University of Notre Dame: Main and South Quadrangles (ID78000053
)
Added to NRHP
23 May 1978
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in
Catholic church on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, also serving as the mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.) in the United States. The neo-gothic church has 44 large stained glass windows and murals completed over a 17-year period by the Vatican painter Luigi Gregori. The basilica bell tower is 230 feet (70 m) high, making it the tallest university chapel in America.[5][6][7] It is a contributing building in Notre Dame's historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8] The basilica is a major tourist attraction in Northern Indiana, and is visited annually by more than 100,000 tourists.[9]
History
In 1686, Fr. Claude-Jean Allouez, S.J., established the Ste-Marie-des-Lacs mission on the south shore of the St. Mary's lake, in order to serve the local Potawatomi tribe along with French trappers and settlers in the area. The French Catholic missionaries were expelled by the British from the area following the French and Indian War in 1763, but in 1832 Ste-Marie-des-Lacs was re-established by Stephen Badin and the Log Chapel was built.
The first church
When Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., established the University of Notre Dame, the community held religious services in the small log cabin built by Stephen Badin. This was replaced by a larger log cabin built by Sorin and dedicated on 19 March 1843, slightly to the east of Badin's log chapel and about the same size.
Nave and vaulted ceiling
Sorin's log chapel had become much too small for the needs of the growing college, and despite the lack of funds, Sorin decided to start construction on a proper church building in August 1847.[10] School leaders decided to spend $1500 to construct a new edifice. Work began on 25 May 1848, and the structure was dedicated on 12 November the following year. The solemn consecration took place a year later, on 11 November 1849, with Bishop of Vincennes, Maurice de St. Palais presiding.[11] The building was 90 feet long, 38 wide, and 20 high, with twin towers on its front, and was located next to the college building.[10] Father Sorin described the first church: "The style is Greek, with rounded arches. There are three vaults and six columns which produce a very pretty effect. The tribune, which has been built for the use of the Sisters, is elliptical like the sanctuary. It is already enriched with an organ of Mr. H. Erben, and, though a little weak for the church, is one of its most precious ornaments."[12] The church was built in Carpenter Gothic.[13] The chancel organ had 1527 pipes and part of the statuary was donated by King Louis Philippe of France.[10]
Shortly after the completion of the church, the university added a bell to its tower. In the spring of 1851, the wind swept tower and bell to the ground. That summer, university leaders purchased a larger bell in Cincinnati weighing 3,220 pounds (1,460 kg) and installed it in one of the church towers after it was blessed on the feast of the Assumption. In 1852 double spires were built by a local carpenter in exchange for his son's tuition at the school.[14] The church contained two round stained glass windows purchased from the Carmel du Mans Glassworks of Le Mans. A third window, a gift to Sorin from the Carmelites, depicted “The Divine Face.”[9] Sorin, on a visit to France some years later, purchased a carillon. Initially placed on the tower spires, those proved too weak, and a standalone bell tower was the constructed and placed in front of the church.[10]
The university's needs soon outgrew the small first church and in spring of 1869 the leaders decided to build a new church dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, despite the lack of funds in the school's treasury.
Popular architect Patrick Keely drew the first plans which envisioned a baroque plan similar to the Church of the Gesu in Rome.[16] Because of the limited budget, the church at Notre Dame was not to be as large or as elaborate as the Roman edifice, but rather the size of the church of the same name in Montreal.[17] The original plan featured a cruciform church two hundred feet in length with three naves and a transept, a dome over the crossing, two large bell-towers, and a capacity of 2,000. The estimated cost would be around $100,000.
