FARGO – Most faithful will never have the chance, but for those in the right place, time and circumstances, the sensory experience of watching the moment a building becomes a sacred space may well become a lifetime memory of their faith journey.
On Oct. 26, around 450 friends, students and faculty of the new St. Paul’s Newman Center near North Dakota State University filled the sanctuary, for the first time, to worship and witness the dedication of a church building that could be a place for prayer and worship for centuries.
“Truly, the Lord is in this place. How awesome is this shrine. This is nothing but an abode of God, a gateway to heaven,” began Bishop Folda’s homily, borrowed from Genesis 28:16-17.
Mentioning years of “much sweat” that became part of the “arduous labor of love,” Folda congratulated those present for their perseverance and accomplishment.
“For almost 100 years now, there has been a Newman Center—or, in those days, a Newman Club—here at NDSU,” he said. “Even in the secular environment, at a public university, the Church is right at home.”
Folda noted that the first universities were founded by the Church as places to grow in knowledge and wisdom, and that despite confusion in our world today of what truth is—or even if there is such a thing—the chapel will be “a witness to the living presence of God,” and “an open door to all who are seeking heaven.”
He then explained elements of the rite to follow: the sprinkling of walls and people with holy water as a sign of purification, anointing of the walls to set the building aside as holy, burning of incense to signify prayers rising up to God, and lighting of candles symbolizing Christ as “the light of the world and truth.”
But most importantly would be the consecrating of the altar with sacred chrism oil, he said, where “the sacrifice of Christ on his cross is offered to the Father,” noting that, just as Jesus invited his apostles, “he will invite the students of this university, and all…to receive him in the Eucharist and abide in his love.”
Following the Mass, the Rev. James Cheney, pastor of the Newman Center, expressed gratitude to God for the many graces he’d bestowed on him, effecting “the deep conversion in the heart of a young man who was totally lost. He saved me from myself.”
Cheney said he had long wanted to give something back to God, and that was the impetus for him to bring this project to bear, despite challenges. Soon after ground was broken on June 25, 2019, he said, the effort was “faced with tremendous headwinds,” and “Corona (virus) almost destroyed it” with the breakdown of supply chains.
At one point, the project was in “total disarray,” he said, but the people came through, bringing $38.4 million in pledges to make the chapel’s completion—the pinnacle of the project—possible.
Cheney said during the many meetings that took place, they would always begin in prayer, calling on intercession from their patron saints, with a special nod to two beloved former students, Michelle Duppong, who died of cancer, and Samuel Traut, who was murdered near the Newman Center, both in 2015.
To the students present, he said, “I’m very grateful to God to be able to serve them in this time and space,” fighting back emotion. “I believe in you. You are our future.”
During a reception afterward, Dennis Bower, who started at NDSU in 1971, said the Newman Center quickly became a home during his college years, and he lived there for a time with two other students. “We had to pay a little bit of rent and set up for socials on Sunday,” he said, along with doing some maintenance.
Maria Sornsin started at NDSU in January 2020, but then was deployed with the National Guard in Kuwait for 18 months to help the United States military withdraw from Afghanistan. A friend who kept in contact back in Fargo told her about the new apartments at the Newman Center and that she should consider applying. So Sornsin did, and has been living there since returning.
“I’ve watched Fr. Cheney getting more excited about (the chapel) this year, and then how all the students wanted to sneak in there to take a look (at the progress),” Sornsin shared. “It’s really beautiful. I teared up tonight.”
As a construction management major, Sornsin said she is struck by how “everything can be intertwined with the faith,” even a manmade structure, and how “everything about this Mass was about preparing the Lord to enter this building.”
John and Sharon Beauclair attended NDSU from 1975 to 1980, and married at the old Newman Center chapel their last year. “The start of our relationship happened here,” John said, recalling his wedding day in a non-airconditioned church in August. “It was absolutely sweltering, but it was a wonderful day.”
“You could tell the Spirit was with us,” Sharon added.
She also remembered going to daily Mass with a small group of other dedicated Catholics on campus. “It was really personal, and everyone participated fully in the Mass.”
John also mentioned the relic of St. Paul, “probably a piece of bone,” that was part of the rite, and will be place permanently in the altar.
“This is like a beacon,” Sharon said, a gift to the students from the community. “We’re saying, ‘We believe in our faith so much that we’re willing to do this for you, so you can have it too.’”
Robert Franzen, a key donor, said his involvement in the Newman Center years ago redirected his life. “I didn’t even know what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit was,” he said. But after taking an inquiry class there about the faith, he was “changed completely.”
“This place is a game-changer; there’s no question,” he said, noting how many young people are lost in despair in these times, and his gratitude that the Newman Center plans to add a full-time lay counselor to help students with mental-health needs.
Becky Burns, a longtime supporter of the Newman Center and former Spanish teacher at Shanley High School, commented on Facebook the next day about the dedication Mass, expressing her joy at having been among those to attend the event.
“The beautiful sound of prayers being said, and songs being sung, and the participation in the Mass was wonderful,” Burns wrote. “It was a beautiful celebration!”
“I used to tell my students that Mass is not a spectator sport. It’s a full participation activity,” she added. “Last night was the embodiment of that perspective.”
PHOTOS: A look inside the stunning new St. Paul’s Newman Center chapel
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on Nov. 3, 2023.]
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