Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
is central to the life of Thomas Aquinas College. The faculty
and students have longed for a dedicated place, suitable in
design and ornamentation, in which to gather as one body to
worship God. Thanks be to Him, and to many generous friends
among His faithful, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy
Trinity is now under construction.
A leader in the revival of traditional Catholic church architecture,
Professor Duncan Stroik of the school
of architecture at the University of Notre Dame, designed
the building. The interior features a high tabernacle of white
marble at the center rear of the sanctuary. Before it, under
a stately, bronze baldachino crowned by the image of Our Lord
suffering on the cross, stands the white marble altar. The
baldachino, in turn, is located between two of the great stone
pillars which uphold the soaring dome, the cupola of which
is 89 feet above the floor of the nave.
The dome, the great three-tiered, 135-foot bell tower, and
the articulated limestone façade, surmounted by the
statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, are the outstanding
design features of the exterior. They make the chapel by far
the most prominent structure on the campus. Located at the
west end of the academic quadrangle and flanked on either
side by the academic buildings, the chapel stands at the heart
of the College's institutional life, rendering the physical
order a reflection of the spiritual.
