Chapel of the Holy Spirit
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit, which was dedicated in August 2009, is a pivotal campus landmark serving as a powerful symbol of Sacred Heart’s Catholic identity. It holds more than 500 in its principal sanctuary with a smaller Chapel of the Nativity for daily Mass and private prayer that seats 50. Among the Chapel’s special features are original mosaics and stained glass by the world-famous Jesuit artist, Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, and a tracker organ designed and manufactured especially for Sacred Heart University by the master craftsmen at Casavant Frères. There are outdoor gardens and a spacious narthex—or foyer—suitable for public gatherings. The building and grounds are designed to suggest one of the defining themes of the Second Vatican Council: the Church as the Pilgrim People of God. The Chapel roof consists of copper folds in the manner of a nomadic tent, for example, and the narthex has walls of glass to demonstrate the intersection between daily life and the life of prayer. The Chapel’s bell tower holds four unique bronze bells, hand-cast in the Netherlands. The largest one weighs 1,500 pounds and measures 41 inches in diameter; the smallest weighs 447 pounds and measures 27 inches in diameter.