A way to say thanks: Celtic cross honors Christ and commemorates former pastor’s service

Stonecutter Matthew Bruce of Bedford, left, poses for a photograph with Father Charles Chesebrough, center, and Father Bernard Cox on April 27 outside Mary, Queen of Peace Church in Danville. Bruce works for Architectural Stone Sales in Bedford. Both Father Chesebrough and Father Cox have served as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Bedford and Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Danville. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

DANVILLE—Carrying his oxygen pack, Father Charles Chesebrough walked outside Mary, Queen of Peace Church in Danville after Mass on April 27 to admire an ornately carved Celtic cross created to honor Christ.

The 7-foot Irish cross also commemorates Father Chesebrough’s 12 years of service to the Indianapolis West Deanery parish.

“It’s beautiful,” Father Chesebrough said of the Bedford limestone cross after Father Bernard Cox, pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish, dedicated it in gratitude to God, the former pastor and the donors who helped build the church.

Father Chesebrough served at the Danville parish from 1983 until 1995, and supervised the construction of the parish’s fourth church when its rapidly growing membership needed a larger worship space a decade ago.

“We wanted to do something for Father Charlie, and I thought it’s more important that we do something for a priest while he’s alive,” Father Cox said. “He’s been a great influence in my life, and I felt it was the very least we could do.”

Father Cox said he is grateful for the generosity of Gary Evans, one of two brothers who own Architectural Stone Sales in Bedford.

Both Father Chesebrough and Father Cox have served as the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Bedford, so the limestone cross is a connection to their former parish home and the parishioners.

“The cross has had a lot of impact on a lot of different lives, and I’m glad that we could do this,” Father Cox said. “Now it’s blessed, and we hope that a lot of people are blessed who look upon that cross and remember how much Christ suffered that we might have eternal life. That’s the whole point of it. It’s also our way of saying thanks to Father Charlie and that we love him.”

Stonecutter Matthew Bruce of Bedford attended the dedication ceremony with his wife, Carrie, and son, Mason. He has worked for Architectural Stone Carving in Bedford for 15 years.

Carving the limestone cross resulted in an amazing conversion experience, Bruce said, which left him feeling humbled by God’s presence in his life and work.

“It took me about six months to carve the cross,” he said. “I probably had 250 hours in it. They gave me a one-foot model. Our draftsman at the mill took digital photographs of it, and then I actually took that piece [of stone] to my garage and worked on it at home.”

As the hours of work carving the ornate cross added up, Bruce said he began to resent the amount of time that the project took away from his family life and hobbies.

“This cross really became a pain to me,” he admitted. “I’m a deer hunter, and I couldn’t do that or all the other things I wanted to do. I couldn’t ride horses. My friends would call and I’d say, ‘I’ve got to work on this cross.’ So I started cursing the cross in my garage.

“One night, while I was working on it,” Bruce recalled, “I’ve never heard voices or anything like that, but I was startled by the words, ‘My son, all you have to do is carve this cross. I had to hang from it.’

“And then my eyes welled up with tears,” he said. “I finished the cross in about a week after that happened. I shamefully finished it. It really humbled me. I don’t speak eloquently, and for these words to come [to me] it had to be divine. He saw me, and he was right. All I had to do was carve it. Can you imagine having to be nailed to it? And only so I can be forgiven, and I’ve had a lot of shortfalls.”

Bruce kept the cross at his work station at the mill from December until it was installed at Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in April. The cross stands more than 7 feet high and weighs 156 pounds per cubic foot. It took four men to load the cross by hand into a truck for delivery to the parish.

“There really is no artistic ability in me,” Bruce said as he marveled at the intricately detailed scrolls on the stone cross gleaming in the afternoon sunlight.

“I had a model and I just followed the design,” he explained. “I use a pneumatic air hammer, and I have hundreds of chisels. People have said, ‘Oh, you’ve got such a talent.’ I have no talent. But God lets me do this work. Usually, if I’m doing something that’s really going to be tough, I’ll pray right there on the mill floor, and ask him to please let me do this to the satisfaction of the owners and the satisfaction of the customer. And he’s never failed me, not yet. Now the cross is here at the church, and I miss it.” †