Special Edition Fall 2022: On the Chapel Restoration
One writer’s love for Our Lady of Victory
By Meredith Toussaint
If we’re lucky, many of us develop a list of places in this world where our hearts feel perfectly at peace, where our troubles cannot follow us. For me, Our Lady of Victory Chapel (OLV) has very quickly become one of those places. Just setting foot in the building gives me an overwhelming sense that things in my world are okay, and it has been the location of many foundational moments in my life that have shaped me into the person I am. It is a place of refuge for me on campus; it is there for me no matter what may be going on outside of it.
By now, most of us have heard that OLV will be undergoing repairs beginning in January 2023 through late 2024. The chapel will be getting new windows and a new roof. The tiles will be cleaned, and the pews will be refinished. I am grateful to those who have made this possible for taking care of the spaces on campus that we care about. However, it will be a loss for the group of St. Kate’s students who will have to go through part of their time here without it.
While reflecting on what OLV means to me, I spoke with a number of people about their own feelings and experiences with the chapel. They shared what the place means to them, and their words speak for themselves.
Campus liturgist Katie Jonza said, “The chapel means everything to me. … My favorite part is the acoustics when music is being made, and how the light comes in from the back window in the afternoon.”
“The inscription on the altar, ‘Behold I make all things new,’ has inspired me since I first came to the chapel some 13 years ago,” said Mary Hunt, a member of the Sunday Mass community. “The overall design and architectural detail connect me to the history of both the artisans who built the chapel and the sisters who conceived it.”
Sharon Howell, CSJ, director of the Center for Spirituality and Social Justice (CSSJ), said, “For me, the chapel is the image of true grit, a miracle coming into being. It was the vision of a group of Sisters of St. Joseph to create a place of presence and worship for the St. Catherine community, built on the second highest elevation in St. Paul to be a beacon of excellence and leadership. It was built in a year through sheer focused attention. There is a literal presence of (sun)light that travels throughout the chapel during the day, and the rose window lights up the night. Often, we are told that people feel like Our Lady of Victory Chapel is saying to them, though it may not seem so, all is well, wait with me until it is.”
Our Lady of Victory. Photo courtesy of Emma Munson
Emma Munson ‘23 (Classical Civilizations and Theology), a student worker at the CSSJ, said, “I love the chapel because of the way it smells like old stone and fresh air. I love the statue of Joseph that says ‘Ite Ad Joseph’ and the Christ the King stained glass as well. It is just a very holy place. When you walk in, all the weight on your shoulders is immediately lifted and all that matters is the music that wraps its arms around you and welcomes you home.”
The community at OLV welcomed me with open arms starting with my first moments as a student here. The Center for Spirituality and Social Justice, where I have been a student worker since my first week of school, is the place I care about most on this campus. It has given me a sense of belonging I never thought I could find in a church building. And while the people here may be more to thank for those feelings than the location itself, the beauty of the place where we meet each other is what allows those feelings to come to the surface.
The chapel building is also where I go for solitude. The soaring ceilings, the tall windows and the way it smells like candles, matches and incense even when these things are not being used mean that when I walk in, my soul instantly feels free. The chapel has held me in every moment in my time here that I most needed it. It has always allowed me to sit in rare silence and feel whatever I need to feel.
Sometimes I think my favorite part of the chapel is the chipped paint on the doors, the scratched pews and the red and brown stones on the floor that have been worn down and turned almost white because of all the footsteps that have fallen there. They attest to the fact that things have happened here, that people have been here. We enter OLV walking with the thousands of other people who have walked through this building, and whose footsteps linger in this building—with their prayers and hopes and their journeys that have all included walking through this chapel. That is exactly what makes it a sacred place. And while we have changed Our Lady of Victory with our footsteps, while we may have worn her down throughout the years with our rituals, the fact remains that none of us have walked out of her doors without being changed ourselves.
I could write so much more about the beauty of OLV. The soft music coming from the speakers at all hours of the day, the tall stone pillars, the way sunlight shines directly through the rose window and the words carved on the altar. The sea of pews that has a comforting, grounding effect. The piano I’ve stood around to practice songs for the first time with words that now mean more to me than anything. The name “Our Lady of Victory” itself. All of the small details that make it the one place where it is easy for me to feel at peace, to feel the presence of a God. I spend hours in the chapel every day, and for the past month, every time I have been there I’ve thought about how these words could never capture how much I love it.
When we come back to OLV a number of semesters from now, I’m sure it will be even more lovely than we remember, and it will continue to be here for the coming generations of St. Catherine students. For now, we say goodbye for a short time, and search for new places to experience the sacred at our school. I have confidence that they can be found. As I write this article in the sixth pew from the back on the left side of Our Lady of Victory Chapel, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this building that has contained so many of the most beautiful moments of my life, for this holy place that is so much more than a church.
