Tears turn to joy at chapel dedication

NORTH HALEDON  The Salesian Sisters of St. Joseph Province were all smiles as Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney dedicated its new $13 million St. Joseph Chapel here on Aug. 19 while presiding over the first Mass in the beautiful house of worship.

The new 10,793-square-foot chapel has replaced the former St. Joseph Chapel, lovingly called “the heart” of the province, and of Mary Help of Christians Academy (MHCA), which was destroyed in 2018 by a four-alarm fire. The tragedy shocked and saddened the local Salesian community.

But joy replaced tears last Friday when Salesian sisters and priests from the Eastern and Western Provinces, members of the MHCA community, benefactors, local clergy, and diocesan and local officials turned out for the dedication of the new chapel. It is the result of the Salesian Sisters’ resolve to rebuild following the devastating fire. The two-story-high chapel occupies the same footprint as the old building but benefits from many improvements, such as handicap access and rebar structural reinforcement.

In his homily, Bishop Sweeney called the Salesian Sisters “a blessing to the Diocese for their mission of education” and called it a “great joy” to dedicate the chapel.

“As we ask for God’s dedication upon this new chapel, we pray our faith will be inflamed, and we have the zeal — the passionate love to be the Church that God is calling us to be. We hope this truly becomes a house of prayer so that we may be fixed on Jesus,” said Bishop Sweeney.

During the dedication ceremony, Bishop Sweeney sprinkled holy water on the worshippers as a sign of repentance and remembrance of baptism and for purifying the walls of the chapel. Later, he anointed the walls and the altar, signifying the consecration to God. Concelebrating the livestreamed Mass were Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R., archbishop of the Newark Archdiocese; Auxiliary Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D., also of Newark; and Bishop Robert Brennan of the Brooklyn Diocese.

The dedication ceremony started with Bishop Sweeney blessing the doors outside the main entrance of St. Joseph Chapel. He declared, “Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving, his courts with songs of praise,” before the doors were opened to let in the waiting worshippers.

During the ceremony at the front doors, Sister Joanne Holloman, provincial, told those assembled, “This sacred space will soon be dedicated, and Jesus in the tabernacle will again be the center of our province and our school.

“Here, we will teach the young about their faith and the sacraments. Here the young and the old alike will have a sacred space to commune with their God,” Sister Joanne said.

The new chapel sports a more contemporary architectural design and is more energy efficient. It also holds an expanded area for music ministry and a new Peragallo Pipe organ to replace the one that melted in the fire. The chapel features numerous artistic flourishes, including stained-glass windows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph high above on opposite ends of the worship space. The $13 million cost included demolition of the former chapel, construction of the new one, and site work.

The new chapel has replaced the former building that was destroyed in 2018 by an electrical fire in the middle of the night that brought responses from four fire departments. The fire charred the chapel’s brick-and-wood interior, including the altar and pews. Yet, no one was harmed, and the firefighters were able to rescue the most precious item in the chapel, built in 1976: the tabernacle.

On that day, Sister Marisa DeRose, then-principal of MHCA, now an all-girls 8th- to 12th-grade school, called the destruction of the chapel “a loss to the family of both Mary Help and the Salesian Sisters,” as reported by The Beacon.

“It was the heart of both the campus and the school. Many of our girls walked by the chapel on the morning that the fire happened and began to cry. The great loss of this chapel of memories is heartbreaking,” said Sister Marisa, now principal of St. Theresa School in Kenilworth in the Newark Archdiocese.

Undaunted, the Salesian Sisters launched a fundraising campaign immediately after the fire. MHCA and the province found alternate places for many of their events, such as graduation. In 1921, the Salesian Sisters acquired the property in North Haledon and used the existing Sowerbutt House as its first chapel.

The dedication took place just after the worldwide Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, also known as the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, celebrated on Aug. 5, the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1872 in Italy. Other places in the Diocese they serve include St. Anthony School, Hawthorne, and Sacred Heart Retreat Center, and Camp Auxilium, both in Newton.

After the dedication Mass, Sister Isabel Garza looked around the chapel in amazement. She served in former schools in the Diocese and is assistant principal/daycare director at St. Theresa School in Kenilworth.

“The chapel is so beautiful — and fancy. The bishop showed that he has such a tangible faith. No matter where we go, this chapel will always be on sacred ground for us [Salesian Sisters],” Sister Isabel said.