DOMINICAN SISTERS OF SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS

DOMINICAN SISTERS OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

SACRED HEART CONVENT Chapel Tour , 50th Anniversary Celebration, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel 1968- 2018 Welcome! Welcome to Sacred Heart Convent Chapel at the motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois.

Auido Tour Mission Statement: Go to springfieldop.org/chapel- Called by God audio-tour/ for the self-guided into right relationship audio tour designed for use on your with all creation and graced by own smart phone using your own Dominican life and mission, earbuds. Let it take you wherever we compassionately preach the your curiosity leads you. Select the Gospel of Jesus Christ. audio segments in the order you wish.

The guest wifi password is available Sacred Heart Convent Chapel 1237 W Monroe St. from the receptionist, when you Springfield, IL 62704 arrive, or it can be accessed by dialing 0 from the phone outside the chapel entrance and requesting it.

Take an armchair tour! springfieldop You may also take this tour via your computer or tablet from the comfort springfieldop.org of your home. Press the button to start the video on the audio tour page. (217) 787-0481

Gabriel Loire The 4,000 square feet of exquisite Loire and myself, than a question imagination of Gabriel Loire to their stained glass in the chapel was of realizing for your novitiate an completion; from the port at Le designed by Gabriel Loire at La ensemble for which the colors, the Havre, France, through the shipping Clarté (Clarity) studios near Chartes, design and the feeling coming out of it channels of Montreal and Chicago, France. Judging from correspondence will fulfill the feeling of a Dominican and into the lives of the Dominican between La Clarte and Sister Ida novitiate.” Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. Marie, who was prioress at the time Contracting with Loire for the Loire designed windows for more and who oversaw the construction of chapel windows seemed to have than 800 churches and secular the chapel, the creation of windows been the inspiration of one of the buildings worldwide, more than 250 for this project was a labor of love architects working on the chapel. of these in the United States. Among for Loire. His daughter was in a He recommended Loire’s work and other noteworthy examples of his Dominican novitiate in France at the reassured Sister Ida Marie that there work are the Prisoners of Conscience time, and he seemed to enjoy being would be no communication problem windows for the five eastern lancets able to create windows that drew him with the company across the miles. at Salisbury Cathedral in England; into the Dominican world. In a letter In 1966 the contract was made Egon Biermann’s Kaiser Wilhelm to Sister Ida Marie, the president of firm. By the time the windows were Memorial Church in Berlin; and Loire’s import company wrote, “I installed in the chapel in 1968 they Wallace Harrison’s First Presbyterian must say that it was not so much had traveled great conceptual and Church in Stamford, Connecticut. + a question of money for Gabriel geographical distances. From the 2 | Chapel Tour Sacred Heart Convent Chapel Sculptured Glass Windows by Gabriel Loire

Chapel Tour | 3 Sacred Heart Convent Chapel Sculptured Glass Windows by Gabriel Loire

A: Adoration. (left of altar) The concentration of the soul on God is recalled by means of a flame, speckled with red and gold, which leaps toward heaven, and by burning incense which rises upward signifying worship of God.

B: Adoration. (right of altar) A disciple, cast in concrete, stands before the light of God’s love.

