Xavier’s St. Katharine Drexel Chapel is holy ground

By Christine Bordelon 
Clarion Herald

Dominican Father Victor Laroche is getting to know the students and faculty and discovering his new chaplaincy duties at Xavier University of Louisiana, founded in 1925 by Blessed Sacrament Sister Katharine Drexel.

Among his first tasks was concelebrating a Mass Oct. 15 with Resurrectionist Father Manuel Williams heralding the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the university chapel named for the Philadelphia native – declared a saint in 2000 – whose inheritance was used to create schools and missions in America to educate Black and Indian children.

St. Katharine Drexel was praised by Father Williams, the homilist, for using her God-given gifts to build Xavier University of Louisiana and help build God’s kingdom.

“She used what she had and did not grow weary,” he said.

Father Williams emphasized the importance of persistence in prayer by singing, “Couldn’t be contented until I found the Lord.”
 

He mentioned the disciples’ devotion to prayer and the incessant prayer of the widow in the Gospel, who continued pleading with a judge for a fair ruling until he finally relented.

“If you just keep praying … you will wear God out, and he will give you what you want,” Father Williams joked. “Jesus tells us to pray and not become weary. We have to put our faith in action and give God a helping hand. … We have to do our part, trusting and knowing that God will do his part.”

Minimalist chapel design
Before the Mass began, a second-class relic of St. Katharine Drexel was venerated in the chapel’s small meditation chapel. Father Laroche carried this relic – encased in a gold reliquary from the university’s archives – into the main chapel, which was designed by the late Argentine-American architect César Pelli, who grew up Catholic.

Dr. Norman C. Francis, president emeritus of Xavier University,  attended the anniversary Mass. Francis embarked on the chapel project in 2000 to honor St. Katharine’s canonization year.

Simplicity was emphasized in the design of the 11,000-square-foot, hexagonal chapel because simplicity and spirituality exemplified the charism of St. Katharine Drexel, who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament religious order in 1891.

The chapel’s limestone exterior coordinates with surrounding Xavier buildings and is the stone used for St. Katharine’s crypt. The chapel interior – with a “larger-than-life” corpus of the Risen Christ as its focus – features off-white colors, natural finishes and natural light to symbolize God’s presence. In front of the altar is a second-class relic encased in glass. Glass Stations of the Cross were designed by Caribbean artist José Bedia.

New chaplain brings ideas
Father Laroche, ordained in 2002, has a master’s in theology and divinity from Aquinas Institute of Theology. As a Dominican priest, he’s served at Barry University and Duke University Hospital and has been a chaplain, held canonical and pastoral responsibilities (the socius and vicar provincial for the Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres), a retreat and spiritual director, a pastoral care/grief counselor, campus minister and volunteer coordinator who assisted and supervised faith-led alternative spring breaks. He also volunteered with students at Habitat for Humanity and a soup kitchen.

He plans to “tap into” these past experiences to connect with Xavier students, faculty, staff, alumni, administrators and benefactors.

“I try to meet them where they are – physically and where they are in terms of their faith and spirituality,” Father Laroche said. “Part of what I am doing is to try to learn their language. They use words that I don’t necessarily understand. I don’t mind asking them. … It helps me to understand them.”

Reaching out to all faiths
As chaplain, Father Laroche shares the Gospel through daily noon Masses and on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. throughout the semester. He also is available for the sacrament of reconciliation by appointment or before and after Mass, and works alongside campus minister and Xavier music professor Mitchell Stevens and director of campus ministry Lisa McClain to reach students of all faiths.

“Mother Katharine Drexel did not discriminate against non-Catholics,” he said. “And, Xavier doesn’t either.”

To further engage students, Father Laroche has been blessing cars and aspires to bless pets, dorms and initiate glass recycling to raise environmental awareness and as a student fundraising tool. It might grow into more understanding of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato si,” he said.

He aims to also create daily internet reflections and encourage faculty and students to write reflections as means to build a larger faith community.

“I’d like to see more students, faculty members and staff come into the chapel, not just for Mass,” he said.

Father Laroche says the Dominican Province’s mission aligns with that of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament “to share the Gospel message, especially among the Black and Indian peoples and challenge the deeply rooted injustice in the world today. I hope to prayerfully proclaim the Word of God, share the Gospel and walk in the footsteps of Jesus, following the examples of St. Dominic, St. Martin de Porres, St. Francis Xavier and St. Katharine Drexel.”

It may have taken more than 70 years for the realization of St. Katharine Drexel’s dream to build a free-standing chapel on campus, but its presence is distinctive.

“This chapel is truly the spiritual heart of the campus,” said Dr. C. Reynold Verret, Xavier University president, at the Mass, adding how it is “a tribute to St. Katharine who lived a life of simplicity and poverty” and “gave her all to be of service and to bring others to Christ.”

If Jesus appeared today, Father Williams said he would find faith and service at Xavier University, “for we have not grown tired” and persist in prayer.

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