BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the pastor of a local church was trying to straighten up the basement, he found something that holds a big piece of history. It was a large painting of Saint Joseph, and it could date back more than one-hundred years.
"As you can see, I can see many treasures waiting to be discovered and show to the world," says Father Michal Czyżewski.
Czyżewski came to Buffalo's Corpus Christi Church almost four years ago and at some point decided he'd clean up the basement.
"And one of the treasures, what I find three years ago is the painting of St. Joseph," he says.
Found rolled up and flattened, with a lot of cracked paint, the three-by-six-foot painting of St. Joseph needs a lot of TLC.
"We don't know actually who painted this painting, but we know sure that this is probably in the second part of the 19th century. As you can see, in the one hand, St. Joseph holds the Baby Jesus. In the other hand, St. Joseph holds the lily. The flowers" explains Czyżewski.
Czyżewski moved the painting to the rectory, but it bothered him that he didn't know anything about its history.
"After two years I show one of the parishioners and I like to ask their opinion what they think about this painting. And one of the people told me that this is beautiful art. And I was thinking oh maybe it would be a good time to restore this art, restore the painting of St. Joseph, and put it in the public like it was before," he says.
The painting is in New Jersey, where an artist says it'll take about five months to restore. The parish posted about the painting this week on the feast of St. Joseph hoping someone out there might know something about it.
"I was thinking wow this is a beautiful story and I'm a part of the story and to people who watch this news, listen to these words, they can also participate in this beautiful story or beautiful journey with St. Joseph," says the pastor.
The restoration is expected to cost around $5,000. The parish is doing a fundraiser, and they plan on having a special ceremony when it returns to Buffalo.