Fr. Sorin decided that these plans were too grandiose, and that the church could not cost more than half that sum, since at the moment they had only about $8,000 at hand. In January 1870, a new architect, Mr. T. Brady from St. Louis, drew new plans for the church. It is not sure who drew the definite plans, but it is likely that also Fr. Sorin, Rev. Alexis Granger, C.S.C., and Irish-born Brother Charles Borromeo Harding, C.S.C., a self-taught campus builder, were part of the planning and building. The new church was erected in
Joseph Gregory Dwenger finally consecrated the new sanctuary on 15 August 1888, during the celebrations for the golden jubilee of the ordination of Edward Sorin. The steeple was completed in 1892.[18]
Ceiling of the nave
When the new church was begun in 1870, Fr. Sorin decided to order glass windows from the Carmel du Mans Glassworks, owned by the Carmelite nuns, who had provided windows for the first church in 1863 and with whom Sorin had a long-standing relationship. This was a large order, which amounted to more than 450 square meters of glass. Meanwhile, the Carmel du Mans Glassworks had been suffering financial troubles, also in part due to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. To keep the business solvent and the workers employed, the Carmelites replaced the windows of their own chapel in 1871, featuring Carmelite saints (these drawings would also be re-used in the windows sold to Notre Dame). In 1873, the Carmelite nuns sold the Glasswork business to Edouard Rathouis, glasswork importer and nephew of Mother Eléonore, mother prioress of the nuns. This sale occurred only a few months after the order for the Notre Dame windows had begun, hence only the first windows painted in 1874 were made by the Carmelites themselves.[9]
To pay for the windows, due to the financial troubles Notre Dame was in given the Long Depression and the 1879 fire of the main building, sponsors were solicited. Major contributors to buy the windows were Alexis Coquillard and Sister M. Germaine of the Passion, CSC, who donated her inheritance of seventeen thousand francs for the chapel and sanctuary windows. Additionally, Notre Dame received a ten percent commission on all windows ordered due to Sorin's influence, who publicized the company in America. The Carmel du Mans Glassworks realized the potential publicity of a large order in America, and hence did a high-quality job and also signed all their windows with the company name, which they previously had not done.[9] In 1880, Edouard Rathouis sold the Carmel du Mans Glasswork to Eugène Hucher. This is reflected in the signage of the windows, which read first “Carmel du Mans, E. Rathouis” (in the earlier works in the nave) and finally “Fabrique du Carmel du Mans, Hucher et Fils, Successors” (in the last windows in the Lady Chapel).[9] The contract for the windows was negotiated by Sorin and signed by Auguste Lemonnier, CSC, who was president at the time.
In April 1899, the church was the site of the firstwireless transmission in the United States by Jerome Green and his assistants. He then went on to replicate these experiments the following month in Chicago.[19][20][21]
The church was the location of the funeral of Knute Rockne, following his death in a plane crash in 1931. CBS, WGN in Chicago and WSBT, a local station, broadcast the services from the church.[22][23][24][25]
In 1931, it underwent its first thorough renovation by New York architect Wilfred E. Anthony. A new automatic clock was placed in the tower and the chimes were automated so that bells would strike on the quarter hour. Additionally, bars of some music were also automated to ring on occasion.[26]
choir stalls were removed from the presbytery and moved to the Lady Chapel and the stations of the Cross painted by Gregori were put in storage. In 1969, the altar rail were removed and the pulpit was substituted with one at a shorter height. These changes, in line with the direction of the council, were meant to remove barriers between the celebrant and the congregation.[13]
The church again received a renovation 20 years later, executed by
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and the official delegation also included Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Metropolitan Iosif of Proikonissos, Metropolitan Ioustinos of Nea Krini and Kalamaria and the basilica hosted a concert by the Archdiocesan Byzantine choir of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America.[32] The Patriarch was originally scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame in 2020, but had to cancel due to COVID-19.[33][31]
Exterior
The exterior of the church is constructed of Notre Dame brick and features a bell tower with a spire and two lateral pinnacles. The bell tower is 218 feet tall, and topped by a 12 feet tall golden cross, making its total of 230 feet the tallest height on campus.[34]
World War I memorial door
World War I Memorial Door
Plans for a memorial for Notre Dame's contributions to World War I began in 1919 shortly after the
