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HISTORY OF ST. ELIZABETH CHAPEL
Built in loving memory of Elizabeth Drexel Smith, the Sister of Saint
Katharine Drexel, the chapel is the centerpiece of life for the Sisters of
the Blessed Sacrament. St. Katharine, realizing the need for this place of prayer, hired Marquandt Burns, a prominent Philadelphia architect to design and construct the building.
The altar, made in Belgium, is of solid oak. The angels hold instruments of the passion. The large crucifix was erected in memory of Francis A. Drexel, St. Katharine's father. During her later years, St. Katharine often prayed in the small upper tribune to the left of the main altar.
The bay window, built out from the infirmary, allowed the Sisters there to hear Mass and participate in the prayers of the community. The stations of the cross, made of French porcelain, were until 1988 in
St. Francis de Sales High School in Rock Castle, Virginia.
Although St. Elizabeth Chapel is over a century old, having opened in 1892, it has maintained its beauty. In 1988, with their centennial year approaching, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament realized the need to bring the chapel into harmony with liturgical changes inspired by the Second Vatican Council. The renovations also secured the foundation, cleaned the interior woodwork and introduced the art work of Sr. Lurana Neely and Native American Artists. Ernest Ross, a Xavier graduate, used former gates, priedieux and stalls to fashion the altar of sacrifice, the presider's chair and the reader's stand.
Today St. Elizabeth Chapel is truly a "Place of Prayer for all People," verse chosen by St. Katharine Drexel for the cornerstone. Visitors frequently spend time communing with Christ exposed in the Blessed Sacrament.
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