Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, often shortened to Dahlgren Chapel, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

located in Dahlgren Quadrangle on the main campus of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The chapel was built in 1893, and is located in the historic center of the campus. The chapel falls within the territorial jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Washington and is administered by

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. It is a part of the Parish of the Holy Trinity. Located in the Georgetown neighborhood, the chapel is a contributing property of the Georgetown Historic District and is listed on the

District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites The District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites is a register of historic places in Washington, D.C. that are designated by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), a component of the District of Columbia Govern ...

History

Construction

Construction of the red, brick, Dahlgren Chapel began in 1892. It became the first building on Georgetown's campus to be funded entirely by external philanthropy, as well as the first to be named after a non-Jesuit. Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, spouse of Georgetown

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

, graduate, and law school alumnus John Vinton Dahlgren (whose father was Rear Admiral John Dahlgren), donated $10,000 for its construction as a memorial to their first son, Joseph Drexel Dahlgren, who died at the age of one year in 1891. Elizabeth "Bessie" Drexel took a personal interest in overseeing the fabrication of the stained glass windows, which were designed by

Franz Mayer of Munich Franz Mayer of Munich is a German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany and a major exponent of the Munich style of stained glass, that has been active throughout most of the world for over 170 years. The fir ...

. The windows depict sixteen unique scenes of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, and several saints including

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

and

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

. At the laying of the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

, an address was given by Cardinal

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...

. Construction of the roughly

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building was completed in 1893 and dedication to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

occurred that same year. At the time of its completion, Dahlgren Chapel was positioned in the geographic center of campus, behind

Healy Hall Healy Hall is a National Historic Landmark and the flagship building of the main campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Constructed between 1877 and 1879, the hall was designed by Paul J. Pelz and John L. Smithmeyer, both of whom also ...

and adjacent to Old North, the oldest standing building on campus. Today, it resides in the historic and administrative center of campus and, along with its surrounding buildings, encloses Dahlgren Quadrangle. Prior to the opening of the new house of worship, students utilized a chapel on the second floor of Isaac Hawkins Hall (known at the time as Mulledy Hall). Beneath the altar of the chapel is the Dahlgren family crypt, where Elizabeth and John Dahlgren are buried, along with their son, Joseph. The

church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...

atop the chapel was the bell of the Calvert mission in the

Maryland colony The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

Historic cross

After years of disregard, a large iron

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

was rediscovered in the basement of

in 1989. The 2 ft by 4 ft cross, weighing 24 pounds, is horizontally inscribed with "''ad perpetuam rei memoriam''," which translates from Latin as "may this be eternally remembered," and vertically inscribed with "This cross is said to have been brought by the first settlers from England to St. Mary's." It is believed to have been carried by ship from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to St. Clement's Island and

St. Mary's City St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a large, state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial se ...

of the

Maryland Colony The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

by the Jesuits, thereby making it present at the first Roman Catholic Mass said in English-speaking North America. The cross is today housed in Dahlgren Chapel. The same cross was used in a Mass celebrated by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

at the Basilica of the National Shrine on September 23, 2015, when he visited

, his first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

in the United States as

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. The cross was used in an exhibition of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

at the National Museum of American History for one year in 2017. Though weddings in the chapel were suspended by the archdiocese in the 1990s, the chapel is now a popular venue for weddings of Georgetown alumni.

21st century

In 2011, Georgetown undertook an $8 million renovation of the chapel, the fourth in its history. Major structural renovations and interior refurbishments were made, including a reinforcement of the foundation, and the stained glass windows were removed, re-leaded, and re-installed. A new pipe organ was installed during the renovation. The building had previously been renovated in 1976 and 1990. Following its most recent renovation, the chapel can seat 275 people. In 2013, the chapel was the subject of vandalism, which involved damage to furniture and a

processional cross A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according ...

. An investigation indicated that the damage was not motivated by religious desecration.

In popular culture

*The exterior of Dahlgren Chapel is featured in the 1973 film ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...

''. In the movie, the chapel is the residence of

Damien Karras Father Damien Karras, SJ, is a fictional character from the 1971 novel ''The Exorcist'', its 1983 sequel ''Legion'', one of the main protagonists in the 1973 film ''The Exorcist'', and a supporting character in ''The Exorcist III'', the 1990 fil ...

, a Catholic priest and psychiatrist in residence. The chapel is desecrated early in the movie. *The chapel also is featured in ''

The Exorcist III ''The Exorcist III'' is a 1990 American psychological horror film written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the third installment in the ''Exorcist'' series, an adaptation of Blatty's ''Exorcist'' novel ''Legion'' (1983), and the f ...

'', released in 1990.

Image gallery

File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart DC 01.JPG, Rear view of Dahlgren Chapel File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart DC 03.JPG, Front entrance from Dahlgren Quadrangle File:Dahlgren Chapel Georgetown University 4a11814v.jpg, Dahlgren Chapel ca. 1904 showing a grass lawn in the quadrangle File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart DC 04.JPG, Stained glass window above the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

with organ pipes on either side File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart DC 05.JPG, Window above the entrance at the rear of the chapel File:Dahlgren Quadrangle fountain.jpg, Chapel in early fall File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart cornerstone.jpg, Cornerstone File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart mosaic.jpg, Mosaic at the entrance File:Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart - rear view.jpg, Rear view of the chapel

References

External links

Official site

Georgetown Campus Ministry
{{Authority control Georgetown University buildings Religious organizations established in 1893 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1893 Roman Catholic churches in Washington, D.C. 1893 establishments in Washington, D.C. 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Jesuit churches in the United States University and college chapels in the United States Sacred Heart devotions Gothic Revival church buildings in Washington, D.C. Brick buildings and structures Churches in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Chapels in Washington, D.C.