St. Michael by Rev. John J. Bednar, CSC, were added to the niches in the buttresses above the door in 1944, during the a campus beautification project.[36][37] President Rev. Matthew J. Walsh dedicated the World War I Memorial Door on Memorial Day 30 May 1924 with a military mass.[36]
Interior
Altars
The basilica has three altars. The first is a high altar in Gothic Revival style, a graceful object in bronze built in shops of Froc-Robert in Paris for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, during which it won a design award.[14] After the Exposition, Father Sorin purchased the piece for the church. The tabernacle tower, which holds the reserved Blessed Sacrament, was inspired by Revelation 21:9, the vision of the new Jerusalem. Following the Second Vatican Council the gothic altar was moved to the apse, and a new altar was placed in the transept. This altar, called the Altar of Sacrifice, was made from old pews and choir stalls from the Lady Chapel. The third altar is a baroque altar in the Lady Chapel believed to come from the studios of Giovanni Bernini in Rome. Next to the gothic altar there are the Umbraculum and the Tintinnabulum, which are adorned with the insignia of the Pope and the coat of arms of the basilica, the dioceses, and the congregation. These two objects are symbols of the designation of minor basilica. The baptismal font, which is located at the entrance of the church, dates from 1871.[14]
Frescoes
The frescoes adorning the walls and the ceilings of the nave were painted by Vatican painter and artist in residence Luigi Gregori.[38] The ceilings are filled with a starry sky with angels, while the walls and transept are decorated with figures of saints. Each of the 12 bays of the vaulted veilinceuling is decorated with an angel, for a total of 96 painted angels. Gregori also painted the stations of the Cross that decorate the walls of the main nave. The neogothic style of the frescoes is similar to that of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which was done by Bernardino Riccardi, Pietro Gagliardi, Tommaso Greggia, and Raffaele Casnedi in the mid-1800s. This style was inspired by Italian gothic decorations, such as the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi or the Scrovegni Chapel.
At the crossing, the ceiling is gold instead of blue, marking the sanctuary of the church, and is adorned with the figures of the four evangelists and Old testament prophets: Isaiah holding a scroll, David with a harp, Jeremiah with a scroll, and Moses with the tablet of the law, plus the evangelists Matthew (angel), John (eagle), Luke (ox), and Mark (lion) from the New Testament. The frescoes in the transept episodes of the life of Mary, such as the Nativity of Mary, Presentation of Mary, the Annunciation, Marriage of the Virgin, the Visitation, Nativity of Jesus, Mary Queen of Heaven.[39] The fresco at the entrance of the Lady Chapel depicts the Coronation of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and was devised in 1874 and painted in 1887. Mary is crowned with a tiara of roses by Christ and God the Father under a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit; the group is surrounded by figures from the Old and New Testaments holding scrolls and quills.[40]
Saint Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, who are said to have found the Cross in 325 AD.
The transept
Windows
The 116 stained glass windows consist of more than 1,200 individual panels and were designed and made by the Carmel du Mans Glassworks, owned first the
Carmelite nuns in Le Mans, France and then by Eugène Hucher and associates. The 44 large windows depict 114 life-size scenes and 106 smaller scenes.[42][9][43] They were installed beginning in 1873, over a period of 15 years. The subjects of the windows were carefully chosen by Fr. Sorin with a pedagogic purpose, and the choice and positioning of the depicted figures is intentional and highly symbolic.[44] Following Northern French custom, windows are read left to right, first the lower panel and then the upper.[9]
The church's window's iconographic program was chosen carefully by Sorin. The large size of the order and the number of windows enabled such artistic and pedagogic program to be cohesive and planned out. The windows in each part of the church hosts a different theme: those of the narthex focus the mercy of God (featuring Purgatory and the Last Judgement), those of the nave feature saints, those of the transept regard the Church, and those in the sanctuary feature the most important saints of the Church. The chapels windows have a distinct and secondary message from that of the main body of the church, and each chapel focuses on a specific message or devotion.[9]
Each of the 16 windows in the nave and transepts depicts 4 saints for a total of 64 figures, and each window has a theme (for example 4 saints who were kings or 4 who were nuns). The fourth windows of the nave represent the
The window on the north side of the west transept depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus that inspired the basilica's name, while another on the south side shows Father Sorin presenting the building to God.
