Amid the hustle and bustle of high school life, there is one place on Marin Catholic High School’s campus where students can find solace — in the magnificent St. Francis Chapel.
The chapel is a refuge for the whole community. Spiritual liturgies and activities in this sacred space include Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and prayer and meditation. Sports teams and clubs also gather in prayer throughout the year, including the Marin Catholic football team who have a special Mass together on Fridays in the fall before their games.
Msgr. Steven Otellini was chaplain of Marin Catholic when construction started on a new project in 2000, necessitating a new location for the chapel on campus. While praying about the best place to build the new chapel, he picked a spot with a beautiful view of Mount Tamalpais. He decided to design the space after St. Francis’ Canticle of Sun, celebrating the patron of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, while also honoring the beautiful creation visible from the chapel location.
Perhaps the most striking part of the chapel is the stained-glass window behind the altar. The design works in parts of the Canticle of the Sun and the life of its author while still making visible Mt. Tam and the wetlands below.
Full story at SF Archdiocese.
This is really beautiful.
Star Trek? Star Wars? and what is that rock table thing?? Oh that Novus Ordo when will it just go away already?
“Romulus Augustus” asks when the Novus Ordo Missae will just go away. The Missal instituted by Pope Paul VI is not going anywhere, as it is the unique liturgical expression of the Church and is celebrated by over 99% of Catholics worldwide every day. Those who would like to drag the Church back to the past with the TLM or retreat to their beloved SSPX are a tiny speck of sawdust compared to the worldwide Church. We could ask, rather, and I do ask Mr. “Augustus”, “When will you join in celebrating the magnificent liturgical rites of the post-Vatican II Church?”
jon is one of the most insightful and effective posters on this message board. I always appreciate it when he offers his wisdom. A voice of clarity and reason and true faith. Thank you, jon.
The poster ion is not the same as the poster named Jon. Jon pointed that out a couple of times.
Folks, do not be fooled. “ion” is not me. It’s a bad mimicry of me (I’d never describe the Sacraments of the Church as “magnificent”. That’s a dead giveaway “ion” is not me). Now, I know there are folks here who’d love for me to comment on every single article. Who knows why. But people the truth is that I do not want to visit this blog, read your comments, and have to respond to some of them more than I have to. Do you think reading comments here and responding to some of them are pleasing activities for me? Think again. This is a sacrifice, people. A veritable service and duty of charity. By the way, I am not commenting on this particular article.
Okay jon you convinced me, where can I get my own personal panchay mama?
Bless you, Romulus Augustus. Yes, that dumb stained glass window does indeed look like something out of “Star Trek” or “Star Wars!” Yes, the often-gross, heavy, modernist “Novus Ordo” “table altars” look silly in a Catholic church or cathedral– compared to an exquisitely beautiful, holy High Altar, constructed and dedicated to the Glory of God– with the holy Tabernacle at the center, containing the Blessed Sacrament– the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the consrcrated hosts
Looks like a navigation screen from the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek. “Ensign, set a course for 000-mark-2. Warp 6. Engage.”
That’s not an altar. It’s an abomination.
It appears to be fashioned as an anvil.
The silhouette of the ambo does look like Baby Yoda, but in the video on youtube (time marker 4:17) it matches the alter and looks like an ambo.
I do not know whether they are marble or granite but they are beautiful.
The video is called MC Virtual Tour. I see Our Lady of Grace, Crucifixes, Divine Mercy, an icon of Our Lady and Jesus.
Marin County is a wealthy area and the school reflects that.
My child would have loved this school.
Agree! And where is the Blessed Sacrament? Do they want to inspire young boys to become priests– or astronauts and space scientists? The lies, coldness, insensitivity, and stupidity of many modernist leaders of today’s Church– is just amazing! “Beam me up, Scotty!” And what planet are we on? What church is this? Catholic? Never would have guessed… can’t find the Blessed Sacrament, either… “The Emperor Has No Clothes On!”
This sacred space allows members of our community to connect spiritually in a number of ways, including Mass, Holy Hour, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, prayer, and meditation.
Uh… “sacred space?” “Connecting spiritually?” Those are silly “New Age” terms! Certainly, they are not Catholic terms! Much better, more deeply religious and inspiring, would be a beautiful, holy, traditional Catholic chapel!
A beautiful, holy, traditional Catholic chapel might inspire derp reverence and love of God– and inspire many young Catholic boys to become priests!
Those are not new age.
It is a beautiful, holy traditional Catholic chapel.
I would caution readers about calling an altar where Mass is offered an “abomination” or “rock table thing.” The Holy Sacrificial Mystery brings us the precious and holy Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Stone altars have been around since at least the fourth century. (Saint Gregory. of Nyssa) As I understand it, the present discipline of the Latin Church distinguishes between the “table” of an altar (the top) and the supports or base. The latter, provided it is dignified and solid, may be of any material. On the other hand, “in keeping with the Church’s traditional practice and with what the altar signifies, the table of a fixed altar should be of stone and indeed of natural stone”, except where the episcopal conference authorizes the use of another material (such as wood) that is dignified, solid and well-crafted. While one may have aesthetic preferences, the Church is not about your preferences or mine. Your intentions may be good, yet, please consider what you post publicly.
