St. Anastasia offers peaceful place in new chapel
Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 29, 2007
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
The monstrance sits in a niche under which is inscribed "and the Word was made flesh." | Troy Inside the new eucharistic chapel at St. Anastasia Parish, the peace and serenity makes it easy to forget that the hustle and bustle of the traffic on John R and of life in general is only a short distance away.
That's one of the ideas behind the new chapel, explained pastor Fr. John Riccardo. "It's an incredibly prayerful place," he said.
The chapel also calls to mind two things for Fr. Riccardo: how Pope Benedict has said churches should always be open so people can pray with the Eucharist; and how writer Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, said, "It is impossible to love the Lord without adoring Him."
Although people can pray anywhere, being able to pray in the presence of the Christ is a graced experience, Fr. Riccardo said and St. Anastasia is giving people a chance to adore the Lord.
The plans were in place for the chapel before he was assigned to the parish about three years ago, he explained, but it was mainly lack of funds that kept the chapel from being built. However, some parishioners stepped forward, and offered to fund the building of the chapel completely, as well as pay down some of the parish's debt. Fr. Riccardo is glad to see it finished, as he's leaving St. Anastasia Parish to serve as pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Plymouth, July 1.
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
The theme of St. Anastasia's new eucharistic chapel is evident even before entering, as the words "Father, forgive" are carved into the jamb above the door. | The chapel was designed using the theme of mercy throughout, and elements of the chapel are examples of that. The walls of the chapel and the entryway are made of rough brick, to remind visitors of Bethlehem which means "house of bread," foreshadowing the Eucharist. Rough wood frames the windows and doors, and is featured in the ceiling, to remind visitors of the manger in which Jesus was born, and foreshadows the cross on which He would die.
After passing through an entryway, which because of its layout makes visitors slow down a bit before they enter the chapel, visitors see that the chapel door is a reproduction of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome. Panels, in the shape of a cross, inlaid into the wood show scenes of the baptism of Jesus, the saving of the lost sheep, and other examples of God's mercy. Above the door are carved the words "Father, forgive."
Installed into the floor of the chapel is a small piece of the marble floor from St. Peter's Cathedral, from a renovation project; a plaque explains what it is. The six rows of pews in the chapel come from the recently closed Detroit parish Our Lady Help of Christians, in part a symbol of St. Anastasia Parish's solidarity with Catholics in the city.
Other adornments include the Stations of the Cross, a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a stained glass window of St. Anastasia, through which the only natural light shines. Three niches to the front of the room showcase a book of Scripture, a picture of the Divine Mercy, and a monstrance with the Eucharist inside. A relief of St. Anastasia will be installed on the back wall, so it's the last thing visitors see as they're going out the door, Fr. Riccardo explained.
Construction started in September, and it was dedicated on Holy Thursday the day which the Lord became present in the Eucharist.
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Light shines through a stained glass window depicting St. Anastasia in the parish's new eucharistic chapel. | "There's a lot of thought in it," Fr. Riccardo said of the chapel.
On a typical weekday morning, a mother with several small children stopped into the chapel for a few minutes of prayer. It's also a close, prayerful haven for St. Anastasia employees; both David Elsey, the parish's business manager, and Rebecca McKelvey, the parish's administrative assistant, say they often take a few minutes during the day to visit the chapel for prayer and reflection in the presence of the Lord.
The stone from the Vatican reminds McKelvey of the Vatican's unique fragrance, McKelvey said. "I find it an extremely calm and prayerful place," she said of the chapel.
Elsey said that even the construction workers who built the chapel noticed that there was something different about that place. "It felt like they were involved with something greater than your average construction project," he said.
"It was just a joy to be involved, to build a beautiful place," he said.
Fr. Riccardo said people go to the chapel to pray for various things to heal from illness, to get through family problems and related a saying he'd heard before: if you sit in the sun, your skin will change colors, but if you sit in the presence of the son, your heart will begin to change.
In a culture where we're always on the go, there's often a misplaced emphasis on doing, not on being, he said. "Life is about relationships with each other, and with God," he said. "The chapel reminds us to come away and be with Him for a while."
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