Friar Peter Tremblay celebrates Mass at the new altar.BALTIMORE — There are times when the Conventual Franciscans of Our Lady of the Angels Province, to which Bishop Michael Martin belongs, celebrate Mass outside of a church and they need an altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist and an ambo to proclaim the Word.
That was the case July 26-31, when 68 Franciscan friars gathered at the Baltimore Maritime Center to consider and approve plans for the next four years.
“While we were meeting to conduct the business of the order, everything we did was surrounded by prayer,” said Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv. “That included daily celebration of the Eucharist.”
That’s where Friar Peter Tremblay, OFM Conv., comes in. The Catholic Chaplain at Elon University, Friar Tremblay is a self-taught woodworker. He spent about 150 hours carefully measuring, cutting, finishing and assembling an altar and ambo made of solid black walnut that were first used in Baltimore.
“Both pieces are easy to assemble using magnetic switches that are attached to magnetic plates,” Friar Tremblay said. “There are eight magnets for each piece, and they go together with 800 pounds of force when they are put together.”
On the front of the altar, the wounds in the stigmata of St. Francis are pink cubic zirconia.
A carving of the stigmata of St. Francis is slightly recessed into the front of the altar and accented with 24 carat, triple thick gold leaf, protected by an acrylic topcoat. The wounds in the stigmata are pink cubic zirconia with an environmentally-friendly finish.
This is not the first time Friar Tremblay has used his gifts for the Church. In 2024, he used the design of Friar Joseph Dorniak, OFM Conv., to make a crozier (a bishop’s staff) for Bishop Martin. Read about it.
“I began woodworking over 20 years ago,” said Friar Tremblay. “It has always been a dream and hope that my hobby could lead me, someday, to crafting sacred objects. Projects like this altar and ambo are a dream come true, and I put a lot of heart, sweat and prayers into this project.”
— Kevin A. Keenan
The custom-built box to store the altar and ambo.