A special altar dedication and blessing of the chapel at St. Mary’s House in downtown Phoenix took place early Tuesday morning, with Bishop John Dolan presiding. Joined by five priests, seminarians and donors, Bishop Dolan anointed the altar with chrism and incensed it before covering it with linens and lighting candles. The new altar and ambo were designed and built by Dcn. Chris Georges from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale, Ariz.
One of four houses of formation in the Diocese of Phoenix’s Nazareth Seminary, St. Mary’s House is located next door to St. Mary’s Basilica and is the former Franciscan friary that was renovated and opened its doors this past fall. Nazareth House, on the campus of St. Gregory’s parish in Phoenix, opened in 2019, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help House in Scottsdale, Ariz., opened in 2023. Plans are underway to renovate the rectory at St. Agnes parish in Phoenix to welcome upwards of a dozen seminarians to the fourth in the series of houses in 2026.
