Windows for new chapel unveiled

WICHITA, July 11, 2019 – The dust is still flying in the Hennessy and Borromeo Houses, the two seminarian residences on the campus of St. Joseph Parish in Wichita. But it will be swept up and removed by the end of next month, before the men return to their rooms for the new school year.

The new chapel at the Hennesssy House, however, will take several weeks longer.

The foundation has been poured for the expanded worship space and as the walls go up, two large cavities for the nearly century-old stained glass windows will be left open. The windows originally graced the now-demolished Incarnation of Our Lord Church (1900-2013) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Father Chad Arnold, director of the Vocations Office and assistant director of the House of Formation, said Father Michael Baldwin, director of Field Apostolates for the House, was the primary sleuth who tracked down the two works of art that will illuminate the chapel with a “priestly character.”

The diocese was able to purchase the windows from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for the new Hennessy House chapel. One is a scene from the Last Supper, and the other a scene of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

The windows were made at Zettler Studios in Chicago, Fr. Arnold said, in a Munich style. They have been cleaned, re-leaded, and are in storage awaiting installation on the east and west sides of the chapel.

“But our first priority is to get the living situation in order for the guys to move in – we’re shooting for the chapel to be completed by November.”