1947 Chronicles (15): Dedication of the Barn Chapel

All the work done to the farmhouse monastery over the past months saw its completion when Archbishop O’Brien dedicated the new chapel on August 16, 1947. The sisters’ life of communal prayer and liturgy acquired new meaning when the monastery became “the first chapel of perpetual adoration in the state of Connecticut.”

“On July twenty-fifth, Father Thomas A. Kempis Reilly came for a visit to our Monastery. On the following day, the feast of St. Ann, Father offered Mass in our tiny chapel, after which he gave us an inspiring conference. Father is very enthusiastic about our foundation and predicted that the Monastery would become a place of pilgrimage in the future.

“In August, the chapel began to see the fruits of months of labor. On August third, the altar was moved from our little parlor chapel into our newly completed barn chapel. Just before Matins, Father Moore, accompanied by Sister Winifred and Sister Paula, our Extern Sisters, carried the Blessed Sacrament into the new chapel and officiated at our first Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. After Benediction, Father gave us an informal conference in which he congratulated us on the work that had been accomplished so far. “We have a ‘head’ who has a head,” Father said, referring to our Mother Prioress. “You have done more in six months than Rosary Shrine has done in thirty years.”

“He admitted that our poor living conditions had prevented him from sleeping for a few nights...”

“On August sixteenth, our new chapel was solemnly dedicated by our Bishop H. J. O’Brien. We sang the High Mass which was offered by our chaplain Father Moore, and Reverend Joseph Bailey, O.P. preached a very inspiring sermon. After the Mass, our Bishop gave us an informal talk at the grille. His Excellency congratulated us on our beautiful choir and chapel, marveling at the progress made in the past few months. His Excellency also told us that when he had first visited us in February to cloister us, he had been very much disheartened. In fact, he admitted that our poor living conditions had prevented him from sleeping for a few nights.

“Also on this day of the solemn dedication of our chapel, our Bishop officially inaugurated the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the diocese. Our little barn chapel was the first chapel of perpetual adoration in the state of Connecticut.”

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