The newest archdiocesan shrine, built in the style of an ancient church of the French countryside, opened at St. Denis Parish in Havertown as Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez dedicated the Sacre Coeur Perpetual Adoration Chapel on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, June 12.
The Archbishop also consecrated the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, just as all the Catholic bishops had consecrated the United States the evening before.
During Mass in the parish church, with liturgical music led by internationally renowned Catholic songwriter Sarah Kroger, along with St. Denis’ director of music and liturgy, Richard Grillone, the archbishop described the link of the human heart to the infinite immensity of the loving heart of God.
Attributes of the human heart, which can be full of love to be shared but also be broken by sadness, are exemplified in Jesus Christ, who “is the incarnation of the very physical being, the manifestation of the very heart of God,” Archbishop Pérez said in his homily.
He praised the “big hearts” of Kathy and Ward Fitzgerald, a local couple whose generosity and vision launched the Sacre Coeur Chapel project three years ago. As it came to completion this week, Kathy Fitzgerald joyfully showed the archbishop its many features.
Behind all the couple’s enthusiastic work, he said, was Kathy’s love, “a heart enflamed with the love of Christ.”
The altar inside the Sacre Coeur Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. Denis Parish in Havertown is pictured June 12. Imported from a chapel in Normandy, France, it serves as the focal point of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s newest shrine for perpetual Eucharistic adoration. (Photo by Dan Tarrant)
The Fitzgeralds, he added, “give the Church of Philadelphia this amazing gift of the shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus here at St. Denis. Only God knows what will happen in that chapel, how people will be touched. The very heart of that chapel is not a statue, it is our eucharistic Lord,” he said.
Following holy Communion and the concluding rite of the Mass, Archbishop Pérez carried the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance behind a street procession including Auxiliary Bishop John McIntyre, a dozen priests from neighboring parishes, religious sisters and the congregation numbering more than 350 people.
The procession ended one-half block down the street in front of the new stone chapel as Archbishop Pérez blessed it as an archdiocesan shrine for perpetual adoration of the Eucharist.
He then led benediction before carrying the monstrance into the chapel and placing it on the altar for exposition. Returning outside, the Archbishop invited remarks from the pastor of St. Denis Parish, Father Kevin Gallagher.
He recalled how three years ago, in response to the Fitzgeralds’ desire to build a chapel on the parish campus, he identified an old maintenance building that was beyond repair.
Located near other parish buildings at the edge of the cemetery, the site would become the product of Kathy Fitzgerald’s vision, architect Patrick Mohan’s design, the craftsmanship of Baroni Builders, and home to numerous works of sacred art by Samuel Walter, Ellen Cooper, and Emma Landry.
“It may take us years to appreciate fully the inner beauty of this shrine,” Father Gallagher said. “So many works of art will serve to inspire those who come here to pray or simply come to meet Jesus for the first time.”
Thanking the Fitzgeralds “for this magnificent and sacred gift to the people of our area,” Father Gallagher alluded to the purpose of the chapel: not only to provide faithful Catholics a place for perpetual adoration of the Lord, but to provide a quiet place for anyone to encounter Christ.
“We hope this not only will be a place to adore the Lord,” said Ward Fitzgerald, “for those that have grown in the practice and are given gifts of grace, but also a place to just sit and talk to the Lord for those who do not know him yet.”
He continued, “We humbly invite all those who are weary, people that don’t know what the Eucharist is, people who don’t know what a sacrament is. They’re afraid to go into a church, but will be welcome in this chapel any time by Catholics.”
He then invited those present to visit the chapel’s interior for a brief prayer.
Its subdued lighting leads the eye to the altar a short distance past two rows of five pews accommodating 30 people at most.
The altar made of wood and brass framed by dark basalt and light hammered stone, appears to be custom-made for the chapel. In actuality it was imported from a chapel in Normandy, France, that sits along a road named, in French, for Philadelphia, explained architect Patrick Mohan.
The small rose window high on the front of the chapel also was reclaimed from a former church.
Statues of the Blessed Mother and the Child Jesus, as well as a statue of St. Joseph, were modeled on those that had previously graced Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Chester.
That church closed two years ago and the statues already were claimed for reuse by another church. But Mohan worked with Monumental Labs of Brooklyn, N.Y. to create brand-new marble statues in exact detail by using artificial intelligence, robotics, and finishing by artisans.
The chapel’s beauty and its invitation to prayer made a strong impression on several participants at Friday’s dedication.
“It is so beautiful, in every detail,” said Anne Marie Cocci of Annunciation B.V.M. Parish in Havertown. “You can sit and meditate, and (view) the altar and the paintings behind the altar. You’re sitting before the presence of the Lord. It’s amazing. I have already been touched by this beautiful gift of this chapel.”
“We need more people to share the beauty of our Catholic Church,” said Diana Nolan of St. Andrew Parish in Newtown, Bucks County. “I hope to come back here someday with my husband. We have adoration chapels there, but this is exceptional.”
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