Self-Guided Tour of the Basilica - Campus Ministry

Self-Guided Tour
of the Basilica
This tour takes you from the baptismal
font near the main entrance, down the
center aisle to the sanctuary, then right
to the east apsidal chapels, back to the
Lady Chapel, and then to the west side
chapels. The Basilica museum may be
reached through the west transept.
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The Bishops’ Museum, located in the Basilica’s basement, contains
pontificalia of various American bishops, dating from the 19th
century.
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BASILICA OF THE
SACRED HEART FLOOR PLAN
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Font, Ambry, Paschal Candle
Holtkamp Organ (1978)
Sanctuary Crossing
Seal of the Congregation of Holy Cross
Altar of Sacrifice
Ambo (Pulpit)
Original Altar / Tabernacle
East Transept and World War I Memorial
Entrance
9. Tintinnabulum
10. St. Joseph Chapel (Pietà)
11. St. Mary / Bro. André Chapel
12. Reliquary Chapel
13. The Lady Chapel / Baroque Altar
14. Holy Angels / Guadalupe Chapel
15. Mural of Our Lady of Lourdes
16. Our Lady of Victory / Basil Moreau Chapel
17. Ombrellino
18. Stations of the Cross Chapel / Tomb of
John Cardinal O’Hara, C.S.C.
19. Sacristy
20. Basilica Museum
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Saint André Bessette, C.S.C. (1845-1937), founder of St. Joseph’s
Oratory, Montréal, Canada, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on
October 17, 2010. The statue of Saint André Bessette was designed
by the Rev. Anthony Lauck, C.S.C. (1985). Saint André’s feast day is
January 6.
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Pentecost window, designed by the Carmelite
Sisters of Le Mans, France, and painted by
Eugène Hucher and associates.
The Holtkamp organ, installed in 1978, has
four divisions, three manuals, 54 ranks of
pipes, 40 stops and 2,929 pipes.
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The original Gothic Revival altar,
designed by Froc-Robert and Sons
of Paris, was displayed at the
Philadelphia Exposition in 1876
where it won a first premium for
design. The tabernacle tower, where
the Blessed Sacrament is reserved,
was inspired by Revelation 21:9-14,
the vision of the new Jerusalem.
Beneath the altar are the relics
of St. Marcellus, a third-century
centurion martyr; in the altar are the
relics of Sts. Stephen and Sebastian,
martyrs of the same period.
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Under the crossing, depicting the four evangelists and various Old
Testament prophets, begins the sanctuary area. At the sanctuary’s edge
is the seal of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Here men of this religious
community profess final vows and are ordained priests (See 4).
The Our Lady of Victory Chapel contains a statue of Blessed
Basil Moreau, C.S.C., priest (1799-1873), founder of the
Congregation of Holy Cross. He was beatified by Pope Benedict
XVI September 15, 2007. Sculpted by Robert Graham, the statue
contains a relic of Blessed Basil Moreau.
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Celebration of
Paschal Vespers
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A “minor basilica” is a special designation given by the Pope to certain
churches because of their antiquity, dignity, historical importance
or significance as places of worship and devotion. They are typically
honored with these two symbols (see nos. 9 and 17), in addition to
the Papal Coat of Arms, located over the outside main entrance. The
Tintinnabulum, or bell, is adorned with the insignia of the Roman
Pontiff and the coat of arms of the Basilica; The Ombrellino, or
umbrella, is a mark of honor for the church in which it is displayed.
The altar of sacrifice, made from
pews and choir stalls of the Lady
Chapel, was designed in light of
the liturgical reforms of the Second
Vatican Council.
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This mural (left), one of 56 such
murals in the Basilica painted by
Luigi Gregori, depicts the apparition
of Our Lady of Lourdes to St.
Bernadette in 1858. Be sure to
visit the Grotto, just northwest of
the Basilica. It is a one-seventh-size
replica of the famed French shrine.
The Reliquary Chapel contains relics of
most of the saints in the calendar of the
Liturgical Year. The large wooden cross
contains a relic of the True Cross, and is
venerated every Good Friday. The wax
figure is of St. Severa, a third century
martyr. The cloth covered boxes at her head and feet contain her relics. Above
the relic case is a copy of a portion of Raphael’s fresco, Disputa.
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The famed Ivan Mestrovic Pietà (1942), made of Carara marble,
first shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was then loaned to
Notre Dame by the former Croatian artist-in-residence. A replica of
this Pietà is located in the Vatican Art Museum.
The Stations of the Cross Chapel contains the body of John
Cardinal O’Hara, C.S.C. (1888-1960), twelfth President of
the University of Notre Dame (1934-1940), later bishop of
Buffalo and Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia.
Layout and design: Professor Robert Barger,
Rev. Peter Rocca, C.S.C., and Mr. John Zack
Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame
Text: Rev. Peter Rocca, C.S.C.
Photos by Mr. Matt Cashore.
