We originally planned to place it on the existing half wall between Holy Spirit Church and the rectory. However, after closer inspection, that would not have been a stable area on which to build the necessary support. Therefore, it will be set into the brick wall of the rectory shown in the remaining photos. (to show the location in relationship to the church building) Here it will be lit and protected with the existing diagonal covering.
It will be placed just feet away from its original home
There will be a dedication ceremony after a Sunday Mass soon. We hope to have that date set this week and will announce it here.
The plan in the Spring is to add a seating area in front of the mosaic where people can sit, reflect, pray or remember.
That will be our next phase
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. Stay tuned for more detailsAnnie Sullivan, who taught deaf and blind Helen Keller how to communicate, is not the only Miracle Worker.

Monongah has its own Miracle Worker, Fairmont West High graduate Kathleen Grattan Dukate, clinical care coordinator at WVU Medicine in Morgantown who lives in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.

Kathleen first started this project, and the fundraising for it, in 2015 so it’s been a long, slow path to the goal of putting the mosaic on the Holy Spirit Church grounds in Monongah, not far from where it once stood atop the school that I attended along with many children of Monongah’s Catholic miners.

Kathleen found a mosaic tile artist in Morgantown who was able to take the original 19 tile pieces, which Sister Stephen had saved in her desk drawer before the Sisters of the Auxiliaries of the Apostolate Society’s school building was razed, and find matching pieces in Italy.

The mosaic was removed when the school was demolished in 2011. It found a temporary home at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fairmont, where the Monongah High Alumni Reunion is held every year.

I’ll let the Miracle Worker, Kathleen, tell the story:

So excited to post this latest update.

The mosaic has been restored. Sister Stephen kept 19 of the missing tiles in her desk drawer. And with those in hand, our mosaic artist went to Italy where she was able to match them and purchase any additional tiles needed to make it complete once again. Restoration of the mosaic was funded by an anonymous donor to whom we are so very grateful! As you can see it has been cleaned and polished and is ready to be installed tomorrow!

We originally planned to place it on the existing half-wall between Holy Spirit Church and the rectory. However, after closer inspection, that would not have been a stable area on which to build the necessary support. Therefore, it will be built into the brick wall of the rectory.

Here it will be lit and protected with the existing diagonal covering. It will be placed just feet away from its original home.

There will be a dedication ceremony after a Sunday Mass soon. We hope to have that date set this week and will announce it here.

The plan in the Spring is to add a seating area in front of the mosaic where people can sit, reflect, pray or remember.

That will be our next phase.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement. Stay tuned for more details!