On Easter Monday, Jesus came to Leanne and Matt Bowen’s home — and he stayed a few days.
“For three days, I lived right next to the Eucharist. I could feel His presence so strongly,” Leanne wrote on Instagram.
She spoke with the Register about their latest project: creating a chapel on Matt’s family’s California ranch property in the diocese of Fresno. They are reconstructing walls and ceilings — a labor of love for Jesus. A proper floor — and pews — are needed, too.
Right now, seven or eight people can fit inside to pray. But Easter week, 20 people were inside the converted greenhouse — with more outside — during that special Mass, which was celebrated thanks to a priest friend, Father Daniel Eusterman from the archdiocese of Denver, a traveling tabernacle — complete with a tabernacle light — and altar….
“My husband, Matt, and I live in a small ranching community an hour from the nearest tabernacle. The desire to have a place to pray was marinating in both of our hearts for a long time. We moved houses a year into our marriage. There was a greenhouse on the new property. When we first stepped into the greenhouse, my husband instantly knew it was going to be a chapel,” Leanne explained to the Register.
“I was astonished by his vision. The space was filled to the brim with a lot of other things — packed with tools, cabinets, benches, boxes — stuff. Matt saw right to the core of the building: It was the perfect size, lighting and space for prayer. It took us two years to empty the space and reconstruct the walls. First, it needed a new exterior roof and then an interior one as well. It needed a retaining wall and a lot of intentionality. We worked slowly, around our toddlers and daily life, and advocated for it. Almost every visitor who has come over the last three years has built a part of that chapel or some of the space around it to make it functional. We knew it was the most important project we had.”
“The project has taught us that getting each other and our kids to heaven is the only thing that matters,” she added. “I want my girls to have a deep love for the Eucharist….”
Full story in National Catholic Register.
The more I learn about the Diocese of Fresno, the more I like it! Their bishop seems solid. Many of the parishes are inspiring in their faithfulness, orthodoxy, and witness. And it seems very family-centric, which is very important as the family is the domestic church and the seed-bed of vocations.
Gaudete in Domino Semper!
Gaudete in Domino Semper!
What a beautiful story! God bless this family, all the neighbors who helped, and Fr. Daniel Eusterman and the traveling tabernacle. But what really excites me is this: “The project has taught us that getting each other and our kids to heaven is the only thing that matters.” This is a spiritually well-grounded family, whose goal is heaven — for which they are devoting their lives. You can’t do any better than that, IMHO.
ORATORIES AND PRIVATE CHAPELS
Can. 1223 By the term oratory is understood a place for divine worship designated by permission of the ordinary for the benefit of some community or group of the faithful who gather in it and to which other members of the faithful can also come with the consent of the competent superior.
Can. 1224 §1. The ordinary is not to grant the permission required to establish an oratory unless he has first visited the place destined for the oratory personally or through another and has found it properly prepared.
§2. After permission has been given, however, an oratory cannot be converted to profane use without the authority of the same ordinary.
Can. 1225 All sacred celebrations can be performed in legitimately established oratories except those which the law or a prescript of the local ordinary excludes or the liturgical norms prohibit.
Can. 1226 By the term private chapel is understood a place for divine worship designated by permission of the local ordinary for the benefit of one or more physical persons.
Can. 1227 Bishops can establish a private chapel for themselves which possesses the same rights as an oratory.
Can. 1228 Without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1227, the permission of the local ordinary is required for Mass or other sacred celebrations to take place in any private chapel.
Can. 1229 It is fitting for oratories and private chapels to be blessed according to the rite prescribed in the liturgical books. They must, however, be reserved for divine worship alone and free from all domestic uses.
The headline really should be changed to reflect the story accurately.
I commend the couple for their piety and ferver, however the article creates confusion in regards to private chapels and traveling Tabernacles…….
Anyone can build or furnish a room as a chapel for prayer. That doesn’t mean it has official designation as a chapel or oratory under Canon Law.
This article borders on sacramental superstition. Read the whole thing at the Register to see even more. “We want to make it a truly beautiful space for the mere chance that Jesus wants to visit us again.” You’ve inverted it, ma’am: you visit Jesus; he doesn’t visit you. It’s very cult-like.
Without the consent of the diocese, I don’t think this was legal.