CONSTRCTN XXI, # 1

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  They must be grasped and held in heart's hands.

Things are looking up a bit, but much seems to hinge on the inspection by the state's inspector.  That should be very soon, we hope.  But below you will see what has transpired since blogger last wrote.  We'll start with the statues (really deep relief i.e. almost looking like free standing), of Mary and Joseph.  They are presented here to give you either a distant view (Mary), or a close up of Joseph.  (You may see the close up of Mary at some time.)  Joseph is, of course, to the right of the alter, and Mary to the left.  The photo of Mary gives you a sense of where she is on that wall in relation to the windows (yet to be glassed).  And so...









Seven windows?  Does that mean that they will have abstract symbols of the Sacraments or of the Eucharist?  We shall all have to wait and see.

Next is Joseph, a noble photo of a noble man.  

Now for a few photos of the Stations of the Cross.  The purpose of the selection is to show you the different backgrounds they've been placed on.  The stations and the crosses are all from the old chapel here on Hilton Drive.

   



While it may seem a simple task of mountings, it was really a rather involved and very exacting one. Two of our folks from Maintenance tackled the task and did a very good job of it.

Here is what the chapel looks like from the overlook on 1 1/2 window.  The rest of the sanctuary furniture will come very soon to the site (still in storage nearby).










Now to wrap up this blog, I thought you'd want to see Mary close up, since this close view of her would have required a ladder, probably.  (The background is the carpet the reliefs were laying on.)










Blogger thinks this is a nice way to say good day to you.  God bless you; Mary keep you, and may the devil not know of your passing until you are safe in the arms of God (from a version of an Irish blessing).

CNSTRCTN: VOL. XX, #1 Long Time No Blog

Memories, like birds, are fleeting.  One must grasp and hold in heart's hands.

Yes, it has been a while since you have been enlightened with a few enlightening photos.  So sit back and enjoy and question and imagine where... and how (one of blogger's questions)?  First we will look at and wonder...  You will be looking at the credence table.  It is large, and will hold the cruets, finger towel, etc.  If there are more priests or someone else assisting in the Mass, this table will hold whatever they need.
  ...as you can see.  Yes, the marble top is real and also from the altar in the old chapel.  This makes it very special, as the other pieces of furniture that you will see here.

And what you see here is the ambo (in medieval Greek--pulpit, in case you are not up on your medieval Greek).   One of the items blogger is particularly interested in hasn't shown up yet, and it's the presider's chair.  Will there be a small marble top table next to it when the chair is placed in the sanctuary?  Questions, guesses, questions, guesses. ???????











This table is for the tabernacle, thus the Blessed Sacrament table.  There may be another name for such a table, but I'll have to ask around to find out what it is.  Stay tuned.

Since there a few things at this time that blogger could show you, she will let you guess and question further.

Now we will move over to the Marian shrine behind the main chapel.  The photo you will see is the background of the shrine.  A decorative, but not fancy, open framework will be         held by the
rods you see sticking out of the back.  The framework will hold glass panels, if blogger is remembering rightly.  Behind the break between the two sections is a third section a little lower, that you can see in-between the two sections you see easily.  Blogger is not sure what the floor will look like in front of the shrine.  One might expect a circle, wouldn't one.

'Tis time to leave the reader with much to ponder, but blogger hopes you will find it as fascinating as she does.  At this moment, blogger wished she knew enough Greek to bit you a fond adieu in that language.  Have a very enlightening and uplifting time in the interim.  Blogger.

CNSTRCT Vol. XIX, #1 Chapel getting closer to the finished line!

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  One must grasp and hold in heart's hands.

It's been a loooong sleep, blogger knows, and apologizes.  The computer grinch was afoot and blogger was having password meltdown (mixed metaphor).  So, here's the rundown on two months of men working and blogger struggling with technology.

We'll start with the area that many readers have already seen--
the new elevator hall.  It looks the same on all but 2nd. and 3rd.
hall since they open in a different direction.  Notice that the soccer field is visible to the person't left as he/she enters.  On the other two floors with the different orientation, the rider will be looking out the left window onto the garden area and the CLC.

Moving into the chapel, you will see some new additions since we were last in there on the blog.  Here's the pouring of the sanctuary platform and step (cement being forced out of the hose by the workman stepping on it) and the finished product of that operation;
   

Notice in the above photos the curved wall ready for the wood panels that will be cemented to it.  You  are seeing those panels in this next photo along with the figure of Christ (at last).  Notice a chain hanging just beyond the table.  Yes, waiting to mount the cross and the figure of Christ.  In the second
photo, it is accomplished.  One of the men who helped with the mounting said that it took about a half hour.  Notice again that there is another chain on the right. The third photo hints at how the crucifix is hanging--by flat hooks  which are slipped into slots on the mounting board against the background


               

As noted, there is still another chain.  That's for altar top which weighs around two tons.  It is over to the side near the windows because it was in the way where it was first placed, i.e. in front of the then future steps.
So, loyal readers and any newcomers, now you know.  Blogger has been chaffing at the bit to show all of this to you.

I close with a now experienced New Year, however you may feel about it.  Blogger's grand niece will be delivering (we pray) twin girls.  That's a really positive thing for blogger's family.  She hopes that there will be many positive things and many unexpected blessings for you.
p.s.  In case there is no explanation being prepared for the forked cross and the style of the figure of Christ, blogger will supply one.
God bless!

CNSTRCTN XVIII, #1 Virtues in Stained Glass

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  One must grasp and hold in heart's hands.

The windows are in:  TaaDaaaaa!!!! (hear echo many times over.)  Here they are in order of replacement.

