Blessed Sacrament Chapel (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana)

Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Church of the Immaculate Conception
Basic information
Location Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana
 United States
Geographic coordinates 39°30′39″N 87°27′39″W / 39.5109°N 87.4608°W / 39.5109; -87.4608Coordinates: 39°30′39″N 87°27′39″W / 39.5109°N 87.4608°W / 39.5109; -87.4608
Affiliation Roman Catholic
District Archdiocese of Indianapolis
State Indiana
Year consecrated 1924
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Chapel of Eucharistic adoration for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Status active
Website http://www.spsmw.org
Architectural description
Architect(s) D.A. Bohlen and Son, Indianapolis
Architectural type Chapel
Architectural style Italian Renaissance, Classical revival
Groundbreaking April 9, 1920
Completed 1924

The Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana is on the motherhouse grounds of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Its primary function is as a location for Eucharistic adoration by the Sisters of Providence and members of the public.

History

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, who came to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana with several companions in 1840 and founded the Sisters of Providence, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. In December 1913, Pope Pius X gave the sisters permission to hold perpetual Eucharistic adoration, which began at Saint Mary's in a different location on June 10, 1914.[1] For decades the Sisters of Providence had wanted a specific Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, but this was not achieved until the 1920s under the leadership of General Superior Mother Mary Cleophas Foley.

Ground was broken on April 9, 1920 and the cornerstone was laid on June 7 of that year. The building was consecrated on May 19, 1924, by Bishop Joseph Chartrand of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He designated the chapel Chapel of Divine Love, though the sisters referred to it simply as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Interior and art

The chapel is built in the Italian Renaissance style with a barrel-vault ceiling. It was designed by D.A. Bohlen & Son of Indianapolis. Funded in large part through donations from the families and friends of Sisters of Providence, the chapel features multiple types of marble, gold, and silver.

The chapel's focal point is a Carrara marble baldachin. Carved from one piece of marble by the Deprato Company of Pietrasanta, Italy, the baldachin weighs 8,000 pounds.

Nine stained glass windows of Tiffany glass are found in the chapel: four on each side and one rose window of the Holy Spirit above the entrance. The windows were designed specifically for the space and were executed in the Royal Bavarian Studios in Munich, Germany. In order to encourage undivided attention on the Blessed Sacrament, no figures are pictured in the windows.

References

  1. ↑ "Diamond Jubilee Celebration of Founding of St. Mary-of-the-Woods by Sisters of Providence Begun at Institution Near Terre Haute". The Indianapolis News. 18 Oct 1915. p. 18. Retrieved 3 Mar 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  • Madden, Mary Roger (1991). The Path Marked Out: History of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods: Volume III. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana: Sisters of Providence. pp. 520–521.
  • O'Guinn, Helen W. (2004). Day Trips from Indianapolis, Second Edition. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. p. 51. ISBN 0-7627-2974-0.
  • Sisters of Providence. "Sacred Places: Blessed Sacrament Chapel". Retrieved November 4, 2009.
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