St. Rose of Viterbo Convent
Mary of the Angels Chapel | |
Location | 901 Franciscan Way, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°48′14″N 91°14′37″W / 43.80389°N 91.24361°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1906 |
Architect | Liebert, Eugene R. & Leibig, Adolph |
Architectural style | Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 06000204 |
Added to NRHP | March 29, 2006 |
St. Rose of Viterbo Convent is the
The convent contains three chapels, of which one, Mary of the Angels Chapel, is listed on the
History
The central portion of the convent was built in 1871, when the Sisters moved their motherhouse from
The original convent building was gutted by a fire on December 2, 1923, which collapsed its roof and the two upper floors its annex on Market Street. At the time, the convent was home to 135 sisters, one of whom died in the fire. According to the sisters' records, the fire was first noticed at 11:30 a.m. in the dumbwaiter shaft connected to the kitchen. It took the fire department at least 20 minutes to arrive after the alarm had been sounded, by which point the flames had spread. It wasn't until 2 p.m. that the fire was contained, and it was finally extinguished at 6 p.m. Although the convent building was directly adjacent to the Chapel, the chapel was spared from the flames and sisters continued their practice of perpetual prayer while the neighboring building was on fire. The cause of the fire was never determined, though the city's fire chief suspected there had been a short circuit in the wiring near the roof. At the time, it caused an estimated $175,000 worth of damage, and rebuilding the convent took two years.[7][8][9]
The convent was renovated in 1996, adding two closed porches to the rear of the building.[10] A recent renovation effort which began in 2018 aimed to make the facilities more accessible, by adding an elevator in addition to several access-ways and an accessibility ramp. The renovation also sought to make the building more environmentally efficient by replacing old systems with modern, lower consumption alternatives. Nearly half of the building's interior space was remodeled, much of which was private rooms for sisters and guests.[11][12]
Mary of the Angels Chapel
The Sisters built the first Chapel of Mary of the Angels (
This chapel, along with the Adoration Chapel, have over 100 windows of Munich-style stained glass created by the Royal Bavarian Stained Glass Factory in Munich, Germany.[13] Bulletproof glass was installed outside all the stained-glass windows after a BB pellet was shot through a piece depicting Jesus, near his hand.[14]
The statues and altar in the chapel are largely carved from Carrara marble, though its pillars and walls are faux-marble and were elaborately painted in a 19-step process to make them appear so. The main altar painting in the Chapel depicts Saint Francis of Assisi kneeling before Jesus and Mary. The altar steps in the painting are a replica of those in the chapel itself, as it used to have red carpet like that in the painting.[14]
The chapel was restored in 1992. As of 2014, more than 4,500 people tour the chapels annually.[10]
See also
Sources
- Zimmerman, H. Russell, The architecture of Eugene Liebert: Teutonic style in the American midwest, 2006.
References
- ^ a b c "St. Rose Convent and Villa St. Joseph". Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. 5 September 2014.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "FSPA History: Community". Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. 19 May 2014.
- ^ "Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to discontinue perpetual prayer". La Crosse Tribune. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Presentation will explore history of Franciscan Sisters in La Crosse". La Crosse Tribune. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Maria Angelorum Chapel". Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
- ^ Lu, Jennifer (19 April 2019). "La Crosse sisters find echoes of 1923 St. Rose Convent fire in Notre Dame blaze". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Nun Dies in Fire Which Guts St. Rose Convent". La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press. 3 December 1923.
- ^ Brouwer, Scott. "St. Rose Convent Fire of 1923". La Crosse Public Library Archives. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ a b "Hometown Icon: St. Rose Convent". La Crosse Tribune. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Tighe, Mike (22 August 2018). "Franciscan SIsters of Perpetual Adoration plan $22 million renovation in La Crosse". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "St. Rose Complex Renovation". Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA). 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ "Chapel". Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. 19 May 2014.
- ^ a b Tighe, Mike (21 January 2018). "La Crosse SIster Malinda Gerke chronicles history of Mary of the Angels Chapel in new book". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
External links
Media related to St. Rose of Viterbo Convent at Wikimedia Commons