Teaching the Sense of the Sacred through a School's Chapel Design
Cavalcade, Winter 2009
Art and architecture playa key role in communicating and facilitating the spiritual life of a community. A very special subset of communities is that found in a religiously affiliated school. In the design of the new Heights Chapel, a rich Christian tradition was considered throughout the course of the design process.
THEOLOGICAl AND PHILOSOPHICAl BASIS OF CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS ART
The Catholic Church has a rich theological and philosophical tradition of religious art. From the time of Constantine, the Church has been a patron of the arts. Its legacy stands tall in the hundreds of cathedrals that dot the European landscape. It is also present in the religious art that hangs on the walls of hundreds of museums worldwide. Yet, one may ask why the Church became such a tremendous patron of the arts.
In order to understand how the Church views the work of artists-architects, painters, sculptors, etc.- one may turn to the dedication of John Paul II's Letter to Artists (1999):
To all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new 'epiphanies' of beauty so that through their creative work as artists they may offer these as gifts to the world (p. 4).
The author of these words later added a deeper explanation:
Without doubt the artist has a special relationship to beauty, and it can be said that beauty is the vocation bestowed on [the artist] by the Creator. If the artist can perceive a ray of the supreme beauty among the many manifestations of the beautiful, then art becomes a way to God. (Address to Artists, 2000 , p. 2).
Artists in the Catholic tradition have always been seen as "translators" of divine truths. Their work makes abstract concepts of the faith intelligible to the believer. In his Letter to Artists John Paul II wrote: "In order to communicate [its] message, the Church needs art. Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God" (p. 8). Later in the Letter, he reiterates this central idea by saying that "art must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable" (p . 8). According to Catholic theology then, the sacred space , the icon, the sculpture, music, in short, all forms of art, serve as means to reach God.
But the Church goes further when it claims that "at times the encounter between the splendor of artistic achievement and the heaviness of one's heart can stir that salutary restlessness which makes one want to overcome mediocrity and to start a new life" (Address to Artists, p. ~). John Paul II adds that "It is then that our humanity soars in an experience of freedom and, I would say, of the infInite, like the experience Michelangelo still inspires in us by his dome that both dominates and crowns [St. Peters] " (p. 3). Beauty is, therefore , a means to God. This sense of Beauty is what leads John Paul II to end his Letter to Artists by saying, "May the beauty which you pass on to generations still to come be such that it will stir [the believers] to wonder!" (p . ll).
THE PROTOTYPE
The Church's tradition regarding sacred art was at the forefront of the process that led to the fInal chapel design for The Heights School. In considering the contextual framework of the chapel prototype, it was important to consider the following: What is the mission and ethos of The Heights School? Answering this question gives a sense of how this chapel fIts in the School's culture.
At its core, The Heights is an independent school with a Catholic spirit. In fact, when people visit the school, or see the view book, many are struck by how "non-Catholic" it appears. Our general demeanor is that of any non-sectarian independent school: academically rigorous, with Ivy-Leaguebound graduates, a family ethos, an advisory program, etc.
That is not to say that as a school we do not abide by the Church's teachings- far from it. Our core values are very Catholic. The School fInds its inspiration in the spirituality of Opus Dei, a Prelature of the Catholic Church, whose basic principle calls one to integrate human activities with the spiritual dimension of a Christian life.
Catholic teachings are at the basis of the religion curriculum at The Heights, but the basic assumption that work and religion are not separate spheres pervades every aspect of the School. For example, the daily schedule includes the celebration of Mass. One could argue that this is true for most Catholic schools. Yet, unlike other schools, Mass at The Heights is celebrated in the middle of the day, during study hall. Students are free to attend if they choose. The scheduling of Mass at this particular time reflects the School's philosophy that spiritual practices are part of a regular working day. A second consequence of this belief is that the chapel is not a separate building but, rather, an organic part ofthe whole. In fact, the new chapel is indistinguishable from the outside.
At the same time, however, because of our mission and emphasis on personal freedom, the chapel is placed in a central location to foster individual piety, as opposed to structured or group-led piety.
The second core characteristic of The Heights is the emphasis on professional excellence and responsibility. That is, the reason for professional excellence is always focused on the common good-not just personal wealth or self-aggrandizement. Students and parents are encouraged to achieve greatness not in search of personal fulfIllment but to live up to the Catholic principle of subsidiarity which by defInition assumes that individuals are by nature social beings, and emphasizes the importance of small and intermediate-sized communities or institutions as mediating structures which empower individual action and link the individual to society as a whole.
The third and fInal characteristic of The Heights School, also based on the principle of subsidiarity, is the belief that parents are the primary educators of their children. The school is therefore an agent serving the family.
