Paintings in the new chapel at Bishop Luers High School

Source: Bishop Luers High School

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The Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi was built in memory of Bishop John M. D’Arcy. It seats 180 people, a large leap from the previous chapel that only seated 45, and is located at the front of the school to demonstrate that faith is at the forefront of Bishop Luers. 

The paintings came about after Bishop Rhoades outlined his vision for the chapel and then approved initial sketches from Langley, which he says he spent about a year developing. But the installation of artwork in the new chapel at Bishop Luers High School is now complete.

These seven of the colorful paintings include scenes from the life of St. Francis, the school’s patron saint. The paintings span the length of the wall behind the altar. Langley said that the focus is meant to travel from the center outward and that each painting has a complementary painting on the opposite side. The symmetry of the paintings is meant to symbolize the symmetry of the whole Catholic Church, as well as the symmetry of the Mass, according to Langley.

St. Francis is depicted with his arms outstretched in order to see his stigmata. Langley calls this one “The Ecstasy of St. Francis” because of the joyful way with which he received the stigmata.

The painting of the crucifix in the center is the San Damiano crucifix, an icon cross, the cross that St. Francis was praying when he was commissioned by the Lord to rebuild the church. It depicts the events and people of the Paschal Mystery — the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. Although the painting is ornate and detailed, “it’s meant to be something you can rest with,” Langley said.

St. Clare is featured next in the chapel, because she is a contemporary of St. Francis. She founded the Poor Clares, a religious order for women that follows the Franciscan tradition. Her painting is called “St. Clare defending her Cloister” and shows her protecting a dove in her arms from a large predatory bird in the air. Langley said that the dove symbolizes chastity, purity, her vocation to poverty, the sisters she protected during her lifetime and the Eucharist.

On the far right of the chapel is a painting of the wedding of St. Francis and “Lady Poverty,” otherwise known as “The Mystical Marriage.” This painting uses imagery to explain St. Francis’ pursuit of poverty as if it was a woman with whom he would spend his life. Langley said that it is meant to visually complement the painting of Adam and Eve on the opposite side and shows that Christ is the antidote to sin.

The chapel follows the school’s Franciscan history through these paintings, as well as the Franciscan Way of the Cross, the stations of the cross that once hung in a Benedictine monastery in England.