(Brendan)
Praise God, after four and a half years of work, our little chapel is "substantially complete!" It has been three years since the last post on this blog (wow!) and since then, there have been three years of work and even a ruptured Achilles tendon thrown in there for good measure (unrelated to chapel construction, but that's another story). Needless to say, the entire process took much, much longer than we thought, but we couldn't be more thankful or awed at how God has blessed us with this space for individual prayer, family prayer, and mass. Without further adieu, the pictures... (click any to enlarge)
The Chapel of All Saints
The altar and statue holders are made from walnut, one of my favorite types of wood.
The tabernacle door iconography was carved by hand. The tabernacle itself is present as a design element for the altar, though it will almost never be used. It is possible that the Eucharist could be reposed there for a short time after a mass, but other than that it will be empty.
We have been gifted two saintly relics by my brother, Fr. Evan, and are keeping three others from Molly's mother for veneration as well. The following two are second class relics of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Therese of Lisieux.
The other three are first class relics of St. Maria Goretti, St. Bridget of Sweden, and St. Pius X. These are wonderful to have in the Chapel of All Saints!
The Latin on either side of the altar is from Romans 8:17, "...If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him."
The stations of the cross were purchased from a woodcarver in Ukraine, and they are beautiful.
The pews were obtained when a small Catholic church near my grandparents was closed, and we were able to purchase 5 pews. They needed to be cut down to length, and the materials on the kneelers had to be replaced, but they were a bargain and even have that "old church smell." One of the small remaining items is for me to finish three more of the pews, which need more legs made.
In-wall speakers were installed on the back wall and are connected to a receiver, along with a subwoofer. We use it to play organ music and sacred choral music.
Some pictures of the chapel at night, also showing that the color of the up-lighting can be changed (such as for Advent or Lent)...
Joyfully, on January 1, 2020, my brother (Fr. Evan) celebrated our "opening" mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It was also a great blessing to have my father, Steven, a permanent Deacon, vested for the mass. My brother had celebrated mass at various points during construction, but this was the first mass after completion.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
