New Fr. Tolton artwork in Monroe City baptistry

What is invaluable to us is what’s been handed down to us through the ages, through this institution that Jesus himself founded.”

Patrice Schelkun, artist

Venerable Father Augustus Tolton watches approvingly as people are baptized in the newly-renovated Holy Rosary Church in Monroe City.

Having been baptized himself in the nearby town of Brush Creek in 1854, the Roman Catholic Church’s first recognizably Black priest in the United States is the subject of a new painting in Holy Rosary’s baptistry.

“Holy Rosary is the caretaker for St. Peter Church in Brush Creek,” said Father Greg Oligschlaeger, former pastor of Holy Rosary, who oversaw the church renovation. “It’s the place of Fr. Tolton’s Baptism, which is why we put the painting by the baptismal font.”

The image, created by Catholic artist Patrice Schelkun of Naples, Florida, was an anonymous gift.

It depicts Fr. Tolton, holding a broken shackle in his blessing hand and a rosary in the other, with cedar trees and a refreshing body of water nearby.

St. Peter Church in Brush Creek stands near the horizon.

“The expression on his face is one of peace and calm,” a Holy Rosary parishioner pointed out.

Fr. Tolton, born into a family of enslaved people, escaped to Illinois as a child with his mother and siblings after the Civil War broke out. His father gave his life as a Union Soldier.

The family settled in Quincy, Illinois, where young “Gus” first recognized and vigorously pursued his priestly calling, despite no U.S. seminary accepting him because of the color of his skin.

He was eventually admitted as a missionary to the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, the seminary of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith.

He was ordained in 1886 in St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, offered his first Solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, and was sent back to the United States as a missionary, ministering with great distinction in Quincy and later in Chicago.

He died of heat exhaustion in 1897. He remains an anchor of devotion and is under formal consideration for being declared a saint.

“The water component, literal and symbolic, is very special,” a parishioner said of the painting. “Going over into Illinois, crossing the river, along with the symbolism of Baptism and water.

“He’s holding the shackle, representing every obstacle, every struggle,” the parishioner noted. “So, you have the juxtaposition of the difficulties and the peaceful expression on his face, which is so inspiring to us in our Christian faith.”

Mrs. Schelkun said she sees in Fr. Tolton a model of perseverance in holiness.

“Despite all the setbacks and obstacles he faced in trying to answer his vocation, and all the criticism he experienced in his Priesthood, he nonetheless found a way to keep going,” she stated.

She hopes people will look upon the image long after all the current parishioners have gone on to meet God.

“I want everyone to recognize in this great man that no matter what situation you’re in, no matter how hard it becomes to follow the Lord, it’s the one thing that’s most worthy of pursuing throughout your life,” she said.

“You can have everything in the world, but unless you develop that relationship with the Lord and get to heaven, you have nothing,” she added.

Magnificence abroad

The membership rolls of the Monroe City and neighboring Indian Creek parishes include many descendants of the owners of the plantations where Fr. Tolton and his parents and grandparents worked long hours in the sun.

St. Peter Cemetery in Brush Creek has a separate area for enslaved people whose names are now known only to God.

When a donor offered to pay for a unique image of Fr. Tolton during a comprehensive renovation of Holy Rosary Church, Fr. Oligschlaeger immediately thought of placing it in the new baptistry.

He and parishioner Brenda Benson, an artist who created the Holy Spirit emblem that now adorns the ceiling above the altar, set out to find a portrait artist to do justice to Fr. Tolton’s likeness.

They scoured the Internet in search of images that seemed right.

They found a portrait of Fr. Tolton that Mrs. Schelkun had painted for a church in Philadelphia.

“We took that image and sent her some ideas about St. Peter in Brush Creek,” said Fr. Oligschlaeger.

Mrs. Schelkun is a cradle Catholic raised in the New York metro area, but her experience of the centuries-old tradition of aesthetic beauty in Catholic churches was limited.

 That changed when she visited 10 countries in Europe in her early 20s on a trip with her grandfather.

“Apart from maybe St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, I had never seen churches like that,” she recalled. “They were nothing like the churches I attended as a child. I was so inspired by the beauty and otherworldliness of these incredible sacred spaces.”

Raising four children with her husband as a stay-at-home mom, she made time to seriously study drawing and painting once the children reached school age. She soon started a small home business, painting murals and decorative finishes.

Mrs. Schelkun studied glass painting for architectural stained glass. When her pastor called upon her to design and create 17 stained-glass windows for the weekday Mass chapel in her church in suburban Philadelphia, she leapt at the chance to use her newly acquired skills.

That opened the door to producing work in other churches and to eventually becoming president of a national organization for education in the glass arts, the American Glass Guild.

