St. Brigid Roman Catholic Church
St. Brigid's Stations of the Cross
Our Stations of the cross were completed in 1948 by Dom Gregory de Wit, who, like our first pastor, Msgr. Van Veggel, was Dutch-born. Born in 1892, Jan Aloysius de Wit entered the Benedictine order in Belgium in 1913 and as ordained in 1918, taking Gregory as his monastic name. He was a monk, priest, painter, and designer.He was a true Renaissance man who spoke four languages; his artwork is scattered across Europe and North America. In addition, he designed vestments, statues, and furniture in wood and marble, and was also a prolific painter of religious and secular scenes in every artistic medium.
Dom Gregory studied art in Belgium, Germany and Italy and by 1929, had had several art exhibitions in Holland and Germany. He began creating murals in the 1930's, painting on dry plaster.
The artist came to the United States in 1938 at the invitation of the Abbot of St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana. In his mid-40's, he there began his most productive years. Most of his major American works are in Indiana and Louisiana.
Our Stations are unique in that they are murals and are not episodic, but a continuous procession of events leading to the Crucifixion. They clearly display Byzantine iconographic influences and the humanity of Christ as he walked to Golgotha.
In many of his works, Dom Gregory included contemporary figures in the Stations. If you look carefully, you will find the faces of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
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