Saint Joseph Chapel
Saint Joseph Chapel, “the heart of ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ,” with its pillars of rose Georgian marble, intricately sculpted high and side altars of Carerra marble, 18 stained glass windows (including two 16 foot rose windows and a circular angel window in the ceiling above the altar) and hand carved wooden pews, was dedicated on November 18, 1896.
Donations from the families and friends of the Sisters furnished the chapel; the Sisters and their families also donated gold jewelry to be melted down and reformed as a halo for the statue of the Virgin Mary. Artist Mother Joseph Doran directed the construction of the chapel, and designed the stained-glass figures in its south front doors. The chapel’s pipe organ, donated by Andrew Carnegie a few years after the chapel’s completion, represents the first to be donated by him to a private institution. On December 7, 1899, 200 Sisters of Charity, all pulling together, swung the chapel bell into its tower.
In stained glass above the main entrance are depicted values dear to the hearts of the Sisters of Charity: humility, simplicity and charity.