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The Basilica’s
museum displays
many artifacts from
the history of the
Congregation of
Holy Cross and The
University of Notre
Dame. Located just
west of the sacristy, it
contains many of Fr. Sorin’s memorabilia. It is open to the public.
The Lady Chapel, known historically as the 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 baroque altar was
believed to have been built by the studios/workshops of
Bernini (+1680). The tabernacle doors contain a fragment of
wood believed to be from a table on which St. Peter celebrated
Mass in Rome.
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Basilica of the
Sacred Heart
Welcome!
O
n behalf of my fellow Holy Cross priests
and brothers here at the University of
Notre Dame, I want to welcome you
to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
For over 125 years this Basilica has
served as the mother church of the Congregation of
Holy Cross in the United States. It is here that Holy
Cross religious profess final vows, that our seminarians
are ordained priests and where our deceased religious
are commended to God. Likewise, it has been a place
of worship and prayer for students, faculty, staff, and
alumni, as well as for our regular worshipers, pilgrims,
and countless visitors. This “splendid monument to
God’s glory” (Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., Founder of
Notre Dame) stands as a fitting sign of what is central
to the life and mission of Notre Dame. May your visit
to this magnificent Basilica, restored, preserved, and
renewed, remind you of the splendor of God’s glory
and fill you with his compassion and love.
Sincerely yours in Notre Dame,
Rev. Peter D. Rocca, C.S.C.
Rector
History
L
ong before the French priest, Edward Sorin,
C.S.C., and seven Holy Cross Brothers
arrived at the shores of St. Mary’s Lake in
November, 1842, missionaries had visited
this area and had established missions
here. Fr. Jacques Marquette, S.J., may have been the
first European to explore the area as early as 1675. It
is known for certain that Robert de la Salle explored
this area around 1679. In 1686, Fr. Claude Allouez,
S.J., established a mission on the south shore of St.
Mary’s Lake, several hundred yards west of the Basilica.
Allouez named the mission Ste.-Marie-des-Lacs, the
first Catholic mission to serve the local Potawatomi
tribe, as well as French trappers and settlers in the area.
Following the French and Indian War in 1763, the
British expelled Catholic missionaries from the area.
Later, in 1832, a missionary priest, Fr. Stephen Badin,
the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States,
reestablished the mission begun by Fr. Allouez. Ten
years later, Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., accompanied by
seven Holy Cross Brothers, sent to Indiana by Blessed
Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy
Cross, assumed pastoral responsibility for this area and
renamed the mission Notre Dame du Lac. He replaced
the chapel built by Fr. Badin with a much larger chapel
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The original baptismal font, built in 1871, has been restored and moved to the
entrance of the Basilica. The nearby ambry contains the Oil of Catechumens
used in the baptism of children and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults;
the Oil of the Sick used in the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick; and the
Sacred Chrism used in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy
Orders, as well as in the consecration of churches.
The Holy Angels Chapel contains
a beautifully framed picture of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, painted
by Maria Tomasula, Professor of
Art and Art History and The
Michael P. Grace II Chair in
Arts and Letters, University of
Notre Dame (2008). Our Lady
of Guadalupe was declared
Patroness of the Americas by
Pope Pius XII (1946).
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World War I Memorial Vestibule with Ceiling Insignias
(East Entrance)
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The seal of the Congregation of Holy Cross: it is here that
Holy Cross religious profess their perpetual vows and are
ordained priests.
which served the community until 1848 when the “Old
Church” of the Sacred Heart was erected. That church
was only ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and twentyfour feet high. In 1870, construction on the present
Basilica was begun. The cornerstone was blessed in
1871. Built in the style of Gothic Revival, the Basilica is in
the form of a Latin cross, 275 feet long and 114 feet wide.
The first Mass was celebrated here in 1875. The Basilica
was consecrated by Bishop Joseph Dwenger of Fort
Wayne, Indiana, on August 15, 1888. In addition to
its sanctuary and seven apsidal chapels, the Basilica
has forty-four large stained glass windows, including
114 life-sized pictures of saints, and 106 smaller scenes,
produced in the 1870s and 1880s at the Carmelite
Sisters’ glass works in Le Mans, France, under artistic
and archaeological director, Eugène Hucher. The
fifty-six murals and Stations of the Cross were painted
during the 1870s by Luigi Gregori, artist of the Papal
Household of Blessed Pius IX and Professor of Art
at Notre Dame. Members of Gregori’s family as well
as faculty and students served as models for many of
the scenes; Holy Cross priests and brothers who then
lived on campus likewise served as models for the
figures of the Stations. The tower of the Basilica, 218
feet high, contains a bass bell, or bourdon, weighing
some eight tons, as well as possibly the oldest carillon
in North America, consisting of twenty-three bells,
with a compass of two and one half octaves. In 1968,
the church sanctuary was renovated according to the
liturgical reforms mandated by the Second Vatican
Council. From 1988 through 1991, the church
underwent a thorough restoration, executed by the
Conrad Schmitt Studios of New Berlin, Wisconsin.
On January 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II designated the
church a minor basilica.