Cardinal Levada to attend consecration of Nebraska seminary chapel

Feb 3, 2010 / 04:22 am

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has announced its new seminary chapel at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska will be consecrated on March 3. Cardinal William Levada will attend the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on EWTN at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

The ceremony is open to the public, but because of limited space rooms and television screens will be provided to those outside the chapel.

Bishop of Lincoln Fabian Bruskewitz will celebrate the Pontifical Consecration and Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is dedicated to the celebration of the Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962. In a press release, the FSSP said it was “delighted” at Cardinal Levada’s presence, describing him as one of the highest ranking officials in the Catholic Church.

The FSSP said his attendance is connected with his position as President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclessia Dei, which is dedicated to facilitating the full incorporation of communities and individuals attached to the Extraordinary Form.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary is located in rural Denton, Nebraska and is the FSSP’s English-speaking seminary. The seminary itself has 100 seminary rooms and 13 priest suites. It began construction in the fall of 1998.

The chapel consecration will “crown the heart and jewel of the seminary,” the Fraternity explained.

The seminary chapel, designed by architect Thomas Gordon Smith, reflects a “contemporary rebirth” of classical Catholic architecture, the FSSP said in a press release. Behind its mahogany doors are an elevated main altar with a 31-foot marble canopy, called a “baldachino.” The chapel has seven side altars and liturgical choir stalls, which seat 92 seminarians and priests.

The chapel immerses the visitor in “beauty and grandeur,” the FSSP said.

The seminary website is at http://www.fsspolgs.org.