“But honestly, my first love was not designing and fabricating glass, although it’s very beautiful if done well in churches,” she said. “My first love was painting.”

She continued her studies in oil portraiture, practicing on family members.

“God knew my heart,” she stated. “He knew I wanted to paint sacred images and help beautify sacred spaces within the primary vocation of my life, which is being a wife and mother and raising children.”

She worked on several projects in and around Philadelphia and created artworks to show at various national Catholic gatherings.

She said she much prefers having her artwork installed in churches than displayed in any gallery.

“And somehow, I’ve had the energy and am able to do it,” she said. “I see that as a gift from God.”

She pointed out that no artwork is easy to create.

“Even if you do a painting 100 times, every time you start, there’s a voice in the back of your head that says, ‘You’ve got it all wrong, you’ll never be able to do it,’” she said.

At those times, she speaks out loud to the saintly subject of her work: “Would you pray for me along the way? Because I want to represent you as you truly are and inspire people to be like you.”

She believes the Holy Spirit helps her find the inspiration she needs.

“I see beauty in so many things in the world,” she said, “like how light touches flowers and trees. Not that I paint a lot of those things, but I see inspiration in them.

“And then you struggle and struggle and struggle to match what’s on the canvas to your vision,” she said. “You never think it’s finished. You either have to have a deadline or just say, ‘I’m done!’ and be done with it.”

Eyes on the prize

A while back, a friend who was pastor of St. Raymond of Penafort Parish in Philadelphia, a formerly Irish parish whose parishioners are now mostly Black, asked Mrs. Schelkun to paint a mural depicting saints and holy people of color and African-American candidates for sainthood.

One of them was Fr. Tolton.

The pastor of neighboring St. Athanasius Parish saw the mural and asked her to create an individual painting of Fr. Tolton for his church, where parishioners had expressed an interest in promoting his cause for sainthood.

“Father and I prayed about what the painting should have,” Mrs. Schelkun recalled. “He wanted it to have meaningful symbolism. We decided to include a broken chain, symbolizing his escape from slavery, as well as Christ’s power to break the chains of sin.”

The parish printed a reproduction of the image she created, along with the story of Fr. Tolton’s life, and distributed it to each of the parishes in the National Black Catholic Congress.

That was the image Fr. Oligschlaeger saw online.

Mrs. Schelkun felt honored to receive the commission for a church so close to Fr. Tolton’s birthplace.

“I feel like it’s a better painting than the ones I did years ago, because I’ve gotten to be a better painter,” she said.

In studying Fr. Tolton’s life, she found particular inspiration in how Fr. Tolton stayed Catholic and remained a priest, despite the hate and unkindness some of his fellow Catholics showed to him.

“I always remind people, the Church is made up of fallible, sinful people, and that even includes the pope,” she said. “What is invaluable to us is what’s been handed down to us through the ages, through this institution that Jesus himself founded.

“You have to stand on that and look past the mistakes people have made along the way,” she said. “Fr. Tolton knew that and humbly lived that, and that makes him a terrific role model for us.”

There are currently six African Americans who are under consideration for being declared saints, including Fr. Tolton and Servant of God Julia Greeley, who grew up enslaved in northeastern Missouri.

Mrs. Schelkun is looking forward to the day when God makes clear through miracles that Fr. Tolton and his fellow candidates should be raised to the altars and revered as saints.

“We are a diverse Church, a worldwide Church, and there are some wonderful people for us to hold up as role models and ask for prayerful intercession to God in heaven,” she said.

From age to age

Father Christopher Hoffmann, current pastor of Holy Rosary Parish and of St. Stephen Parish in Indian Creek, said the image of Fr. Tolton is a good reminder that “our path to holiness, the call to be saints we received at Baptism, is not always easy.”

“Fr. Tolton had many difficulties in his Christian journey, which started in a small church off the beaten path,” said Fr. Hoffmann. “However, he continued to move forward and trust in God.

“It doesn’t matter how simple our beginnings are,” the priest continued. “If we trust God and follow where he sends us, we will be the saints He is calling each of us to be, in our own way.”

A Holy Rosary parishioner said it is wonderful to have the image in a niche so close to the baptismal font.

“It’s exactly where it needs to be,” the parishioner stated, citing the need to keep Fr. Tolton’s story alive and give children of Holy Rosary Parish every opportunity to ask questions about him.

“Kids are very curious, and his story has staying power,” the parishioner stated. “The picture has a permanent home in Holy Rosary Church and will hopefully garner conversations for many years to come.”

Another parishioner shared, “It shows that God works through people of all backgrounds. When members of diverse communities see themselves reflected here, they feel connected and inspired.”

“Fr. Tolton shows us what love in action looks like,” said another parishioner. “Even though he passed away many years ago, the memory of his great love is still alive and present to us.”