By Gia Myers • Posted September 11, 2024

At the new Lower Gwynedd campus of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, around 250 people gathered – 140 seminarians, 18 priests, 8 bishops, and invited guests – to join Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez for the consecration of Immaculate Conception Chapel on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 8.

As the seminary’s main chapel on the campus, it will serve as “the heart of the seminary,” the archbishop said in his homily during the Mass for which he was the main celebrant, and it is the place where Christ will speak to the hearts of seminarians as they journey toward the priesthood.

Named in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the chapel was consecrated on the feast day of her nativity, one of the most important Marian feasts in the Catholic Church.

Before processing into the chapel, all gathered outside its doors for a brief ceremony in which the chapel was formally presented to Archbishop Pérez. He received the chapel’s building plan by Voith & Mactavish Architects. This firm designed the new chapel to feature elements from the Immaculate Conception Chapel and the St. Martin of Tours Chapel that were used for many years at the Overbrook campus.

Those elements include pews, statues of Mary and Saint Joseph, restored stained-glass windows, ornate candle holders, and the main altar.

>> PHOTO FEATURE: Archbishop Blesses New Immaculate Conception Chapel at Seminary

Inside the chapel, Archbishop Pérez blessed holy water “as a sign of repentance and a remembrance of baptism,” he said, and sprinkled the new walls, altar, and the congregation.

The Liturgy of the Word involved four men in formation for the priesthood: Tyler W. Loch, a seminarian of the Diocese of Allentown, read the first reading; Paul Boyer, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, served as cantor; Alex Solsma, a seminarian of the Diocese of Arlington, read the Second Reading. Finally, Transitional Deacon Cole T. Mase of the Diocese of Harrisburg chanted the Gospel of John (Jn. 2:13-22), in which Jesus speaks about the temple of his Body.

“Today, we are about blessing this temple, taking common elements of our world, and making them sacred,” noted Archbishop Pérez in his homily following the proclamation of the Gospel.  He spoke about the “signs and symbols” of the day’s celebration: water, chrism, and the Eucharist, all reflective of the Sacraments of Initiation.

The homily was followed by the Litany of Supplication – which chanted the names of the Blessed Virgin Mary and numerous  other saints asking for their intercession with God.

A ceremony followed in which the relics of 17^th century martyrs Saint Oliver Plunkett and Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen were sealed inside the altar with marble and plaster by Louis DiCocco III, founder and director of the St. Jude Liturgical Arts Studio.

The Prayer of Dedication, in which Archbishop Pérez prayed to make the chapel “forever a holy place,” was followed by the rite in which the archbishop consecrated the main altar and walls of the chapel.

Removing his chasuble, or outer liturgical garment, the archbishop put on an apron and coverings for his arms and poured sacred chrism oil upon the four corners and center of the altar.  He rubbed the oil into the altar, covering the surface completely.

The archbishop then walked through the chapel and made the sign of the cross with chrism on the walls under each of 12 candle holders, repurposed from the walls of Saint Martin’s Chapel in Overbrook.

Adding to the fragrance of the oil,  incense in two thuribles was lit, representing the prayers of the church rising toward heaven. After seminarians wiped the chrism oil from the altar, numerous candles were lit around the altar and chapel walls.

During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Joseph L. Rose Jr., who serves on the Board of Trustees for the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, and his wife Therese were among those who brought the offertory gifts of bread and wine to the altar. They are parishioners at St. Katharine of Siena Parish in Wayne.

Archbishop Pérez was joined behind the altar by four concelebrants: Bishop Timothy C. Senior, the previous rector and chancellor of St. Charles Seminary for over a decade and now the Bishop of Harrisburg; Bishop Keith J. Chylinski, current rector of St. Charles; Bishop Christopher R. Cooke, who served on the seminary’s faculty; and Bishop Alfred A. Schlert, himself a St. Charles Seminary alumnus and now the Bishop of Allentown.

The archbishop used a beautiful golden chalice once used by St. John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia.

Mass ended with a solemn blessing and closing remarks by Bishop Chylinski.

“We give thanks to God and His Blessed Mother for this chapel, this new campus, and for the abundant ways he has helped it come to fruition,” he said. “This chapel stands as a testament of God’s presence among us.”

Music was provided by the seminarians’ Schola Cantorum plus instrumentalists under the direction of Dr. Nathan Knutson, director of Sacred Music at St. Charles and the Lucille M. Francesco Chair in Sacred Music.

Visit this website to watch the blessing and dedication liturgy of Immaculate Conception Chapel.