Try reading the book, “Ugly as Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces, And How We Can Change Them Back Again,” by Michael S. Rose.
That book was first published 22 years ago, and little has been done since then.
Any book complaining about the Church is a poisoned well that you should not drink from.
You are going to end up down a stray path.
Any book written by a lay person should be read with as many grains of salt as you need.
Let’s not leave the misshapen ambo out of the discussion. This chapel’s liturgical furnishings are outdone in modernist ugliness only by the Berkeley Newman Center across the Bay:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenkv/2208470290/
Deacon Craig, what is your opinion of the Berkeley altar design? Is that dignified?
I do find that Berkeley altar odd. That said, it is still an altar and I won’t call it anything other, based on the incomparable sacrifice of the Mass being offered there. I do value beauty, of course, yet, sometimes, that is subjective. Let’s build better sanctuaries without resorting to name calling. When I serve at the altar and even touch the Holy Gifts, my focus is to be on Him. The altar, not as much. My thoughts.
If you look at their Mass on YouTube, it comes together with the walls, the crucifix. It is quite striking.
Also, the caption under the flickr photo is a cause to rejoice:
Return to Faith
I went to mass at Newman Hall today. It felt good to return to my Berkeley parish.
Thank you for informing us that Holy Spirit Newman Parish in Berkeley streams their Masses. I watched a little of the Mass from this past Sunday.
I will say that the quality of the music matches the quality of the liturgical furniture.
For a Newman Center, they sure have a lot of Baby Boomers. And they are still wearing masks? Ridiculous.
Checklist:
Ugly church? check
Bad music? check
Boomers? check
Masks? check
That would be a parish not worth driving to, nor even walking to.
I was very impressed that a school like Berkeley even had a Catholic Mass.
The UC Berkeley Newman Center is a total waste of time. How many young Berkely college boys, over the years, since the blasphemous, horrifying mid-1960s– have been inspired to become priests?
DFTF – ugly or not, the Paulist ministered Newman Center is a very active, well-attended parish and has been for several decades.
Magnificent liturgical rights of the Vatican II mass? Surely you jest? Guitars, drums, piano, tambourine, dancing, girls, altar, girls, clowns, giant puppets, folk music, mariachi music, rock, music, handholding, kiss of peace, nuns dancing with incense bowls, felt banners, communion in the hand, while standing, shorts, tank tops,
Need I go on??? Completely man-made rubbish! I will take Organ, Gregorian chant, Latin, beautiful, vestments, incense, kneeling, while, receiving our Lord on the tongue, proper dress, altar, boys, confessionals, this is The True Mass of All Times!!!!
Bless you, Romulus Augustus! A true Catholic, who desires respect for God in His holy churches. This is a Godless age. But it won’t last. God is over all things.
The stained-glass is beautiful but overpowers the altar. I would have a hard time meditating before such glare. I frequently did adoration and the Rosary in a hospital chapel with a delightful stained-glass of the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Life on the left side of the room. There was a crucifix over the altar front and center with a tabernacle nearby. They were surrounded by a statue of the Virgin and child on the left of the altar and St. Joseph to the right. If such windows are off to the right or left side of the room, one can concentrate more on what is going on at the altar and look at the window when one wants.
By the way, that Catholic hospital chapel was turned into a “meditation” room supposedly for all faiths. I do not go there anymore. Better to worship in my car with good Catholic prayerbooks, so Bob One is sometimes right on that one. A lady, not a nun or Sister, greeted me at the door the last time I went there, and I asked her, “What happened!”, and she told me it was not Catholic anymore. The only thing left was the stained-glass window. I walked out.
Another example of the modernist and the construction of their counterfeit Church…
unless it was damaged in shipment or placement, the major missing chunk from the top left side of the altar is probably not an oversight but likely a ‘celebration’ of the ‘natural’ world in some designer’s eyes. While this is a very Zen idea expressed in the term ‘wabi-sabi'( the appreciation of imperfection and simple things) it stands in stark contrast with exactitude of right worship and ritual that Pope Benedict admired in Moses’ liturgical directives, down to the scrupulous details of the making of the ark of the Covenant. Pope Benedict once gave a wonderful discourse to the Chilean bishops on the reason for the Exodus–not freedom to be free but freedom to worship God in the way He wished for his People. Wabi-sabi is part of the Japanese tea ceremony which requires a time for admiration of imperfections in the cupware used. Best for Catholics, though, is perfection, when possible, in the altar-ware to honor the Most Perfect One.
There is nothing counterfeit about Christ’s Church, “bohemond”. You are implying that the Church after Vatican II and currently led by the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis is not Christ’s true church. You are very wrong. Pope Francis was duly elected in a valid conclave. He’s the Pope. The Church held Vatican II, which resulted in a change in liturgy. You, “bohemond”, don’t get to set yourself up as a magisterium of your own personal wishes against the Church’s true Magisterium. All Catholics must submit to the supreme Magisterium of the Catholic Church, which includes the teachings of Vatican II and the teachings of Pope Francis. There can be nothing counterfeit about the Magisterium, for Christ has promised to never let the Magisterium lead people into error. To claim that the Church is counterfeit is to state a contradiction. The errors of those who would prefer to seek solace in the TLM celebrated by their beloved SSPX are anti-Magisterium.
