Stories from the First Cathedral 23: The St. Elizabeth Chapel

In 1934, the St Elizabeth's Chapel and Crypt were added on to the Cathedral building. To stay in the spirit of Advent and Christmas, we will discuss art in the St Elizabeth Chapel.

"The chapel incorporates the furnishing and some of the structural details of Bishop Whipple's private oratory in the old See House (The arched ceiling either preserves the original beams or duplicates them). The only change in plan is that the Bishop had the pews arranged 'choir wise'" (The First Cathedral by Venerable Ben Scott and Mr Robert Neslund).

In the chapel, there is only one stained glass window. The window is of St Elizabeth and was created by an artist for Bishop Whipple in memory of his parents. The Bishop's mother was named Elizabeth. The window is an image of St Elizbeth of Hungary (1207-1231) not the Advent Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah and mother of St John the Baptist. Opposite the stained glass window of St Elizabeth is the altar against the wall which features a 31 inch high triptych of a Fra Angelico painting "A Virgin and Child" (original is at the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy). Another window, given in memory of Bishop Whipple's parents (John and Elizabeth Whipple), is in the Cathedral nave titled "Charity distributing gifts" and is depicted by a description "In as much as ye did unto the least of these, ye did unto me" (St Matthew 25).

These works of art and windows were Advent and Christmas related in the Cathedral building and addition of 1934. The Cathedral tradition during the Christmas season was extravagant throughout the decades and which can be seen in old photographs in the Cathedral archives.

My first Christmas decorating memory at the Cathedral was in 1987 when I was chaplain at Shattuck-St Mary's. My family and I were invited one Saturday in December to help decorate the name of the Cathedral for Christmas. I remember that 50+ people showed up and went to the undercroft of the Cathedral to haul up large boxes of decorations to be placed in the nave and choir area. The highlight for me was to help bring in the live tree through the West doors. Volunteers carried the huge tree, which almost touched the ceiling, and placed it in one of the Cathedral ambulatories near the door to the addition and Cathedral offices. People would climb on ladders to decorate the enormous tree. It was a magnificent site during the Christmas Eve service when the lights were turned off and everyone would hold their candle and sing Silent Night. May all of you be blessed with Christmas memories, but know we have many future memories to look forward to.