-
-
When St. John's Seminary opened its doors on September 12, 1939, campus construction was not yet complete. In addition to the administration complex, the initial campus included classrooms, laboratory, an infirmary, living quarters for a community of approximately 200 seminarians and faculty members, as well as a power and heathing plant, store-houses and other facilities. The Chapel, the spiritual heart of the campus and center of the seminary life, was consecrated by Archbishop John J. Cantwell on October 8, 1939.
An imposing relief of Christ the King is located over the interior Chapel entrance. Fundamentally Byzantine in its decorative style, te lofty trusses and beamed ceilings are painted in designs which reflect Florentine influence. The floor plan was borrowed from the Roman Basilica.
The Timber roof architecture reembles the Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe, in Ravena.
The interior walls are painted to resemble heavy fabric draped over the frame of a tent. The theme is "the Tent of Meeting," as a tabernacle in the wilderness. the artistic technique is called trompe-l'oeil, French for "trick the eye," giving a realistic three dimensional appearance.
The interior of the Chapel is elegant in its simplicity. It consists of the sanctuary and the three-tiered oackend choir stalls on both sides of the beautiful inlaid marble floor.
-
-
-
The whole sanctuary are three steps higher than the center aisle. A relic of St. Viviana, principal patroness ofthe Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is enshrined in the Altar. At the back of the sanctuary on top is the statue of St. John the Apostle. The white stone reredos is embelleshed with relief and mosaics of glass and marble. On side of the reredos depicts The Descent of the Holy Spirt and the other side depicts The Last Supper.
The blue and gold strips of mosaic in the two large columns on both sides of St. John's statue and the arch above, are features of Byzantine ornamentation.
-
As the sunlight streams through the 12 stained glass windows, designed and constructed by artisan Joseph Tierney of Church and Crafts Center in New York City, the Chapel interior becomes awash with a colorful vibrancy, providing a visible reminder of God's beauty.
-
The Chapel floor is composed of both imported and domestic marble. Much of it is from quarries in Italy and Spain as well as Alabama, Vermont and Tenessee.
In the sanctuary area, the design theme is steps leading to the Holy Orders. The figure of the Sacrificial Lamb of God is sourrounded by the symbols reflecting the Minor and Major Orders as they existed at the time of construction, prior the changes resulting from the Second Vatican Council.
Immediately surrounding the Lamb are the symbols of the four Major Orders: Sub-Diaconate (ewer), Diaconate (Book of the Gospels), Priesthood (chalice) and Episcopacy (crosier).
Appearing on the outer edge of this main desing are the symbols of Minor Orders: Acolyte (candle), Exorcist (hyssop branch), Lector (scroll), and Porter (key).
The nave is divided into three sections with a large shield as the focal point of each section. Closest to the entrance is the coat-of-arms of the Most. Rev. John J. Cantwell, Archbishop of Los Angeles. His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, is represented by his shield in the center section. The final symbol is that of St. John the Evangelist, patron of the Seminary.
-
The beautiful pastel colored mosaic Stations are part of the structure of the chapel as each is embeded in the wall. They are the work of Martin G. Coleman, a New York-based artisan. They were executed in the Vatican Mosaic Studios and blessed by Pope Pius XII before beig sent Colea for completion in the United States.
-