2020 was a challenging year without question. It was not, however without its rewards. When cleaning out the maintenance shed at St. Brendan’s Parish, Shepparton, the team of volunteers, priests and staff unearthed several treasures. One of these treasures was a badly damaged crucifix, thought to be originally hanging on the Sanctuary of our church, prior to being replaced with a stained-glass window. The crucifix was very badly damaged, leaving us with the dilemma of what to do with it. Standing six feet tall, it was difficult to determine how to dispose of it respectfully. Fortunately, we knew of a craftsman in Wunghnu, a small town nearby.
89-year-old Alf Seiter, born in Germany, travelled to Australia to live with his stepfather, when he was 19, bringing with him very little money, but a passion for perfection in everything he did. Long retired and living in the house he built for his mother, Alf’s passion for perfection remains, often quoting “if it is not perfect, it is not correct”.
Alf was not only up for the challenge of restoring the crucifix, not only determined to make it perfect, he also brought love and deep faith to his work, commenting that when he was working on the restoration, he felt that he was doing the work of God, guided by Him along the way. The body of Christ was removed from the cross and many hundreds of hours went in to filling holes, reattaching limbs, and sculpting missing pieces before the whole statue was sanded back to a marble like smoothness and given an undercoat of white paint. At this stage, the details Alf had crafted into the body became apparent, growth lines on toenails, muscle definition along the arms, folds of the fabric, reconstruction of the nails in His palms, beautiful, intricate details to be marvelled at and admired.
Alf had the perfect place ready for the completed crucifix. Decades ago, Alf had created a grotto, 14 tons of rock, moved by crowbar, into place, creating a waterfall, a pond and a cavern big enough for a tall person to easily stand in. Inside the grotto stand two statues, each about a metre tall, Our Lady on the left, the Divine Heart of Mercy on the right (rescued from the side of the road in another parish). Throughout the restoration process Alf often commented that with the crucifix in place, the grotto would feel like a grand cathedral. Initially worried that he would need to do some renovation to the cavern to fit the crucifix, upon completion he discovered that it fitted perfectly in the space he created more than 40 years ago. Alf credits this to God guiding his hand as he worked on the cavern all that time ago.
For almost 25 years, Alf has hosted Candlemas at his home, with the magnificent grotto as the sanctuary, complete with permanent altar. This year was an extra special occasion, as the restored crucifix made its debut. Fr Michael Grace (St Joseph’s, Numurkah) and Fr Varghese Vithayathil (Syro Malabar Priest in Residence at St Brendan’s, Shepparton) presided over this year's Candlemas, blessing the newly installed crucifix as part of the celebration.
Alf was thrilled with the attendance on the evening and with the blessing given to the beautifully restored artwork, but most of all he was grateful to Fr Joe Taylor (St Brendan’s Parish, Shepparton) for the opportunity to restore such a magnificent treasure, which he will share with visitors to his home for many years to come.
