Worshippers at Sacred Heart Catholic Church should find the interior of the Shadyside landmark a little brighter during Palm Sunday services.

Artisans on Friday re-installed three of the church's stained-glass windows following a seven-week restoration.

"This is the moment of truth," said John W. Kelly, of Millvale, as he and David Fockler, of the North Side, maneuvered the central glass panel into its stone frame. "We'll see if it fits.

"Little bump in the masonry here," Mr. Kelly warned.

"We'll bring it up in this corner," Mr. Fockler said.

Within a few minutes, the two men had the window snugly back in place.

No sooner had they finished that task than triumphant music filled the sanctuary. Sacred Heart's organist had begun practicing accompaniment for hymns to be sung during weekend services.

"It's stunning how bright the colors look," the Rev. Robert Grecco said. The church's pastor had stopped by to see how the work was going.

The contrast was startling between the vibrant reds and blues of the restored panels and the subdued shades in the aisle windows that await work.

A team of craftspeople from Kelly Art Glass in Millvale have cleaned and rebuilt four sets of the church's stained glass windows in recent years. Work on each set costs about $25,000 and takes more than 600 hours of labor.

Additional windows will be done as money becomes available, Father Grecco said. "I've been here four years, and they've done four sets of windows," he said. He hopes to raise funds to begin the fifth set by this fall.

The stories told in the stained-glass windows were a method of teaching church doctrines and lessons from the life of Jesus, he said.

The most recently restored windows illustrated incidents from the teaching life of Christ, according to a 1976 book about Sacred Heart Church called "A Sermon in Sculpted Stone and Jeweled Glass."

The three windows contain a total of nine panels. The scenes in the central panel show children gathered around Jesus, the growth of the Catholic church and the virtues of donating -- or almsgiving -- in secret.

As the title of the book about Sacred Heart Church suggests, the entire building tells theological stories, Father Grecco said.

Ceramic tiles have been set into the floor of the central aisle of the gothic-style stone church illustrating theological, intellectual and moral virtues. On the floor in front of the main altar is a map of the world, which Father Grecco said was designed to remind worshippers that Catholic masses, commemorating the death of Jesus, always are being celebrated somewhere around the globe.

A relief sculpture near the choir illustrates the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Recognizable figures include the Rev. Thomas Coakley, the pastor who built the church, and George Sotter, who with his wife Alice designed the more than 5,000 square feet of stained glass in the church.

Sacred Heart serves about 1,100 families in all or parts of Pittsburgh's Shadyside, Highland Park and East Liberty neighborhoods.

Mr. Kelly, who owns Kelly Art Glass, described the Sacred Heart windows as the most complex job his firm had ever tackled. Each square foot of window contains as many as 120 pieces of glass.

The windows had begun to buckle and bulge, and the first stage of the restoration project involved taking them apart piece by piece. Each individual bit of glass was cleaned and examined to determine if it needed to be repaired, repainted or replaced. The elements of glass, which can be as small as a half-inch square, were then reassembled using a channel-shaped material made of lead called came.

Getting the job done by Palm Sunday was a challenge, Mr. Kelly admitted, saying he was worried about meeting that deadline. "I'm glad we were able to get them back in the timely manner," he said.

At least one of his crew members, however, already was eager to take on the challenge of restoring the next set of windows, which show scenes from the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus.

"Lots of drama and anguish there," Leslie Allan, of Ben Avon, said.

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