But first, the washing of the inside of the storm windows, then process, the work of installing the stained glass panes.
What you see here is a stack of #3 panels for each window (they look dark because they are stacked with no light shining through).  The next photo shows two men lifting the third panel to the man on the lift.  The one in the white shirt is the restorer of the windows, very attentive that the installation will make the windows perfectly secure.  And so they will be, with all the skews and bolts going into the cross bars and into the wall through the frames.

Below is the securing of the top panel, and next to it, the second and third windows completed.
 
       

and finally, all three windows receiving the early morning sun.  And the angel choirs sang
               ALLELUIA !

So now, "...there remain these three, faith (fides), hope (spes), and charity (caritas)".  And we are thrilled!

Have a good week, made such with these three in your mind, heart, and deed.  God bless.





























                               
                         

CNSTRCTN Vol. XVII, #2 Months of Promise/Fulfillment

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  We must grasp and hold in heart's hands.

With Thanksgiving upon us, it is fitting that we look at the last 12 months or so to see what advances have given us occasions of thanks for the progress of each month.  While blogger can't show each step along the way, she has chosen one or two for each month that can stand as significant.

November and December of 2017:

An essential part of the construction of the elevator:
The demolition of the old rest room off the side door, and the empty shelves in the library:
 

Moving on to January and February of 2018, the wall between the president's old office and rm. 112.
The scene in chapel already under roof and waiting for the window frames to be remove will also see the wall come down soon, as you may recall seeing in the Feb/Mar. blogs on this same station, i.e. CONST..

                            
March and April saw the altar top (over a ton in weight) removed and being carried out of the building for storage, and the completion of the balcony floor with the two doors for access to/from the new elevator.  This is at the back of chapel.
             

May brought the emptying of the kitchen, no small task, and, in June, the first move in destroying the staircase right outside the kitchen, both harbinger of exciting things to come.  The third photo shows the floor frame of the elevator floor, with a bit of the mechanism showing beneath, again very promising.

July brought warmer weather, of course, but the heat didn't daunt our intrepid workers.  July also showed us the floor being created in the stairwell space.  This new floor will be used for a few cafeteria related items.

JulyThe month also brought new endeavors at the other end of the building with the workmen were in a space that was becoming more and more unique and hinting at the sacred.






In August the auditorium came close to sporting its new addition, bringing us closer to its grand display.  Spanish Steps?  What are they?  We soon found out.

September did not sound so melancholy as the old September song suggested.   In fact, the tardy beginning of school brought willing and able young ladies, eager to help get the school ready.  And then...!
                                         Hardly lamentation.

        And finally October.   Chapel taking on more and more promises
of wonderful things to come                                                


                     Chapel is a good place to end this calendar-album.  November is not over, of course, but the photos here certainly give us here at NDA--its administration, faculty, and staff, and maybe some of the students, too, additions to our list of blessings on Thursday.  On that note, blogger wants to say thanks to all who stop by on your computers to see what's going on at CNSTRCTN.
Have a blest Thanksgiving, seeing God's presence in food and the people you are dining with .

CNSTRCTN, XIX #1 Food and Finding Helps

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  They must be grasped and held in heart's hands.

We'll stay inside this week.  Let's go eat first.
The new cafeteria accommodates two lines at once.
Still has a few snags, but that's to be expected when
you're serving close to 300 in each of the two lunch
periods.  Seen here are the girls going through and
making their choices.  The equipment is new, as you can see, and so are the trays, now with sections! (What will they think of next?)

Lines are long with only two lunch periods instead of three.  Looks like someone has come in and saved a place before getting into the line.

Let's move around a bit and see the smart looking signage, but let's eat first.  To Longshore...

Moving out of Longshore Dining Hall and going back into the foyer via the Srs. of Notre Dame/ Student Commons doors, we'll turn right  Looking we see Hilton Hall. Think of this as a "street" sign with some "houses" along this street.

                                                                                          

 
One more sign will wrap up the day.                       

If the order seems strange, achieving it had made blogger a bit (more) strange.  Some things are more demanding of one's mental stability.
God bless you and yours this coming week.  Blogger will keep searching for ways to skinny into the next unexplored area.  Enough.

CNSTRCTN Vol. XVIII, #3 Encouraging Vistas

Memories, like birds, fleeting.  They must be grasped and held in heart's hands.

Now that the major renovations in the main building are completed, we can take a look at a few things new at the chapel end.  The road back to the faculty parking lot was in great need of repair after all the daily use by the construction machines.
      Can you see five men in the first pic?  Blogger threw in the second pic. so that you could see the roller ready to do its thing.  Can you see five men in this pic?

The next two pictures are inside the chapel, of course, the lower one may be familiar to you, but you may not have seen the board placed in the center.  Blogger thinks that it will hold the fixtures for attaching the cross to the surface of the final altar piece.  The upper pic. shows some advancement in the back part of chapel which will become the reflection space.  What's notable in this shot which you haven't seen before is the lit passageway from the elevator to the 1 1/2 level.  (The next two half floor levels do not have that configuration for getting into the hallways, but each has a slightly different design ((if that makes sense)).)  (Blogger doesn't know  you're seeing, but every time she looks at this photo, the column on the right looks like it's leaning.  It isn't--just to reassure you!)

We'll move back outside again to check on a key component to the entrances to the north end of the building.  This pic. was taken the day before the blacktop job was begun, you will notice.  It is outside the entrance to the president's suite.

                                       
A good place to end for this week's report.  We are hoping that the momentum we are seeing in these will continue at its recent speed.
Tune in for the further adventures, hopefully, needless to say.  Be good to yourself so that you can be your best self--God uses our dispositions for His purposes.  Amen!