Repairing Windows and Restoring Faith

By Charlene Shirk First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- We've heard the stories of survival of rebuilding, all in an effort to move forward from the devastating hurricanes that forever changed the landscape of the Gulf.

Many people turned to the government for help, others turned to friends and family but even more turned to their faith. This is the story of a woman of God who traveled to the Gulf on a mission to repair the damage. But instead she found herself restoring their faith.

The howling winds, the crushing destruction, some wondered if the storms were possibly a punishment from God. A young woman stranded after the hurricane could find no other solace.

"There's no gas, there's no ATM, no electricity, everybody's bumper to bumper fights."

Help took days to come to the Gulf, for some help was too late and still for others help has yet to arrive.

"This woman was sitting outside with a sign help us. It wasn't actually the devastation that bothered me it was the lack of help."

Diane Couture is a nun with the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Augustine. She creates the stunning and soulful windows that grace churches across the country.

After the storm subsided Sister Diane was called in to try to salvage the famous stained glass windows in the churches of Bay Saint Louis and Biloxi. But there were no windows left to repair. "They only had about four foot pilings that went up everything in between was stained glass from ceiling to floor so you had wherever that water surge came through it cut it off like a razor."

So Sister Diane sealed the gaping holes and with no windows to repair her calling became the people.

"Most people know what it feels like to be abandoned and left and these people have nothing. Most of them do not have means to get out."

Sister Diane saw miles and piles of debris but it was the human suffering that remained that stunned her. "I think it?s shock, I?m really surprised and I think America would be very surprised to know that these people are sitting there in those conditions," says Sister Diane.

Sister Diane found families with cement slabs where homes had stood, still no food, no clothes. "And this was well after the hurricane hit."

Six months after the storm Sister Diane says what she saw was far from recovery. Most donations are now stuck in gridlock and not making much of a dent. "They really feel that once their donation has been given that life started to recover out there and it has been the best kept secret." Sister Diane says the churches she came to restore were now a refuge for the people stranded in their own city. "We even took in families, here we took in 14 and took care of them who came from New Orleans. You're sitting among people who are living in pup tents and really leaning on you and really relying on you to help them."

Sister Diane says while the churches are limping along and struggling to survive themselves, they are also taking on the bulk of supporting the people in their surrounding community. "It's traditional that the churches end up taking on the social issues. So it's a passed down heritage for churches but in this instance something like this with such a devastating tragedy and such a large state of destruction. I think most people automatically assume that to some extent the churches are going to take over the position of these recovery programs."

Sister Diane says the tragedy added to this tragedy is that money that should be flowing in to support the programs that are working are frozen in time and that the churches could actually do more if they were permitted to use government funds to keep the programs going that are working. "Instead they're trying to holler for help out there so that they can continue because their programs are working people are coming, people are volunteering."

Even though Sister Diane was helping the people who were hurting, she knew she had a job to do. It was her mission to restore the once majestic windows, whose stories of faith and fortitude were now scattered by the winds.

"You can search through the open fields and you can find pieces of glass all over the place." Piecing together the windows and their stories is painstaking. "The hardest part of this problem is that these windows were the twelve tribes of Israel, very abstract, nothing flowed together, didn't make any rhyme or reason with the color how it flowed whatsoever." Adding to her already nearly impossible task, was that most of the churches records were destroyed. "All the records went out into the Gulf. The only pictures the diocese had were black and white shots from 1964, which won't help us much as far as color goes. It was very exciting for me and I knew from previous restorations that if you watch the windows enough you can learn what the masters did in those windows. To be able to have in your hands windows... that are priceless pieces and all of a sudden you have to replicate not just repair, you have to replicate their painting was really quite a challenge."

So Sister Diane is turning to old tourist snapshots and her own research to retrace these master artist's creations. She knows the damage she is repairing is not just to the windows. This woman of God knows it's also the faith that needs restoration. "We're not just creating glass, we're creating a whole movement, a journey with them. Yes, I definitely feel that this is what God had called me to."

There is a fundraising event this Sunday, the 28th. It's the "Call for Help" silent auction and luncheon will be held at the Carrabbas Italian Restaurant on State Road 312. There are two sittings, one at 11:30 and another at 1:30. Tickets have to be purchased in advanced. The cost is $20 per person. If you would like to give the gift of hope you can donate to the victim?s registry.

For more information, click here.

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