parish owns the land where the new tower sits.
Father Andreassi said the plot where the new tower sits once held the parish school, which closed in 1947, and a stand-alone building that housed the church sacristy. The spot had earlier been targeted by the diocese to be a shared dormitory for St. Francis College and St. Joseph’s University.
Complications surfaced, however, while dealing with the New York State Dormitory Authority, so the plans fizzled, Father Andreassi said.
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Next, the parish came up with a new plan — leasing the property to a multi-unit residential housing developer that is building the new tower, mostly for apartments. The parish, meanwhile, will be allowed to develop five of the lower floors into a Newman Center serving downtown colleges, which include St. Francis College, St. Joseph’s University (Brooklyn Campus), Long Island University Brooklyn, and New York City College of Technology.
Father Andreassi said those campuses accommodate about 30,000 students, which the parish hopes to reach through evangelization and pastoral work. He explained that serving college students is a particular charism of the Oratory churches.
Also, he noted, St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) — canonized by Pope Francis in 2019 — was a member of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Newman Centers for college students in the United States were inspired by this saint.
St. Boniface Parish was established in 1854, a year after the founding of the Diocese of Brooklyn. At first, it occupied a former Protestant church in Downtown Brooklyn to accommodate an influx of German immigrants. All of the early pastors were also from Germany, according to Father Andreassi.
In 1872, the famed Brooklyn-based church architect Patrick Keely designed a new church for the parish on the spot it occupies to this day at 190 Duffield St. The Brooklyn Oratory of St. Philip Neri, priests and brothers of the Order of St. Philip Neri, assumed pastoral responsibilities for the parish in 1990.
Father Andreassi has been on staff there for 20 years. The church has 10 themed stained glass windows, including the two dedicated to its patron, which reflect the congregation’s German heritage.
St. Boniface (675-754) was a Benedictine monk from England who is credited with bringing the faith to Germany. The window depicting his martyrdom is “very evocative,” Father Andreassi said. He added that children are often enthralled by the window’s barbarian character, clad in a bearskin headdress and armed with a sword.
While preparing for the parish’s 150th anniversary in 2004, researchers learned that these two St. Boniface-themed windows
were installed in either 1903 or 1904, during a renovation at the church.
“They were installed by Mayer Studios of Munich, which was a well-known German stained glass maker,” Father Andreassi said. “They’re not priceless, but they mean a lot to us.”
