The Blessed Sacrament Chapel at

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, often called St. Mary's, is an unincorporated community in Sugar Creek Township in northwestern Vigo County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The community is part of the Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and th ...

is on the motherhouse grounds of the

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin (known colloquially as Saint Mother Theodore) at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840. Mother Theodo ...

. Its primary function is as a location for Eucharistic adoration by the Sisters of Providence and members of the public.

History

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, who came to

with several companions in 1840 and founded the Sisters of Providence, had a strong devotion to the

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

. In December 1913, Pope Pius X gave the

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

permission to hold perpetual Eucharistic adoration, which began at Saint Mary's in a different location on June 10, 1914. For decades the Sisters of Providence had wanted a specific Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, but this was not achieved until the 1920s under the leadership of

General Superior A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while th ...

Mother Mary Cleophas Foley. Ground was broken on April 9, 1920, and the cornerstone was laid on June 7 of that year. The building was consecrated on May 19, 1924, by Bishop

Joseph Chartrand Joseph Chartrand (May 11, 1870 – December 8, 1933) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the 6th Bishop of Indianapolis, serving from 1918 until his death in 1933. Biography Joseph Chartrand was born in St. Louis, Missouri, ...

of the

Archdiocese of Indianapolis The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis ( la, Archidioecesis Indianapolitana) is a division of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. When it was originally erected as the Diocese of Vincennes on May 6, 1834, it encompassed all of ...

. He designated the chapel Chapel of Divine Love, though the sisters referred to it simply as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Interior and art

The chapel is built in the Italian Renaissance style with a barrel-vault ceiling. It was designed by D.A. Bohlen & Son of Indianapolis. Funded in large part through donations from the families and friends of Sisters of Providence, the chapel features multiple types of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

. The chapel's focal point is a

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...

baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...

. Carved from one piece of marble by the Deprato Company of

Pietrasanta, Italy Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...

, the baldachin weighs 8,000 pounds. Nine stained glass windows of

Tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...

are found in the chapel: four on each side and one rose window of the Holy Spirit above the entrance. The windows were designed specifically for the space and were executed in the Royal Bavarian Studios in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. In order to encourage undivided attention on the

, no figures are pictured in the windows.

References

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External links

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blessed Sacrament Chapel (Saint Mary-Of-The-Woods, Indiana) Churches in Vigo County, Indiana Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Roman Catholic chapels in the United States Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Tourist attractions in Vigo County, Indiana Buildings and structures in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Roman Catholic churches completed in 1924 1924 establishments in Indiana 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

Interior and art

See also

References

External links