C: Prayer. (1 window) Two joined hands in the lower portion of the window give rise to upward lines, which suggest the smoke of incense G: Praise. (2 windows) In the rising as an offering to God. geometric background there is a continual motif of Gregorian notes, D: Light. (2 windows) Vessels in the punctuation of Gregorian chant, the lower sections recall the lamps of and a schema of musical instruments the five wise virgins. (See Gospel of used through the ages, among which Matthew 25:1-13.) Spaced throughout is the organ whose pipes seem to raise K: St. Joseph. (Vestibule) The the radiant sky are lit candles with the stained glass to the sky. multiple spots of color—green, red, traditional symbols associated with and blue. St. Joseph, the fleur-de-lis signifying H: Cloister. (1 window, from his purity, and the saw, hammer, etc., gallery to floor) Large areas of black indicating his trade as a carpenter, are E: Joy. (2 windows) A vast sky and gray glass on a background of studded with stars of varied size found in the vestibule with the small grills, through which shafts of light marble statue of the . and brilliance is reminiscent of the escape towards the exterior, illustrate happiness that filled the earth when that the cloister, far from being a the Star of Bethlehem came. L: Strength. (1 window in physical confinement, is actually a gallery, right side) The tree of life here spiritual liberation. depicted is very strong, very straight, F: Convnet Life [Work]. (2 and deeply rooted; its branches windows) The daily life of the sisters is I, J: Charity. ( 4 windows, on portrayed by symbols of such works as surround the monogram of Christ, either side of organ) The first epistle the source of the Christian’s fortitude. cooking, washing, care of the chapel, of St. Paul to the Corinthians speaks and that “Opus Dei”—Work of God to us in the windows of the façade M: Study. (2 windows) The —praying the Liturgy of the Hours of the chapel. Their location at the —symbolized by Gregorian notes. graphic design here is inspired from entrance emphasizes the spirit with the open books with “Holy, Holy, which one should enter this holy Holy” and “Peace” written in Hebrew place. The burning heart from which letters. Also on open books one can rise flames of love, the chalice, the read the Greek letters, Alpha and Dominican torch and shield remind Omega, “I am the beginning and the us of the greatest of the virtues. end.” (Revelation 22:13) 4 | Chapel Tour WINDOWS N: Fraternal Life. (2 windows) Interlaced rings of faceted glass symbolized the mutual aid that exists between members of the community. The large triangle spire rising in the center is a reminder that when this union in religious life is understood and lived, light and truth appear.

O: Apostolic Life. (2 windows) Light, emanating from interior areas and shining forth to illumine the exterior areas treated in black and white verticals, depict the spirit of the apostle. At intervals the tongues of fire of Pentecost recall the work of the mind, the gift of languages, and the conversion of the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge.

P: Humility. (1 window) The simple abstract design with the central high vertical line indicates that the aim or goal of life must never be lost to view, that no matter what post we have, we should always be humble.

Q, R: Meditation. (2 windows, above the main chapel entrance to Rosary Chapel) On a background full of light is a black triangle with the apex pointing heavenward. Weaving through the black glass is the smoke from a burning heart. Also clearly defined in glass are the host, the grapes, and the chalice—all symbolizing the great mysteries of Christ. Thinking and pondering on T: Contemplation. (Left side V: Communion. (Behind these mysteries leads us to God’s love. of Rosary Chapel in the back) Both tabernacle) All the hardships, color and arrangement here create sufferings, and joys are gathered an atmosphere of soberness, the gray S: Sacrifice. (3 panels in Rosary together in a large red, purple, and and gold sprinkled with bits of blue Chapel) The offering of our sufferings gold treasury, closing in on the Host shed an aura of calm and peace. is graphically shown by two hands, in a series of concentric circles, half-opened. Above the sphere of a indicating that the whole of our lives U: Acceptance. (Right side of vast sky, pierced by a comet, hovers on earth revolves around Christ in Rosary Chapel in the back) A play the Eucharist. a star of hope and trust. of black and white indicate in a precise way that it is necessary and beneficial to accept and to adjust to “what is and what is to come.” Chapel Tour | 5 ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SEATING The chapel, with a seating capacity of 584, was designed for choral recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, one element of the monastic tradition Dominicans inherited from their medieval roots. The psalms are sung, and verses are chanted alternately from side to side. The drawers in each of the prayer stalls are used to store prayer books.

LECTERN Cantors who lead the congregation in singing Morning and Evening Prayer use the lectern in the middle aisle of the chapel. BAPTISMAL FONT This font was constructed in 1999, using marble from the altar in the old motherhouse chapel, which was razed in 1994. The pedestal design carries delicately carved grapes and wheat, signifying the simple elements that become the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. 6 | Chapel Tour ORGAN Sacred Heart Academy contributed the 22-rank organ, which was designed by Wick Organ, Highland, Illinois. The company is owned by the family of Dominican Sister M. Kenneth Wick.

