For Anthony Ferralli, a wood-working enthusiast, the greatest satisfaction in life comes from watching raw lumber become beautiful works of art. With skills honed over the years, he has created many pieces of beautiful, contemporary furniture that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing; and so, when Mater Dei Imports was established, it was only natural for him to use his skills to design and create distinctive, inspirational works of art including: crosses, crucifixes, advent wreaths, votive candle holders and Bible stands.

The process begins when Anthony scours the various lumber mills that are located in the heart of Pennsylvania's hardwood forests to find unique, high quality pieces of kiln-dried oak, cherry, maple and walnut. The rare, exotic hardwoods that he uses, such as Bubinga and African Mahogany, come from countries like Africa, Honduras and the Philippines. Anthony often has a special project in mind when he begins his quest, such as his signature advent wreaths, but just as often, it is the unique characteristics of the wood that determine the outcome.

At the Mater Dei Imports Woodshop, the wood is planed, cut to specific measurements, assembled into various products, detailed, sanded, and carefully hand-finished--a process that can take anywhere from several days to several weeks to complete, depending on the sophistication of the project. Many of the finished items become stock for our local gallery and our on-line store, while others are pieces that have been created to fill our customer's special needs.

When a customer purchases one of our special wood products he/she can be sure that it has been given a great deal of TLC, and because of the variations of wood grains, colors and textures, each piece can be considered to be "one-of-a-kind".

It is a pleasure and a privilege to provide woodcrafts that give inspiration and solace to our customers. As a priest who visited the woodshop recently observed, "working with wood is noble work". We couldn't agree more!

A woodcrafter's work is never done!