It was an emotional night at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newport News, on Friday, Oct. 4, when Bishop Barry C. Knestout celebrated a special Mass to dedicate the new church and altar.
The building was overflowing with joyful, even tearful, parishioners. Thirty minutes before Mass, a standing-room only capacity crowd was already three rows deep against the back wall, with all of the new pews tightly packed.
“I had seen pieces of it, I had peeked in and seen it, but when they opened the doors and I walked in, I was just filled with awe. It is awe inspiring,” said Maureen Foust, a parishioner for nearly 30 years.
It was possible to hear the crowd murmuring before Mass, phrases like “night and day,” “simply beautiful,” and most simply put: “wow.”
Transcendent, faithful, approachable, timeless
When the sanctuary at Our Lady of Mount Carmel was built in 1986, it was with a spirit of popular experimentation in church architecture.
The pews on two sides of the church faced one another rather than the altar, and the floor gently sloped towards the center. There was no defined space for the altar or the ambo, both of which were moved by different pastors over the years. The baptismal font was along the back wall of the nave instead of near the entrance. There were also no kneelers.
“It made it very easy to see the presence of Christ in each other, because you could look across the church and see your neighbor,” said Heber Dunkle, director of liturgy and worship at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who also served as the renovation project manager. “However, it made focusing on the altar more difficult.”
Built just before the Americans with Disabilities Act brought increased attention to issues of accessibility, there were also mobility problems with the sloping floor. Dunkle and other parishioners, in lockstep with Father Dan Beeman, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, wanted to address two major issues by adding kneelers and leveling the floor.
Father Beeman said he had four priorities for the renovation.
“The first was that it had to be something that was truly transcendent, something that would immediately raise our hearts to the Lord,” said Father Beeman.
“Secondly, the church had to be faithful to the Magisterium, following that universal teaching of our Catholic Church that has lasted 2,000 years,” he continued.
“Third, it needed to be approachable to all – those with mobility issues, without steep ramps or inclines, and approachable to the unchurched, where they would come here and want to call it home,” he explained.
“Finally, the church would need to be timeless, built to last 100 years – or until Christ returns,” Father Beeman added.
Reflecting God’s majesty
In October 2023, Mass was moved from the sanctuary to the parish hall, and the general contractor, Hoy Construction, got to work.
Nicolas Charbonneau, principal architect with Harrison Design & Architecture, was one of the main visionaries behind the redesign.
The floor was leveled, and new pews, facing the altar – with kneelers – replaced the old ones. A dedicated space for a new Carrara marble altar was built, including an altar rail and a new reredos on which was placed a refurbished tabernacle donated by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. A new marble baptismal font was added in the proper location at the entrance to the nave.
Four statues made by Albl, a woodcarving company from Oberammergau, Germany, are also featured in the new sanctuary: the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph the Worker, St. Cecilia, and St. Michael the Archangel.
Conrad Schmitt Studios, which specializes in decorative painting, assisted in the redesign, selecting colors and designing patterns for the clerestory ceiling and around the stained-glass window image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
“What we do is try to create a harmonious design when we’re working with designers,” said Charbonneau. “We develop the architectural directory so that these aren’t siloed decisions, but a complete work of art.”
Charbonneau said that the choice of marble and wood, as opposed to synthetic materials, is meant to reflect the glory of God.
“There’s a kind of uniqueness to marble or wood. By that, I mean, a particular grain or a particular marble pattern exists only once,” said Charbonneau. “It certainly helps to reflect God’s majesty, God’s creation, as opposed to using porcelain, which has the same pattern every twentieth tile.”
“To worship in such a beautiful place reminds you where we are heading as a pilgrim people,” said parishioner Jeremy Sommer, “with the church giving us a foretaste of the beauty and richness of heaven.”
“I thought our church was okay before, but this is above anything I would have envisioned,” said Foust. “The details are so well thought out, and everything came together so beautifully.”
‘Rebuild my Church’
In his homily, Bishop Knestout noted that Oct. 4 was the feast of St. Francis, who began his own journey to sainthood when he heard God say, “Rebuild my Church.”
The bishop said the new altar and restored church symbolize Christ’s presence in our lives. “The Church is Christ in which God lives and dwells among us.”
Bishop Knestout also noted that St. Francis originally thought God was referring to a ruined stone building in Assisi, only to realize later that he was referring to the entire Catholic Church.
“The Church is laid upon the foundation of the apostles,” said the bishop. “We can approach God in confidence and joy because he approaches us in Christ, especially at the altar.”
Relics of four saints were placed in the altar during the Rite of Dedication by Bishop Knestout: St. Dominic, St. Simon Stock, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
The parish shares a connection with St. Dominic, as the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia teach in the parish school. St. Simon Stock was the saint to whom Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared. St. Vincent de Paul is the patron saint of our diocese, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton founded the first American congregation of religious sisters and is the patroness of Catholic schools.
In his remarks at the end of Mass, Father Beeman thanked the parish for exceeding the campaign goal of $2.5 million raised for the project.
“I’m deeply grateful, and honored to be your pastor,” said Father Beeman, who was moved to tears. “We needed a beautiful building for a beautiful parish. You all made it possible.”
Many parishioners have expressed their own gratitude. “When you look up, you just look up into this beautiful space,” Foust said. “So many people have said it feels like you’re in heaven.”
See more photos from the dedication Mass Oct. 4 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.