Dormition of Mary, and it is positioned towards the setting sun to symbolize the end of earthly life.[44]
Side chapels
The basilica contains seven side chapels. From left to right:
Altar and apse
The Chapel of the Holy Cross with the
Jesus falls the first time, Jesus meets his afflicted mother, Jesus falls the second time, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Jesus falls the third time. The selection of these six among the fourteen stations is due to the chapel's dedication to the cross itself. The crucifixion is not present, but all three times Jesus falls are, as well as his encounters Simon of Cyrene, his mother, and Veronica.[9][39]
The Chapel of
Child Jesus above the globe of universe (as depicted in a statue in Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris).[39][9]
The Chapel of Holy Angels contains a framed modern painting of
Gabriel.[39] They are shown in typical nineteenth century style, with feminine traits and incorporeal aspect, depicted on clouds and wearing fine garments and a circlet crown. The windows portray Saint Michael the Archangel defeating Satan (and featuring a depiction of Mont-Saint-Michel), the Inspiration for Mont-Saint-Michel (which depicts Michael appearing to Aubert of Avranches and commanding him to build the monastery), the liberation of Peter by Raphael, a guardian angel protecting a child, the Annunciation to Zechariah by Gabriel, and the Annunciation to Mary by Gabriel.[9]
Lady Chapel with Bernini AltarThe center chapel behind the altar, the largest and most prominent, is the Lady Chapel. The Lady chapel was a common feature in medieval cathedrals and it was also inspired by the one present in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The main feature of the chapel is the statue of Mary. Under it, is a baroque altar believed to come from the studios of Giovanni Bernini in Rome, where Fr. Sorin found it during one of his trips. The tabernacle doors contain a fragment of wood which tradition says to be from a table on which St. Peter celebrated Mass in Rome. The chapel, also known as Chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (depicted in the ceiling painted by Luigi Gregori) and Sacred Heart Chapel, was added on to the basilica in 1886 to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fr. Sorin's ordination in 1888. The windows depict stories from the life of Jesus and the biblical basis for the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The windows on the western side, read bottom to top, depict: The Birth of Jesus, The Last Supper, Gethsemane, The Crucifixion, The Pieta, The Risen Jesus and Doubting Thomas. The eastern windows depict the historical devotion to the Sacred Heart: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque's great apparition (who was really important in the development of the devotion to the Sacred Heart), Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque's vision in the Filbert grove, the Consecration of the city of Marseille to the Sacred Heart (done by bishop Henri de Belsunce in response to the plague and an important step in the spread of the devotion), Pope Clement XIII proclaiming the devotion to the Sacred Heart in Poland in 1765, the homage of France to the Sacred Heart (a popular Catholic lithograph likely printed as part of the campaign for the construction of the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur, Paris), and finally founders of Sacred Heart devotion (which depicts Saints Bridget of Sweden, Teresa of Avila, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis de Sales, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, figures from history that contributed to the evolution of the devotion).[9]
The Brother Andre Chapel, which houses a statue of Saint
Andre Bessette, C.S.C., is dedicated to the first saint of the Congregation. He was canonized in 2010 for his work among the needy in Montreal. The chapel holds a statue of Saint André Bessette was designed by the Rev. Anthony Lauck, C.S.C. (1985). The windows depict episodes about the life and devotion to Mary.[9] They depict the Nativity of Mary (in typical fifteenth-century style), the presentation of Mary, the Assumption (including a fifth century tradition that when Mary's sepulchre was opened it contained only flowers), the coronation of the Mary in Heaven, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception (depicting Pope Pius IX proclaiming the dogma on 8 December 1854), and Mary as the Immaculate Conception with three angels.[9]
The Holy Family Chapel honors the life of
presentation of Jesus at the temple, Joseph Is warned by an angel to flee to Egypt, the Flight into Egypt, and the Death of Joseph.[9]
Mestrovic Pietà
in the Holy Family Chapel
Organ
The Murdy family organ, the basilica's fifth organ, installed in 2016
The first Sacred Heart Church had a small reed organ in the 1850s. In 1865 Father Edward Sorin approved its replacement with a hand-pumped organ of 1,500 pipes. In 1875
Cologne, Germany. Professor Craig Cramer joined Notre Dame's Department of Music in the fall of 1981 and inherited department chair Calvin Bower's charge to form the organ performance program.[49]
In late 2006, Campus Ministry formed a committee to consider replacement of the basilica organ, headed by Dr. Gail Walton, the basilica's director of music since 1988. The committee performed a nationwide search, and in December 2006 it traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for the dedication of the new
magnum opus
. The basilica closed in Christmas 2013 for the first phase of the organ project, which included a 44-day replacement of the church carpeting with 25,000 slate-colored porcelain tiles to improve acoustics. Meanwhile, a third Fritts commission, sponsored by Denis ’67 and Susan McCusker, saw a studio organ designed in 2014 for the Walton Choir Rehearsal Hall in Coleman-Morse Center.
