June 3, 2009

Seminary completes expansion with dedication of chapel

By Roxanne King

Conversion, transformation and new life.  Those were the themes fittingly highlighted at the joyous dedication of a dramatic new chapel at the Denver Archdiocese’s Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Seminary on May 29.

Some 600 people, mainly members of the Neocatechumenal Way—a dynamic Vatican approved catechumenate with an evangelical focus—rectors and faculty members of the archdiocese’s two seminaries, and American and European artists and architects involved in the project enthusiastically participated, most from overflow seating outside the chapel, in the evening Mass during which Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., dedicated the building.

“Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a day of rejoicing,” the archbishop declared in his opening prayers.

Mass concelebrants included Auxiliary Bishop James Conley, Redemptoris Mater rector Father Florian Martin-Calama, vice rector Father Federico Colautti, and rector of the archdiocese’s St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Father Michael Glenn.

The vibrant liturgy, which makes use of unleavened bread and large chalices and patens  emphasizing the banquet nature of the Eucharistic celebration, started with a procession and included Scripture readings proclaimed in English and Spanish and a chanted Gospel. Stirring flamenco-style hymns were performed on guitars, drums and tambourines by seminarians, often accompanied by spirited clapping among the congregation who sang with gusto.

Special guests were the international leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way, Spaniards Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez, lay initiators of the 45-year-old Way, and Father Mario Pezzi, a priest of the Diocese of Rome.

Arguello designed the octagon-shaped chapel, which aspires to remind one of descent into a baptismal pool with its recessed sanctuary featuring a gleaming white marble altar surrounded on three sides by stepped rows of pews. (In the Judeo-Christian tradition, eight represents salvation, recalling the number of people saved in Noah’s ark, and, according to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,”  resurrection and rebirth as Christ was raised on the “eighth day”). Arguello also created and helped paint a Mystery Crown series of bold-colored icons that decorate the base of the tiered chapel ceiling.

"This is a crown that represents the mysteries of the life of Christ,” the 70-year-old Arguello, a musician and artist who studied under Pablo Picasso, told the congregation in Spanish.

Arguello said the highly-stylized works serve as windows into the divine and represent spiritual realities. The 12 icons emphasize both Christ’s humanity and his divinity. The main icon, Christ Pantocrator, depicts Christ coming at the end of time as judge.

Archbishop Chaput called the chapel “extraordinary.”

“This rendering that has been given to us by Kiko and the artists reminds us that God wants to make all things new for us,” Archbishop Chaput said in his homily, adding that the mysteries in Jesus’ life shown in the icons represent the changes God wants to take place in our lives, too.

“The Way has helped us to understand more clearly in the Church the importance of conversion,” the prelate added. “That’s what the Way is all about—a renewal of our baptismal commitment and a deep love and respect for the word of God.”

Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St. Luke on Zaccheus, the short-statured tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus and experienced transformation when Christ told him he wanted to go to his house, the archbishop noted, “At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus says, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’

“That’s what churches are about—churches are places of conversion,” Archbishop Chaput asserted, adding later, “This is a place of conversion.”

The Holy Family of Nazareth Chapel brings to completion a 10,000-square-foot, $3.6 million expansion to Redemptoris Mater, which also includes a new kitchen, refectory and gathering space. The renovations were paid for with donations. The main donors asked to remain anonymous, the archbishop said as he expressed gratitude to all who made the church possible.

“Ten years ago the first (Redemptoris Mater) seminarians were living only in the ‘old red brick’ building,” Archbishop Chaput recalled. “It’s called the ‘old red brick’ because it’s the first building of the seminary complex here and is very, very old (101 years).

“We’ve seen a transformation here,” he added.

Erected in 1996 by then-archbishop now Cardinal J. Francis Stafford and confirmed by Archbishop Chaput in 1998, Redemptoris Mater forms men as priests to serve the Denver Archdiocese. They also receive missionary training. More than 35 men from 17 countries, including the United States, attend the seminary.

The dedication rites included the blessing of the congregation and the chapel walls with holy water, the Litany of Supplication invoking the prayers of the saints, the placing of relics of saints and martyrs in the altar, the Prayer of Dedication, the anointing of the altar and the chapel walls with sacred chrism, the dressing of the altar with fresh flowers and white linens, the censing of the altar and the chapel, and the lighting of the candles.

After the Mass ended, Arguello, who writes the hymns for the Way, accommodated a request from the archbishop to sing and play his guitar, prompting delight from the congregation who accompanied him in a song about Jerusalem. Arguello further pleased the faithful when he serenaded them with two more songs following a reception after the Mass, including one he wrote for Denver’s World Youth Day and one about Zaccheus.

“In the Mass today, the Gospel was about Zaccheus,” Arguello said. “The Gospel (about) Zaccheus is a beautiful word; in it (Christ) says, ‘Come down quickly because it behooves me to abide in your house (heart). … It is necessary that (Christ) enter into your house—that God may enter your house.’”