Blue Chapel (Fordham University)

{{Infobox church | name = Blue Chapel | full_name = | other_name = Chapel of the Most Holy Mary, Mother of Sorrows | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Blue Chapel Keating Hall 2.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | relief = | map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|40.8607|-73.8895|display=inline,title}} | osgraw =  | location = [[Keating Hall]], [[Fordham University]]<br />[[The Bronx]], [[New York City]] | country = United States | dedication = [[Our Lady of Sorrows]] | dedicated = | consecrated = | completed = 1937<ref name=sassi>{{cite web|url=http://news.fordham.edu/inside-fordham-category/rose-hill-chapel-transformed-to-reflect-former-glory/#prettyPhoto|work=Fordham News|title=Rose Hill Chapel Transformed to Reflect Former Glory|date=October 9, 2007|author=Sassi, Janet|access-date=April 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817001412/http://news.fordham.edu/inside-fordham-category/rose-hill-chapel-transformed-to-reflect-former-glory/#prettyPhoto|archive-date=August 17, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> | denomination = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] | events = | functional_status = | architectural_type = Chapel | style = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] }}

The '''Blue Chapel''', officially consecrated as the '''Chapel of Most Holy Mary, Mother of Sorrows'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.fordham.edu/fordham-magazine/places-and-spaces/#prettyPhoto|work=Fordham News|title=Places and Spaces|access-date=April 9, 2017}}</ref> is a [[Catholic church|Roman Catholic]] memorial [[chapel]] located in [[Keating Hall]] on the [[Campuses of Fordham University#Rose Hill campus|Rose Hill]] campus of [[Fordham University]] in [[the Bronx]], New York City. It originally opened in 1937 upon the completion of Keating Hall.

The chapel went through two different renovations: One in 1980, in which several of the chapel's original architectural features were masked or removed, and another in 2007, in which it was restored to its original state. Its prominent [[stained glass window]] faces outward from the [[façade]] of Keating Hall overlooking Edwards Parade.

==Construction and use== The Blue Chapel was constructed in 1937 on the third floor of [[Keating Hall]], which had been completed the year prior.{{Sfn|Shelley|2016|p=269}} The chapel was dedicated to [[Our Lady of Sorrows]] by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Colkin, in memorial of their daughter, Dolores Colkin, who died June 16, 1937, at age thirty one.<ref>A plaque in the entrance of the Blue Chapel reads: "''This Blue Chapel has been erected in honor of the most holy Mary - Mother of Sorrows by Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Colkin as a loving memorial to their daughter Dolores Marie, an alumna (class of 1917) who died June 16, 1937 at the age of thirty-one.''" Photo available at [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dolores_Conklin_plaque.png Wikimedia Commons].</ref> The first [[Christmas]] mass was held in the chapel on [[Christmas Day]] 1937.<ref name=alumni>{{cite journal|journal=The Fordham Alumni Magazine|date=March 1938|volume=VI|number=1|title=The New Memorial Chapel}}</ref>

From the 1940s to at least the late 1960s,{{efn-lr|The broadcasting of mass from the Blue Chapel is mentioned in publications as early as 1947 (see ''The Catholic Digest, Volume 11''), and as late as 1967 (see ''Up to the Present: The Story of Fordham'' by Robert Ignatius Gannon).}} the university broadcast [[Mass in the Catholic Church|mass]] services from the Blue Chapel each morning at 9:45 am on [[WFUV]].<ref name=farrar>{{cite journal|journal=Fordham Magazine|first=Carolyn|last=Farrar|title=The Face in the Window|pages=20–21|year=2009}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Catholic Digest|volume=11|publisher=College of St. Thomas|year=1947|page=42|title=Fordham University}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gannon|1967|p=248}}

==Architectural features== The chapel was designed with [[Masonry veneer|faux stone walls]] and a faux brick ceiling. The chapel features a [[stained glass window]] in multiple shades of blue, with depictions of Jesus, [[Mary, mother of Jesus]], and several saints. The altarpiece in the chapel is made of hand-hammered [[Sweden|Swedish]] steel and draped with a blue [[damask]] fabric.<ref name=sassi/>

The chapel's stained glass-window is situated in the center of the [[façade]] of Keating Hall, and is illuminated from within during the evenings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/u2-brings-spiritual-vertigo-fordham|work=America Magazine|title=U2 Brings Spiritual Vertigo to Fordham|author=Beaudoin, Tom|date=March 6, 2009|access-date=April 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915045418/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/u2-brings-spiritual-vertigo-fordham|archive-date=September 15, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Restoration== In the 1980s, the chapel was renovated to conceal damage it had sustained to its walls and ceiling. Instead of repairing the damage, the university used [[wallpaper]] to cover the chapel's faux brick walls, and a [[suspended ceiling]] was installed with white acoustic panels; additionally, the original altarpiece was replaced with a [[mosaic]] icon of Christ.<ref name=sassi/>

In 2007, the university began restoration of the chapel to its original state; the original steel altarpiece, which had been in storage since the 1980s, was returned to the chapel, and the suspended ceiling and wallpaper were removed, exposing the original faux brick.<ref name=sassi/> The crucifix on the original altarpiece had been missing, and the university replaced it with a crucifix recast from unused candlestick holders from the original 1937 chapel.<ref name=sassi/>

==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Blue Chapel window.jpg|Window of Blue Chapel. Image:Mary Magdalene window, Blue Chapel.jpg|Detail of [[Mary Magdalene]] pane. Image:Crucifix detail, Blue Chapel - Fordham University.jpg|Restored crucifix at altar. Image:Stations of the Cross, Blue Chapel (Fordham).jpg|[[Stations of the Cross]] in the chapel. </gallery>

==Notes and references== ;Footnotes {{Notelist-lr}}

===Notes=== {{Reflist|35em}}

===References=== *{{cite book|last=Gannon|first=Robert Ignatius|title=Up to the Present: The Story of Fordham|publisher=Doubleday|year=1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNI7AAAAIAAJ&q=Up+to+the+present:+the+story+of+Fordham}} *{{cite book|last=Shelley|first= Thomas J. |title=Fordham, A History of the Jesuit University of New York: 1841-2003|location=New York|publisher=[[Fordham University Press]]|year=2016|isbn=978-0-823-27151-1}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Blue Chapel (Fordham)|Blue Chapel (Fordham University)}} *[https://www.fordham.edu/about/living-the-mission/campus-ministry/faith-and-religious-traditions/sacred-spaces/ Sacred Spaces] at [[Fordham University]] *[http://www.youvisit.com/tour/panoramas/fordham/79970?id=26875 Blue Chapel] virtual tour at YouVisit

[[Category:1937 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:Buildings at Fordham University]] [[Category:Christian organizations established in 1937]] [[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in the Bronx]] [[Category:Catholic chapels in the United States]]