Our Lady of the Angels Chapel
Sapientia Aedificavit Sibi Domum
“Wisdom has built herself a home”
Proverbs 9
In October 2006, Saint Anthony’s embarked on the construction of a replica of a 12th Century Romanesque Chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. The new Chapel was designed by Baldassano Architecture and was built by J. Petrocelli Construction Co. The 6,500 square foot Chapel is situated in the former senior courtyard and at the center of the campus. The Chapel uses unpolished limestone, Douglas Fir wood trusses and subtle lighting to appeal to the five senses.
The design of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels is based on a traditional Roman Basilica, as well as specific reference to the 15th Century architecture of Leon Battista Alberti. Our Chapel was inspired, in part, by the Porziuncula in Assisi, that simple Chapel which St. Francis himself rebuilt. An additional feature is the mural in our Romanesque apse which was heavily inspired by the 12th Century fresco found in Metropolitan Museum of Arts Fuentiduena Chapel (Cloisters Collection). The Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels represents a return to traditionalism as evidenced by its natural limestone veneer, thirty-foot wooden trussed ceiling, bell tower, and soon to be completed stained glass clerestory windows and beautiful gardens.