More than 600 faculty and staff, families and city leaders celebrated the completion of the final phase of construction at St. Junipero Serra Catholic School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Saturday, Oct. 6. Among those attending were founding families: Ralph and Oonagh Linzmeier, Bill and Pat Kaszton and Steve and Kathy Brandlin. Bishop Vann was also present and blessed the chapel.

The school completes its third and final phase of construction with the completion of the St. Junipero Serra Chapel and the Student Creation and Leadership Centers. 

Twenty-three years after first opening its doors to 250 students in 1995, St. Junipero Serra Catholic School in Rancho Santa Margarita opened its doors this fall with excitement and anticipation, as students, parents and staff got their first look at the new Student Creation and Leadership Centers and the St. Junipero Serra Chapel. This final phase of construction began on April 3, 2017, with a ground-breaking ceremony and blessing by the Most Reverend Bishop Kevin W. Vann of the Diocese of Orange.

Perhaps the most anticipated part of the construction project is the St. Junipero Serra Chapel, which has seating for 200 and is a place for prayer and worship for students and families. Outside of the chapel is a beautiful Rosary Garden, canopied by olive trees, which includes an inlaid stone rosary and cross. Students will have the opportunity for prayerful time in this tranquil space. Next to the garden is a Trinity Fountain, welcoming students to pray the bronze Stations of the Cross hung along the stone wall. The chapel, built and adorned with stone, oak and bronze, houses a 17-foot crucifix in addition to a tabernacle, cross, and corpus that were hand-sculpted in Mexico.

Full story at OC Catholic.