Twenty-one Year Pastorate
Pastor 1909 - 1930
Archbishop Glennon, after transferring Father Hussman away from St. Henry's in 1909, sent Father Henri C. Petri, who was then serving as assistant pastor of St. Henry's in St. Louis, to Charleston. Thus, Father Petri began a fruitful pastorate that would, eventually, cover twenty-one years of our parish history.
Father Petri arrived at a parish sporting a brand new brick church. Although the beautiful brick and concrete work on the exterior of the church was finished we had not yet done much to the interior. There remained the interior decoration and beautification work to be accomplished.
Not surprisingly, such was of great concern to Father Petri. One of his first actions at St. Henry's was to commission the Jacoby Art Glass Company of St. Louis, recognized at the time as one of the best art glass workers in the nation, to design and install our beautiful stained glass windows in the church. These original windows are the same ones that we enjoy to this day [2003]. Throughout the years they have told the story of the life of Christ in vivid, colorful, lifelike pictures to all who enter our church.
Besides the windows, there was need also of a main altar to complete the sanctuary. For this Father Petri turned to his old friend and our former pastor Father Hussmann, and from him obtained the old altar of St. Henry's in St. Louis. St. Henry's in St. Louis had just completed their new church, and the altar of their old church was still in good condition. The two good priests made a deal, and moved the altar from St. Louis to Charleston.
The Enterprise-Courier under the date August 26, 1910, had this to report:
"The main altar, which has been erected in the Catholic Church during the past week, completes the idea, which the builder of that sacred edifice desired to present in the sanctuary. The chief act of religious worship is the sacrifice, and at this altar is offered the sacrifice of the New Law which in essence is a continuation of the sacrifice of the cross.
To remind one of the identity of these two sacrifices, a large group, representing the crucifixion of our Lord, with His Blessed Mother and the beloved disciple, St. John, beneath the cross, surmounts the altar proper. This was an addition to the old altar of St. Henry's in St. Louis. The altar is made of butternut wood in natural finish, richly ornamented with gold."
- The Enterprise-Courier, August 26, 1910
Shortly after installing the altar we frescoed above the sanctuary arch, completing the beautification of the interior of the church.
Paraphrased from St. Henry Church 1873 - 1973.
