Opening Day!!!
A joyous day was had by all as we witnessed St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Catholic Church officially come into existence.
All of Kansas City rejoices as a humble structure built by human hands has the supreme honor of becoming a dwelling place for Almighty God and the offering up the Eternal Sacrifice of His Son for the Redemption of sin and the Sanctification and Salvation of the world!
A chilly winter morning greeted the crowds and the arrival of Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. His Excellency performed the ceremony for the Blessing of a New Church. After the Blessing, the North American District Superior of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP, celebrated the First Solemn Mass in honor of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne with His Excellency, Archbishop Naumann, assisting from the Throne. Many visiting clergy were also in attendance, both from the Fraternity of St. Peter as well as local priests and religious from local parishes here in Kansas City. Over 400 of the faithful were in attendance, packing the new church and offering up their prayers in union with the Archbishop for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls.
Many countless hours of work have gone into this project and we thank all especially who were directly involved, our benefactors, our parishioners, the contractors and laborers who have worked so tirelessly these past months to make the church so beautiful and worthy of God and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
THANK YOU ALL!!! MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND REWARD YOUR GENEROSITY IN THIS LIFE AND IN THE NEXT!
Almost There!
With the main construction phase finished, now it’s just down to putting the final touches on things before opening day. By the grace of God we passed our fire inspection last week and so everything is ready to go for our Blessing and inaugural Mass on Saturday!
Fire code regulation signs and placards and fire exits and so forth have all been installed. The audio/video feeds and sound system put in place. Terry is finishing up the baptistry. Eileen and her crew are putting the final touches on the altar and sanctuary adornments. Statues for the main altar arrived last Saturday and have been put in place. Statues for the side altars are still on their way. Downstairs, the kitchen and the back stairwell both get fresh coats of paint and the parish hall is being set up ready for guests on opening day!
Upstairs / Downstairs
While the finishing touches are being put on the main church upstairs, many changes are also taking place in the downstairs basement.
Our new church renovations didn’t include just the main church upstairs but also included an entire remodel to the downstairs basement area as well. In addition to new paint and tile in the parish hall, we also added a choir room, a classroom, a mothers and babies room, and completely gutted and rebuilt from scratch both the men’s and women’s bathrooms.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the main church, work continues on adding the finishing touches. Gold stenciling went on the walls of the nave, the organ was installed, the wooden pillars supporting the extended choir loft stained and lacquered, the marble tops added to the communion rail, the work sacristy completed, the inscription over the main entry doors inscribed, and the parking stripes painted in the parking lot!
Let there be light… and pews!
With the lights and pews installed, our new church feels just about ready for us to move in!
Last week saw the installation of our new pews. These were custom built by Ratigan-Schottler and trucked down from Nebraska. Amazingly, they were all assembled on-site and installed in less than a day! Also, our new traditional pendant style lights were installed giving the nave a beautiful alabaster glow and adding all kinds of nuanced light and shadow making the gold colors in the church really shine with added luster. Also this past week saw many improvements to the sanctuary. The side altars were installed, the new rose window in the north transept put in place, the newly refinished tabernacle placed in the main altar, and the marble tile finished on the predella.
Communion Rail, Sacristies, and Baptistry
Now with the flooring almost done, the railings in the nave and sanctuary, and the furniture for the sacristy can be installed!
The last three weeks have been super busy as we near our completion date. With the nave and sanctuary tiling done, the various furnishings for the nave, sanctuary, and sacristy are put in place. The communion rail was installed, the baptistry rail assembled, and the furniture for the priests’ sacristy and the altar boy sacristy assembled. It’s starting to look more and more like a real church every day!
More Tile and Flooring
Progress continues on the nave tile and basement flooring!
Getting the floors down is an encouraging sign that the project is reaching its final stages. With the sanctuary tile in place, the tiling crews moved on to the nave and sacristy. At the same time flooring went down in the basement rooms as well. Once all the flooring is done, the side altars, communion rail, baptistry, and sacristy cabinetry can be installed, and the final detailing work completed. We’re getting close!
Church blessing scheduled for Jan 12th!
We are pleased to announce that after many years of hard work on the part of priests and lay faithful, the Kansas City Latin Mass Community of St. Rose Philippine Duchene is preparing to open the doors to its new church. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann will bless the newly renovated church on Saturday, Jan 12 at 9:00am.
A Missa Solemnis in honor of our patroness, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, will will be celebrated immediately following the church blessing.
All faithful and clergy are warmly invited to attend. RSVP is appreciated.
We are most grateful to God for this great grace. Many thanks to the Archbishop, the chancellor and the vicar general for their kind assistance in the undertaking of this building project – begun some 3 years ago. Thanks also to our FSSP predecessors in Kansas City for their hard work leading to this day. Lastly, we are forever thankful to our faithful and benefactors whose generosity has made this church possible.
Tiling the Sanctuary
Tile arrives for the Sanctuary floor!
Tiling the floor of the Sanctuary has been one of the largest projects in our church renovation. For the last three weeks, tiling crews have been working diligently to carefully cut and place each and every single tile in the Sanctuary. A combination of marble, stone, and terracotta tiles, in addition to three intricate mosaic tile patterns on the predellas plus an ornate placement of tiles in the center of the sanctuary is a difficult and complicated job but will make for a beautiful sanctuary floor when it’s all done!
Organ moved into the choir loft!
Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. moved our pipe organ into the choir loft this week!
One of the nice features left to us by the former occupants of our new church was a full working pipe organ! This organ was previously installed in what is now the sanctuary so it was necessary to move it into the choir loft. Our own Dr. Ivan Csanaky assisted the folks at Quimby Pipe Organs in the disassembly of the organ this past summer and now, with the choir loft renovations completed, it was time to move the organ into its new permanent home. With the help of many hands and a miniature lift system brought by Quimby, the various pieces and parts of the organ were transported and lifted up into the choir loft where they were then reassembled. Once the final renovations to the church are done, Quimby will return to clean and tune the organ in time for it to give a fitting welcome to the archbishop for our grand opening!
Main Altar Installation Video
Watch as the installation of our new altar goes up in seconds! (Actual time took place over two days and a total of over 15 hours.)