Mary of the Angels Chapel | |
Location | 901 Franciscan Way, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°48′14″N91°14′37″W / 43.80389°N 91.24361°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1906 |
Architect | Liebert, Eugene R. & Leibig, Adolph |
Architectural style | Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 06000204 |
Added to NRHP | March 29, 2006 |
St. Rose of Viterbo Convent is the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, an American religious congregation, which is located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The convent is dedicated to Rose of Viterbo, a 13th-century Franciscan tertiary who was a noted mystic and street preacher in Italy who died while still a teenager. [1]
The convent contains three chapels, of which one, Mary of the Angels Chapel, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the United States. [2] Another, the Adoration Chapel, is the site of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, was the site of 141 years of uninterrupted practice of the Sisters from August 1, 1878 to February 2020. [3] The sisters continue to pray in shifts between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. [4] [5]
The central portion of the convent was built in 1871, when the Sisters moved their motherhouse from Jefferson, Wisconsin, at the invitation of Michael Heiss, Bishop of the newly established Diocese of La Crosse. [3] The convent was initially built both as the administrative center of the congregation and also as a secondary school for girls. With the growing numbers of members of the congregation and of the student body, two wings were added to the initial building which were completed in 1914. [1] [6]
The original convent building was gutted by a fire on December 2, 1923, which collapsed its roof and the two upper floors its annex on Market Street. At the time, the convent was home to 135 sisters, one of whom died in the fire. According to the sisters' records, the fire was first noticed at 11:30 a.m. in the dumbwaiter shaft connected to the kitchen. It took the fire department at least 20 minutes to arrive after the alarm had been sounded, by which point the flames had spread. It wasn't until 2 p.m. that the fire was contained, and it was finally extinguished at 6 p.m. Although the convent building was directly adjacent to the Chapel, the chapel was spared from the flames and sisters continued their practice of perpetual prayer while the neighboring building was on fire. The cause of the fire was never determined, though the city's fire chief suspected there had been a short circuit in the wiring near the roof. At the time, it caused an estimated $175,000 worth of damage, and rebuilding the convent took two years. [7] [8] [9]
The convent was renovated in 1996, adding two closed porches to the rear of the building. [10] A recent renovation effort which began in 2018 aimed to make the facilities more accessible, by adding an elevator in addition to several access-ways and an accessibility ramp. The renovation also sought to make the building more environmentally efficient by replacing old systems with modern, lower consumption alternatives. Nearly half of the building's interior space was remodeled, much of which was private rooms for sisters and guests. [11] [12]
The Sisters built the first Chapel of Mary of the Angels (Latin : Maria Angelorum) to serve their own spiritual needs and that of their students. It was dedicated on August 2, 1873, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy, the first home of the Franciscan Order. In 1903, they began construction on a new chapel, designed by Eugene R. Liebert, which was completed on August 2, 1906. [1] Thaddeus von Zukotynski was the artist for the oil-on-canvas painting located immediately above the main altar of the chapel. This work shows St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, at prayer in the Porziuncola, having a famous vision of Jesus and Mary in which he was granted the Porziuncula Indulgence.
This chapel, along with the Adoration Chapel, have over 100 windows of Munich-style stained glass created by the Royal Bavarian Stained Glass Factory in Munich, Germany. [13] Bulletproof glass was installed outside all the stained-glass windows after a BB pellet was shot through a piece depicting Jesus, near his hand. [14]
The statues and altar in the chapel are largely carved from Carrara marble, though its pillars and walls are faux-marble and were elaborately painted in a 19-step process to make them appear so. The main altar painting in the Chapel depicts Saint Francis of Assisi kneeling before Jesus and Mary. The altar steps in the painting are a replica of those in the chapel itself, as it used to have red carpet like that in the painting. [14]
The chapel was restored in 1992. As of 2014, more than 4,500 people tour the chapels annually. [10]
Viterbo University is a private Catholic university in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Founded in 1890 by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Viterbo is home to three colleges with nine schools offering 48 academic programs at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.
Rose of Viterbo, TOSF, was a young woman born in Viterbo, then a contested commune of the Papal States. She spent her brief life as a recluse, and was outspoken in her support of the papacy. Otherwise leading an unremarkable life, she later became known for her mystical gifts of prophecy and having miraculous powers. She is honoured as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Eucharistic adoration is a devotional practice primarily in Western Catholicism and Western Rite Orthodoxy, but also to a lesser extent in certain Lutheran and Anglican traditions, in which the Blessed Sacrament is adored by the faithful. This practice may occur either when the Eucharist is exposed, or when it is not publicly viewable because it is reserved in a place such as a tabernacle.
John Joseph Paul was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop and bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin from 1977 to 1994
The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse is a Latin Church diocese in west-central Wisconsin in the United States. The metropolitan for the diocese is the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The mother church is the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman in La Crosse.
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded Viterbo University and staffed Aquinas High School in La Crosse. The congregation traces its roots to 1849.
Michael Heiss was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin (1868–1880) and the second archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin (1881–1890).
William Richard Griffin was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration is a papal congregation of the Roman Catholic Church, founded on July 20, 1863, by Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel in Olpe, Germany. In 1875, they opened St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana; now part of the Franciscan Health healthcare system. In 1890 they founded Saint Francis Normal School, a teacher training school; which is now the University of Saint Francis (Indiana).
The Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist (FSE) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The motherhouse is in Meriden, Connecticut, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.
The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is a Catholic religious congregation for women founded in 1849. The motherhouse is in St. Francis, Wisconsin, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels is a papal minor basilica situated in the plain at the foot of the hill of Assisi, Italy, in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The Portiuncula is a historic chapel in the town of Santa Maria degli Angeli, near Assisi, Italy. It is closely associated with Francis of Assisi and the Order of Friars Minor, who used the chapel as their headquarters. Following Francis's death in 1226, it became an important pilgrimage site. In the 16th century, a vast basilica, the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, was built around the Portiuncula.
The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.
St. Joseph is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Greenfield, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the La Crosse Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is located at the junction of State Highway 33 and county trunk highway M. As of the 2010 census, its population was 503.
Tadeusz Żukotyński was a Polish count, professor, and painter.
Paul Matthias Dobberstein was a German American priest and architect.
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana is on the motherhouse grounds of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Its primary function is as a location for Eucharistic adoration by the Sisters of Providence and members of the public.
Villa Maria Hostel is a heritage-listed nursing home at 167–173 Saint Paul's Terrace, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Frank Cullen, Hennessy, Hennessy, Keesing & Co, & J P Donoghue and built from 1927 to 1968. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2008.
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