Every schismatic is a heretic, by definition.
There is one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Change the Liturgy, change the sacraments, even change the physical appearance of the parishes,, now with out gay infested hierarchy they will probably change the doctrine, if that does not prove the creation of a counterfeit Church inside the real Church nothing will prove it to you btw I am NOT nor ever have been apart of the SSPX, SSPV or any Sede group.
Within the Church, there are things they can do and things they cannot do. Nobody likes all the decisions that are made. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ.
You use rhetoric that is meant (I think) to be aggressive, but you cross over into blasphemy.
I think it would be a neat idea if they made the backdrop a giant aquarium, like at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in my diocese. Then during Mass you could enjoy the wonders of God’s creation, all those beautiful fish swimming behind the altar, glorifying God with their every move. All of creation is God’s, so it should be invited to the Mass. It would be expensive, but worth it. I bet you’d find parishioners willing to support it because of how beautiful and unique it would be. It would be a destination parish for hundreds of miles around. People would want to come and see the church with the giant aquarium. You could even charge admission when Mass isn’t going on, and that would pay for the upkeep of the aquarium and feeding the fish. I’d donate to that!
Duly noted. That’s one.
You did get me to laughing with that one. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa. Just the thought of all those fish swimming around gives me the giggles.
Not that I would be for such a thing. Definitely not. A sanctuary is for worshipping God not to be used as a museum.
Oops! that should be “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.”
there’s something fishy going on ’round here
So, here we go again! Too many comments about the window, the design of the altar and ambo, remembrances of felt banners, etc. etc., have nothing to do with the Catholic faith. They have to do with architecture. The great gothic cathedrals were built when that was the prevailing style. The romanesque style took over for a while. The Catholic faith isn’t about building style. The Mass can be said anywhere. The Catholic faith is about our relationship with God. We can adore Christ at our kitchen table, in the car, on the patio. We go to church on Sunday to worship in community, to be community, to live in community, to commune. The building doesn’t matter, really. We are the salt of the earth, we give it flavor, not the building style. Do I like some styles better than others? Of course, I do, but that is just my opinion about beauty, it is not about my faith.
So would you be okay with the priest using a tin cup instead of a chalice made of precious metal?
Beautiful Catholic sacred architecture, and sacred art, music, literature, etc., are distinct religious art forms, designed to bring the soul close to God. These distinctly religious Catholic art forms have inspired religious faith in millions of people, for centuries! Yes, the unholy, Godless, ugly, dehumanizing modern era, is very famous for its destructive effects to mankind! We should complain– rather than leave the Church altogether, as some do. Modernism is only an ignorant fad, a fashion, the current “zeitgeist” of the era– it, too, shall pass away.
The Novus Ordo Mass was promulgated on April 3, 1969.
That summer, on July 20, 1969, we saw Neil Armstrong’s famous Moon Walk– the first man to walk on the moon! The year before, I recall discussing the film, “2001: A Space Odyssey” at coffee and doughnuts, after Mass, as we all were fascinated with it. And isn’t there a real danger, of going too far, with Science and Technology?? Does man now worship God– or his achievements in Science and Technology? Whenever I read something about Artificial Intelligence, I cringe, thinking of the idiot computer robot, HAL– and the horrific mess he made.
Ah Bob One the always subjective boomer. Bob One this is beauty vs.ugly And yes where we worship Christ does matter, why because beauty is a transcendental and the ugliness of a building is transmitted just as much. My home parish was decimated in 70’s by reign of terror of modernists thugs, who tore apart high altar, covered frescoes and the marble floor was covered by a green rug for absolutely no good reason. Along with horrible liturgy and few a corrupt cleric, this parish is closing to shutting down. The beauty of Catholic parish IS PART of the Catholic Faith, why because aside from maybe the Orthodox no other Christian denomination used the beauty to transmit the Faith.
I dont go to mass to “commune” but to give the worship Christ is due. Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication. If you knew anything about Church history you would understand that those glorious cathedrals of the past transmitted the Faith to less than education populace though art and architecture. This hideous thing in the story could only transmit nightmares. Bob One is of the generation that laid waste to Church in almost every capacity, the Faithful generations to come with be tasked with rebuilding from rubble that the self absorbed boomers caused.
You don’t like something so no one can have it.
Definitely not a Tiffany, and not as awesome.
And where is the crucifix? A Catholic worship space should have a crucifix. Whether it’s a chapel, a church, or a cathedral, it should have a crucifix. No, not an empty protestant cross, but one with the Corpus of Our Lord on it – a crucifix.
If this big ugly window was really inspired by St. Francis, a small San Damiano crucifix would have been a welcome sight somewhere in the vast blue yonder. And an image of Our Lady of the Angels would have been nice.
It is not in this photo but in the Virtual Tour video it can be seen above the altar at the 4:20 minute mark.
There is an icon of Our Lady and Jesus similar to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.