On 28 December 2015 the Holtkamp organs played its last song,
choir loft's concrete and adding steel support structures to the foundation. During the installation of the new organ, the basilica choirs sang next to the interim organ in the west transept.[49]
The new organ, named after benefactors Wayne and Diana Murdy, was transported on a pair of tractor-trailers to the basilica on Sunday 31 July 2016. By end of August 2016, the façade and case was completed, and Fritts Company began the process of tuning and voicing the pipes and connecting the organ's key action, stop action, windworks and electrical wiring. The organ's first full performance test occurred during the annual Blue Mass honoring police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel on October 6, with the tuning of last rank of pipes in the following weeks. It was finished on schedule for Christmas 2016.[49] The new four-manual 70-stop Murdy Family Organ was designed and built by Paul Fritts & Company Organ Builders as its Opus 37. It has 4 keyboards, 70 stops and 5,164 pipes and stands 40 feet high and weighs more than 20 tons. Before installation, workers had to reinforce the loft to support the larger instrument.[50][51] Bishop Daniel Jenky returned to campus to dedicate the instrument on 20 January 2017 which featured a recital by university professor and organist Craig Cramer.[52]
Basilica museums
The basilica's museum, located behind the sacristy, displays artifacts from the history of the university and the Congregation of Holy Cross. Many items belonged to Fr. Edward Sorin, founder of the university. Items on display also include liturgical vessels and chalices, personal effects of Luigi Gregori, a cassock that belonged to
Empress Eugenie. Of particular significance, a papal tiara from the 1850s donated to Edward Sorin by Pope Pius IX. It is only one of two in existence outside the Vatican, and of these two the only traditional one, the other being the modernist tiara of Paul VI
.
The basement holds the Bishop's Museum, which contains pontificalia of various American bishops, dating from the 19th century. It hosts ornate and embroidered
; cassock and books written by and about Archbishop Marcos G. McGrath, CSC.
Liturgies
Basilica wedding
The basilica is the main liturgical center for the university community. Mass is held twice daily, while the university is in session, and once daily during breaks. Each weekend there are three Sunday masses celebrated for students, faculty, staff and community members. The basilica is a popular place for weddings of Notre Dame alumni, hosting several weddings each Saturday, whenever the
Fighting Irish do not have a home football game. The basilica has also been the site of final professions and ordination masses for the Congregation of Holy Cross
, as well as funerals for the religious community and for alumni.
The high altar
. These celebrations are very popular among students and local inhabitants, and Easter liturgies are always very crowded. Located in the Crypt Church (basement level) of the basilica is Sacred Heart Parish.
Two people are buried in the basilica: Cardinal John Francis O'Hara, who is buried in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and Orestes Brownson, who is buried in the crypt.
Broadcasts
Since 2002, Sunday masses from the basilica have been broadcast nationwide. Special care is taken to ensure that broadcasting equipment captures the beauty of the mass without impacting the rite. Currently, the 10:00 A.M. mass is broadcast on CatholicTV, while the 11:45 A.M. mass is broadcast online at NDPrayerCast.org and through iTunes.
Carillon
The original 23 bells were installed in 1856 and make-up the oldest
St. Anthony of Padua
, it is an immense non swinging bourdon, more than seven feet tall and weighing 15,400 pounds.
^ ab"Official Building Inventory"(PDF). Facilities Design and Operations. University of Notre Dame. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
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Nave
Basilica in the winter
Basilica in the summer
East façade
Main portal
Pulpit and altar
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