Century-old chapel to be rededicated in September - Gazette.net

by Courtney Pomeroy
Staff Writer - Gazette.net

What is usually one of the most peaceful places on the Mount St. Mary's University’s campus in Emmitsburg contained the echoing sounds of a sanding machine on Monday morning.
The altar, the pulpit, the chandeliers and even the Crucifix in the Chapel of The Immaculate Conception were protected from the dust with thick sheets of translucent plastic.
The chapel, which opened for the first time in 1911, is in its final stages of a four-year-long renovation. A rededication ceremony is set for September, according to Monsignor Steven P. Rohlfs, the vice president and rector of the Mount St. Mary's seminary.
When the university was celebrating its bicentennial in 2008, "we decided to treat ourselves," Rohlfs said. "Really, nothing had been seriously done to [the chapel] in 100 years."
"It's a source of pride... it really is the heart of the university," he added.
With a budget of $2.7 million, the university set out to repaint the interior, repair the roof, update the electrical work and air conditioning, install a new sound system and lighting, update the flooring and clean the pews, stained glass, altars and chandeliers. The chapel also got a new organ.
Although there are five chapels on the Catholic university's campus, the Chapel of The Immaculate Conception is the main one, Rohlfs said. Two masses are celebrated daily in the building and special events like weddings and funerals are also frequently held there.
Paulette Anders, a Middletown resident who graduated from Mount St. Mary's University in 1992, said the chapel meant a lot to her as a student and still holds a special place in her heart today.
"It's a place to gather in happy times and in sad times," she said Monday. "It would bring us together as a family...no matter what was going on, whether it was the death of a student or a celebration of a holiday that was always just a place where we could come together."
In peaceful moments spent in the grandiose building, "you realize there's something greater than ourselves happening on that special mountain," she added.
While Anders appreciated the chapel when she was a student, she also remembers it as the building she was married in.
Prospective students who see the chapel for the first time on their college tour tend to remember its beauty, and "I knew the minute I saw that chapel that it would probably be a very significant part of my life," Anders said.
She and her husband, another alumnus, married there in November 1998.
Anders is happy with the renovations.
“It looks like they've done a great job on the floor and the painting," she said. "I think that will make it even more special than it was."
Beth Ann Miller is another Mount St. Mary's alumnus who chose to make the chapel her wedding venue when she got married to a fellow alumnus in 1998.
"I'm sad to see the old go but I think the new is going to be beautiful," said the Johnsville resident. "The chapel just meant a lot to us. That’s where we went to mass every Sunday together, so it only made sense that we got married there."
Miller also works for the university. She said one of the most notable upgrades is the removal of the blue carpet and the installation of marble flooring.
“I think that it will make things a lot easier for weddings," she said, noting that ceremonies at the chapel tended to require a blue color palette. “You don’t want to clash with the carpet," she said with a laugh.
But even if the outdated carpeting were still there, “I love that place," she said. "It’s one of my favorite places on earth to go."
cpomeroy@gazette.net