SHRINE AT MONTE CASSINO, SAINT MEINRAD, RE-DEDICATED

MONTE CASSINO SHRINE REDEDICATION

St. Meinrad, Indiana

October 1, 2017

Before with gravel area, wooden pulpit steps and park benches.

Almost completed (except for wall capstones) new expanded stone plaza and restored finials above chapel door. . 

Old picket fence surrounding the chapel.

New stone wall before final capstones are laid. This wall will offer additional seating when the benches are brought back.  

Dedication Day - Today

Pre-restored paintings on the ceiling, missing wall paint scheme and deteriorating plaster. 

New up-lighted restored wall and ceiling paintings awaiting the replacement of the old pews.  To protect the wall and ceiling murals, the chapel now has a new humidity control system. 




Final view with reinstalled pews, new simple Mass altar and votive lights. 




Dedication Day - From Choir Loft

Old altar with home-made paint restorations. 

Partially finished faux painted altar as it will look today. 

New "faux marble" paint scheme on lower right - old monochrome paint scheme on bottom left and altar top left. 

The finished faux painted altar.

New Marian Memorial Shrine in side yard before it was completed.

The finished Mary Grotto in the Prayer Garden in honor of my mother.

Jim Patterson II (far left) and his family. The renovation of the chapel was done by Jim Patterson II in honor of his mother, Dorothy, (second from the right). His father Jim Patterson, Sr. in on the right. 



Jim Patterson II and Archabbott Kirt OSB. 



Part of the crowd that attended.

MONTE CASSINO REDEDICATION

October 1, 2017

Rev. J. Ronald Knott




Father Ron Knott and Mr. Jim Patterson II

Thanks for allowing me to say a few words on behalf of Jim Patterson II and myself.

Jim and I have worked on several projects at Saint Meinrad. He and I were behind the building of the teaching kitchen in Bede Hall. Jim and I have supported the international seminarians over the years with everything from clothes to spending money to assistance with class study trips to Rome. We still do to a lesser degree since I retired. Maybe our most consistent program were the Thanksgiving Dinners we hosted in Louisville for the  seminarians who had nowhere to go for that holiday.

For the last several years we have been working on projects in the Caribbean missions in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. We continue that mission work even today. 

Jim fell in love with Monte Cassino when he came to visit me at St. Meinrad when I was running the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates. It was one of those famous “Benedictine hospitality moments” that so often lead to unsolicited major gifts, much like the two women who became the donors of the new Guest House.  To paraphrase Scripture, “People in places like this have entertained angels, unaware!”

Jim would tell you that we had three objectives in this project.

1.     Preserve this jewel, this treasure, for future generations.

2.     Restore it, but remain true to its history.

3.     Make it more accessible through careful improvements.

We found out, like anyone who has ever attempted to renovate an old house or take on a historic preservation project like a cathedral or historic chapel, that this building was in worse shape than it first appeared. The foundation was in need of shoring up. The walls were cracking and taking on water. The paintings were flaking. In general, its deterioration was speeding up. It could have deteriorated to a point of no return. It could have collapsed at some point.  

This chapel and these grounds were victims of what is called “entropy,” the natural process of decay and decline unless there is an opposing force pushing against it.  Without careful maintenance, material things decay, decline and fall apart.

It has been beautifully restored and repaired, thanks to the passionate attention of Jim Patterson II and Andy Hagedorn. For them, and for the artists and craftsmen who worked with them, this was not just a “job” but a spiritual adventure. We all ended up being emotionally and spiritually invested. Our hope from now on is two-fold: (a) that those who have loved and enjoyed this place will help take responsibility to look after it in the years ahead and (b) that the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey will think of new and creative ways to utilize it so that even more people will come here and take ownership of it.  The more people using it, the more ways it is used, the better!

This chapel restoration and Marian shrine are meant to be tributes to our dear mothers, Dorothy Patterson and Ethel Knott. People coming here will be reminded to pray for them and it will surely help people honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, after whom this whole place is named.

Thank you for listening. Thank you, Jim. It now belongs to all of us so step up and claim your inheritance!