THE HEIGHTS CHAPEL DESIGN PROCESS
Regarding the specific design of the chapel, local architects, Bowie-Gridley Architects, were engaged soon after the School's strategic plan was approved. and they were introduced to the school community. A few months later. the architects delivered a master plan for review to the School's committee entrusted with the supervision and approval of the master plan. Members ofthis committee included trustees, alumni, faculty. the director of facilities. and administrators.
The plan was approved in its entirety with only a few changes. The architects had a good grasp of the mission and ethos of the School, and this understanding was made manifest in their master plan. There was. however. one element in their design that was not approved: the chapel interior. The chapel, as designed, was clearly a spiritua l space. the wayan airport non~denominati onal chapel is a spiritual space: yet, it lacked a soul. It was necessary that the chapel be Catholic, with the inclusion of the tabernacle. and it was decided that the School would engage an additional architect with experience in designing Catholic chapels to complete the interior design.
Henry Menzies, an architect from New York who specializes in sacred design, was engaged by the School to design the interior of the new chapel. Aside from design ing twenty small chapels, he was commissioned to remodel the Cathedral of Bridgeport, CT - his largest project to date. Mr. Menzies' design for The Heights Chapel was indeed a Catholic sacred space. However, it was also important that the chapel reflect the culture, mission, and ethos of The Heights.
In a series of meetings at the architect's studio, members of the School were able to introduce him to the ideas and core characteristics presented earlier: Independence. A Catholic tradition, unity of work and spirit, personal freedom, excellence and the common good, and the primary role of parents. After a series of meetings, he was able to develop a new design. When it was presented to the school community. it received unanimous approval.
THE CHAPEL'S INTERIOR DESIGN
The Heights Chapel has two focal points. During the celebration of the Eucharist. attention is centered on the altar . where the sacrince of Christ, in which all participate. is made present. This is the principal function of the chapel. Besides allowing for the celebration of the Eucharist. the chapel also serves as an "oratory" or "place of prayer" when Mass is not being celebrated: the tabernacle then becomes the focus.
Faculty members and students come to devote some time to personal prayer. and occasionally a prayer service for various classes is held. At these times. the focus of attention is on the tabernacle. where the Eucharistic species - the Body of Christ, consecrated at Mass- is reserved for personal devotion and adoration. Catholics believe that the bread that is consecrated during Holy Mass becomes truly the body of Christ-not just a symbol of Christ. The tabernacle. therefore. must be placed in a central location within the chapel where worshipers may be able to pray. Thus the chapel is a sacred place at all times.
Sacred images are traditional in church architectu re. as an inspiration to prayer and contemplation. The chapel itself is dedicated to Mary, Mother of Fair Love who exemplifies purity. and fair and sacrinciallove. Engraved into the face of the top of the altar is the Latin aspiration. MATER PULCHRAE DILECTIONIS ORA PRO NOBIS, Mother of Fair Love Pray for us.
The chapel is adorned with several statues so as to inspire true devotion in those who come there to pray: a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with Jesus as a teenager
Other design elements help teach students a sense of the sacred, including two confessionals in the rear of the chapel for the administration of the sacrament of Penance. A simple black cross is placed in the foyer beside the chapel's sacristy; the trad ition of kissing the cross. receiving an indulgence, serves as a reminder that one should love the cross. The eagle in the ambo represents St. John, a man so deeply in love with our Lord that he was able to understand the good news in a deep way-illustrated in his Gospel-like an eagle can see with keen depth and can fly to great heights,
The windows behind the altar represent the symbols of The Heights School, the school crest, and the crests representing the four "clans" into which the student body is divided. The crests represent the ideals of a Heights man: love of God. service, pure love and friendship. This ethos is lived out by the tradition we have at The Heights to say hello and goodbye to the Lord when coming in and out of school, or in the freedom to go or not go to Mass.
The Heights Chapel attempts to foster a sense of the sacred, of the beautiful, in a purely physical space, Other parochial schools could follow a similar design process or use this prototype as a starting point in their own chapel designs and imbue their own unique cultures and missions into the sacred spaces.
The Heights Chapel seeks to apply the words of the Plenary Pontincal Council for Culture's statement of March 21 , 2006:
In a time distrustful of powerful truths. one that doubts the existence of universal goodness, beauty can be seen as a meeting place between people of different cultures. as the first stage on a journey that leads to the rediscovery of 'verum' and 'bonum'.
Contributors, Head of Advisory and AP Art History teacher. Joe Cardenas, and Heights chaplains, Fr, John Debicki and Fr, Javier del Castillo