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Seton dedicates new chapel
By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
March 20, 2008
CHANDLER — It was a day nearly seven years in the making.
After raising the money, buying the land and beginning construction, Seton Catholic High School dedicated its brand new St. Elizabeth Ann Seton chapel with a March 11 Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted.
The chapel was the first step in a capital campaign that — when finished — will essentially build an entire new campus next to the present-day facilities.
But it was important to get the chapel up first, said Paula Osterday, Seton’s director of development.
“It’s great that the chapel was the first building on the campus because it sets the tone,” she said. “The foundation of our school is our Catholic faith.”
The 6,000 square-foot chapel cost the school $2.6 million to build. It will host daily Mass most of the week and will also be available for grade or activity-specific Masses.
The new chapel pays homage to its namesake by incorporating aspects of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s life into its art and architecture. For example, the chapel’s crucifix will be modeled off of a painting in a New York church that was one of St. Elizabeth’s favorites.
The design on the altar, ambo, celebrant’s chair and at the ends of the pews is based on the emblem of the Sisters of Charity, the order founded by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
The walls of the church are decorated with six antique stained glass windows from Munich. They depict the five joyful mysteries of the rosary along with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
“This beautiful church tells us today that our Catholic institutions, our Catholic education, is built on Christ and that Christ inspires beauty,” Bishop Olmsted said during the Mass. “It seems to me that Mother Seton is especially close to us today.”
Osterday also felt close to the Seton community that made the new chapel a reality.
“This would not have happened if not for the efforts of all of those gathered here. It was an effort that came out of our Seton faith community,” she said.
And it’s a community that’s not going anywhere for a long time.
“The chapel lets people know that we’re here, we’re going to stay here, and we’re going to build this campus,” she said.
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