A new worship space for Christ Cathedral is soon breaking ground, and it will pay tribute to a parish whose sacrifice helped make dreams of a new Orange County cathedral a reality.

The St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts, located in the cathedral undercroft, will be more intimate than the main sanctuary above, and contain new sacred artwork and burial spaces for bishops. It will accommodate approximately 250 people and have an altar for Masses.

The chapel and crypts are named after the St. Callistus parish and school in Garden Grove, which closed in 2013 as part of a land swap deal when the Diocese completed its $57.5-million purchase of the Crystal Cathedral campus….

The St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts’ architectural style is being described as modern Byzantine, with gold colors akin to what one sees in a European church….

Diocese of Orange officials plan to begin construction in March and complete the $13-million project as early as December. Notably, the crypts will include burial spaces for many generations of bishops.

Entrance to St. Callistus will first require taking stairs or an elevator down into the cathedral’s expansive undercroft level, which also has offices for the cathedral music ministry, meeting rooms, IT equipment, restrooms, a bride’s room and more.

The chapel entrance will have statues on both sides. Once inside, parishioners will see wooden pews for approximately 250 people.

For music, St. Callistus is being designed to accommodate a choir as well as instruments, such as a piano or electronic organ.

It will have a marble altar and enough room for 10 to 15 concelebrants, including the bishop.

On either side of the chapel will be devotional shrines. One, dubbed a “legacy chapel,” will detail the history of the Diocese of Orange and how it came to be. The second will focus on St. Callistus the person, who served as pope from approximately 218 to 223 A.D….

Full story at OC Catholic