Saint Anthony's Chapel (Pittsburgh)

Saint Anthony's Chapel is a Catholic chapel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania within the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Description

Built in 1880 by Fr. Suitbert Mollinger, who was at that time pastor of Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish in the neighborhood of Troy Hill, the chapel houses 4,000 to 5,000 religious relics, making it the largest collection of relics outside the Vatican.

History

As originally planned, the building of the chapel was meant to be a joint effort between the congregation of Most Holy Name and Father Mollinger, who would match their contribution. However, when the parish refused to appropriate the large sum of money needed, Father Mollinger erected the building at his own expense with money which he had inherited from his family in Belgium. After the original dedication, additions were made to house the life-sized stations of the cross as well as the growing number of pilgrims,and so the enlarged chapel was rededicated on June 13, 1892, the feast day of Saint Anthony. Father Mollinger died two days later following an operation for a ruptured stomach.

Father Mollinger was the primary driving force behind the erection of the chapel and the collection of relics housed therein. Mollinger's great personal devotion to Saint Anthony of Padua prompted him to dedicate a chapel in his name. He made several trips to Europe in order to collect relics, an unprecedented amount of which were floating in the market at the time due to political upheavals due to the so-called Kulturkampf in Germany and the unification of Italy. Most of the 4,000 to 5,000 relics in the chapel have original certificates of authenticity, the oldest of which dates from August 12, 1716.

Because Father Mollinger apparently died without leaving a will, his heirs descended on the chapel and stripped it of its crystal chandeliers, black onyx altar, candelabra, and all portable items that could be sold. The chapel and its remaining contents were subsequently sold to the parishioners of Most Holy Name for $30,000, a sum equaling about $750,000 in 2011 U.S. dollars.

Notable among the chapel's collection are the complete skeletal remains of a saint named Demetrius (housed underneath the altar), the skulls of Saint Macharius and a saint named Stephana, skulls of the martyred companions of Saint Ursula, the skull of Saint Theodore, and the tooth of the chapel's patron, Saint Anthony of Padua.

The chapel also houses a life-sized set of statues that depict the Way of the Cross, which were imported from Munich and made by the Royal Ecclesiastical Art Establishment of Mayer and Company.

Restoration

By the 1970s the chapel had fallen into serious disrepair. A group of concerned parishioners formed a committee to raise funds to restore the chapel to its original beauty. On April 7, 1972, the pastor of Most Holy Name approached Bishop Leonard of Pittsburgh and asked for his approval for this effort. Permission was granted, and the restoration was undertaken completely by donation. By 1978 the badly needed restoration was complete.

Gallery

• SaintAnthony'sChapelInside1.jpg

  Large interior view of the chapel.

• BonesofSaintDemetriusatSt.Anthony'sChapel.jpg

  Shrine containing the bones of Saint Demetrius located behind the altar.

• SaintAnthony'sChapelBonesofSaints.jpg

  Bones of Saints.

• ASaint'sSkullatSt.Anthony'sChapel.jpg

  The skull of a Saint.

• AltarofSaintAnthony'sChapelPittsburgh.jpg

  The altar.

• SaintAnthony'sChapelInsideRight.jpg

  The altar on the right.

• SaintAnthony'sChapelInsideLeft.jpg

  The altar on the left.

• SaintAnthony'sChapelStationsoftheCross.jpg

  Stations of the Cross.

• SaintAnthony'sChapelInsideBack.jpg

  Interior view of the back of the chapel.

External links

• St. Anthony's Chapel (official site)
• St. Anthony's Chapel
• Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish
• An article about the chapel in Pittsburgh City Paper (18 January 2007)