By Stan Gould,
The Catholic Times
With cameras rolling – an out-of date term given the lack of fi lm rolling in video cameras – the staff of “Extraordinary Faith,” a new program on EWTN, came to La Crosse to produce an episode on the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“‘Extraordinary Faith’ is an idea that a friend of mine and I had about three years ago,” said Alex Begin, co-creator, executive producer, and host. “We thought that it was high time that there was a television program that talked about
Sacred Tradition. There had never been one on any of the Catholic networks that we knew of.
“We all came from a Latin Mass background; so that was sort of the beginning point of what we wanted to showcase.
“Anything dealing with classic sacred art, architecture, music and of course the liturgy needed to have a positive, enthusiastic presentation. It’s a growing and good part of the Church today. It’s time for it to be featured on television.”
On May 2, with rain threatening, the crew spent the early morning recording the exterior shots they needed. The crew then went to the Shrine of St. Joseph for a recording session. On the way up the hill, Father John Swing, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Nekoosa and St. Alexander in Port Edwards, described the Shrine of St. Joseph. Father Swing’s parents donated most of the land for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“The Shrine of St. Joseph has a setting of St. Joseph’s workshop where he is teaching Jesus to build a cross,” Father Swing explained. “Mary is looking on with a horrifi ed look. Off in the distance is Cardinal [Raymond L.] Burke with a hand on my dad’s shoulder with my mother next to my dad. … Above and to the right the Shrine Church is shown with its dome and bell tower. It puts the setting both in the workshop of Joseph and here at the Shrine.” Father Swing said that the sculptor was able to capture the Swinghammer look [in his parents], even though he took weight off of his father, made him slender and taller. “With my mother,” Father Swing said, “he captured her eyes and the smile: the glint in the eye.”
