St. Michael's Monastery Blooming in Texas

The Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration, affiliated with EWTN and Mother Angelica of Hanceville, Alabama, have made a challenging decision to serve the San Antonio, Texas community with their presence.

The nuns met recently with liturgical consultant Rolf Rohn of Rohn & Associates Design, Inc. to help them with the preliminary stage of building their monastery.

Rolf and his team discussed their need to hire knowledgeable Catholic Church designers and artists as the nuns seek to make prayer into a reality with the Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel in San Antonio. The nuns plan to build the 300-seat chapel at the base of the Texas Hill Country.

After meeting with Rolf and his talented team the nuns visited the Monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of San Antonio to get a glimpse of how they have addressed the needs of their cloister.

Rohn & Associates Design, Inc. facilitated this historic meeting between San Antonio's two peaceful communities and have pledged to help them to become a permanent reflection of prayer and contemplation in the vast Texas spiritual life.

Preserving Beauty and Majesty of the Sacred

Under the watchful guidance of masterful liturgical consultant Rolf Rohn, thousands of pieces of white Carrara marble were put together to create rich and elegant altars, a tabernacle throne, credence tables, blessed sacrament chapel altar, ambo reredos and tabernacle throne in the Shrine of St. Padre Pio in San Antonio.

The altars are a gift to the St. Padre Pio parish community and to their pastor, Monsignor Patrick Ragsdale, from the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. They were the original altars from the iconic Chapel of the Incarnate Word built in 1907.

Rolf Rohn said, "From the old we were able to to make new more appropriate liturgical furnishings."

"We are really grateful Rohn had the capacity to design a new set of liturgical furniture from precious altars that had been with us since 1907. It is a blessing that the altar is now used in the Shrine of St. Padre Pio as part of its worship community and for all who enter this sacred space," said Sister Walter Maher of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

In addition, Rohn & Associates Design, Inc. also designed the shrine's sanctuary floor plan.

The Shrine of St. Padre Pio is the newest parish in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The parish is currently raising funds for the construction of a permanent home. The altars were re-dedicated during a beautiful liturgy by His Excellency Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio.

To read more and see a slide show about Rohn's work at the Shrine of St. Padre click on the links below:

Shrine of St. Padre Pio

Today's Catholic article

St. Paul's Spiritual Journey in Nassau Bay, Texas

During a beautiful liturgy, we celebrated the profound and spiritual journey in the dedication of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Nassau Bay, Texas on August 29, 2009. Led by the inspiration of Father Albert Maullon, pastor, this vibrant and traditional Catholic parish building was dedicated by His Eminence Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The beauty of this church incorporates stained glass windows from the Orion and Omega-Swan Nebula; making it the first Catholic Church to use actual images from space. The parish is located just outside the gates of NASA's Johnson Space Center. St. Paul's used the theme, "The Heavens Declare the Glory of God," as inspiration and focus before and during construction. In the picture, priests of the Archdiocese recess after the dedication Mass, including Fr. Cyriacus Onyejegbu (forefront) and Fr. Albert Maullon, (background).

During the dedication Cardinal DiNardo prayed, "Lord, fill the place with your presence, and extend your hand to all those who call upon you May your word here proclaimed and your sacraments here celebrated; strengthen the hearts of all the faithful. "

For us at Rohn, the dedication of a church is always a blessing to view the final process of a spiritual journey.