Chapel Tour | 7 God is good! 2017 Jubilarian Class 1.

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1 St. Dominic 7 St . Thomas Aquinas 13 St. Catherine de Ricci 2 St. 8 St. Agnes of 14 St. Rose of Lima 3 St. John of Gorcum 9 St. Margaret of Hungary 15 St. Martin de Porres 4 St. Antoninus 10 St. Pius V 16 St. Hyacinth 5 St. Raymond of Pennafort 11 St. Albert the Great 17 St. Louis Mary de Montfort 6 St. Peter Verona 12 St. Vincent Ferrer 18 St. Louis Bertrand

8 | Chapel Tour 1. St. Dominic, Spanish (1170-1221) 13. St. Catherine de Ricci, Founder of the Order of Preachers, Italian (1522-1589) approved by Pope Honorius III on Had a deep attachment December 22, 1216. to contemplation of Christ’s passion. She 2. Catherine of Siena, Italian was favored with (1347 - 1380) Dominican extraordinary mystical lay woman, mystic, and experiences and was activist. Declared a doctor particularly gentle with of the church by Pope the sick. Paul IV in 1970. 14. St. Rose of Lima, 3. St. John of Gorcum, Peruvian (1586-1617) German (d. 1572) Martyred Worked out a program for his ministry to clergy in of work, prayer, and the Netherlands during anti- penance in her own papal revolt. home, and became the first canonized saint of 4. St. Antoninus, Italian (1389- the Americas. 1459) Ministered to the plague- stricken people of , 15. St. Martin de Porres, Peruvian and as their archbishop cared (1579-1639) Lived in for them. extraordinary humility, obedience, and charity in Lima, 5. St. Raymond of Pennafort, 9. St. Margaret of Hungary, where he was famous for his Spanish (1175-1275). Encouraged Hungarian (1242-1271) Daughter power of healing. dialogue with Muslims and Jews, of King Bela IV of Hungary. She established a school for the study inspired her sisters by her life of 16. St. Hyacinth, Polish (1185-1257) of Arabic languages and the asceticism, her works of mercy, Among the first Dominicans Koran. Escaped from his enemies her pursuit of peace, her humble to serve Poland, other eastern by miraculously using his staff service. regions of Europe, and Asia. Is and his cloak as mast and sail to called the Polish St. Dominic. He cross the water. 10. St. Pius V, Italian (1504-1572) had a great love for the Blessed Implemented the decrees of the Virgin. 6. St. Peter Verona, Italian (1206- Council of Trent, published a new 1252) First Dominican martyr. breviary in 1568 and Missal in 17. St. Louis Mary de Montfort, As he lay dying, he wrote on the 1570, reformed the Roman Curia, French (1673-1716) Diocesan ground with his blood Credo in issued the Roman Catechism in priest, member of the Dominican unum Deum—I believe in one 1566, and defended Catholic laity. Contributed considerably to God. doctrine. the French school of spirituality.

7. St. Thomas Aquinas, Italian 11. St. Albert the Great, German 18. St. Louis Bertrand, Spanish (1225-1274) Author of great (1207-1280) Master scientist, (1526-1581) Gifted preacher, theological treatises including teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. missionary to Panama. He later Summa Theologica, patron of Helped introduce Aristotelian returned to Spain where he universities and Catholic schools, physics as interpreted by Jewish served as novice master, , studied under St. Albert the Great. and Arabian philosophers into and vicar general. Western thought. 8. St. Agnes of Montepulciano, For more information about the Italian (1268-1317), was known 12. St. Vincent Ferrer, Spanish Dominican Sisters of Springfield for her power of intercession (1350-1419) Noted for his strong visit our website: with the Infant Jesus, founded preaching, which attracted + springfieldop.org + the Dominican convent in her hundreds of people; was hometown. involved in mediating civil and ecclesiastical disputes.

Chapel Tour | 9 Pro For the Life Mundi Please join us in prayer for our sisters and associates who have entered into eternal life: of the Vita World

12 | Chapel Tour Chapel Tour | 11 Sacred Heart Convent Chapel Springfield, Ill. 1968