Rededicating Sacred Space at Saint Viator High School

The Alumni Memorial Chapel, on the second floor of Saint Viator High School, dates back more than 60 years to the school’s opening in 1961. Over the years, it has undergone many changes going from a traditional chapel with church pews, tile flooring and religious imagery to a more contemporary setting with individual chairs, a light blue tray ceiling for more light, as well as more modern art work. Through it all, the chapel has remained the heart of the school.

Over the past six months, Fr. Daniel Lydon, CSV, President, has led a campaign to strike a balance between the two interpretations, weaving together some of the chapel’s original altars and carvings while adding a dramatic backdrop, new tabernacle, marble-topped baptismal font and an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The renovation started in August, with the arrival of a pair historic statues of Mary and Joseph holding the infant Jesus. The statues date back to the 19th Century in Italy. They are carved out of white marble and each one weighs nearly 600 pounds. Originally, they were commissioned by Viatorians for St. Viator College, which they established in Bourbonnais in 1865. However, a disastrous fire in 1906 destroyed every building on campus except the gymnasium and dining hall, but miraculously they were able to save the statues.

When Viatorians closed the college in 1938, the statues moved to one of their residences on Sheridan Road in Chicago. Viatorians sold that building in the 1980s and the statues moved with them. In recent years, the statues have been in storage in the Province Center and now they are once again seeing the light of day.

The statues are set in front of a navy, hand stenciled backdrop, which appears like fleurde-lis, subtly reflecting the Viatorians’ French heritage. Additional enhancements include the marble-topped baptismal font near the entrance – Associate Cathy Abrahamian coordinates all of the baptisms in the chapel, and there are many – and all new church chairs that match the chapel’s navy design. A focal point is its new tabernacle. The family of Associate John Paulik, a former religion teacher at Saint Viator, donated the gold plated tabernacle, with Viatorian symbols inset on its doors and set atop of an original marble altar to the chapel, with the Viatorian crest on the front. Fr. Lydon and a committee of school officials worked on the renovation with the specialists at Daprato Rigaldi Studios in Chicago, whose mission is to preserve and enhance ecclesiastical art.

Fr. Lydon formally rededicated the chapel during a family Mass in February. Right from the start, he reaffirmed the school’s mission: that as a Catholic, college-preparatory community of learning, Saint Viator is called to provide religious formation and an academic program of excellence to young men and women.