To the Band of Brothers: May 17, 2021

Good morning!

As I mentioned in a previous email, occasionally I want to write little by little about the architectural and theological beauty of our new chapel. Understanding the rhyme to the reason for so much of the chapel’s structure will help us appreciate the newest addition to the Belen campus. Like I mentioned before, very little of what you will see has been done arbitrarily. Like our very lives, it all has purpose and meaning as well.

After moving through the three arches of the façade that represent the Holy Trinity, you will walk through four doors that lead directly into the chapel. I know the immediate reaction will be to look forward towards the sanctuary where the altar, tabernacle, and crucifix will be located, but you need to quickly turn around. The reason is that you will notice the three first arches give way to two arches just below the choir loft. This is for a good reason.

As we move forward in our profession of faith, one of the key elements is to focus our attention on the person of Jesus Christ. The second person of the Trinity is the Son, the love of God made man, the founder of our Catholic faith. The two arches represent one of the most basic and fundamental realities of the nature of Jesus. It is what we theologically refer to as the hypostatic union. In layman’s terms, it means that Jesus was both human and divine. Remember, there were several ecumenical councils, especially the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.), that met at the beginning of Christianity to make sure we got this right.

The hypostatic union, Jesus being man and God, clearly refers to the mystery of who Jesus is. Let’s be clear, we do not claim that Jesus was a kind of halfbreed where 50% of him was divine and the other 50% human. Jesus is not like the mythical demigods of Ancient Rome. No, Jesus is fully human and divine. He never loses his divine nature even when it was clouded by his humanity. Like the fact the sun continues to exist and be present even when hidden on a cloudy day or during the darkness of night, Jesus continues to be God even during his sojourn upon the earth.

As you look upon these two arches in the chapel, the column in the center that brings them together is decorated by an all-important image. Just in front of this column is a large pedestal that will carry upon it the image of Our Lady of Belen. The image will be located, therefore, at the center of the two arches. Her location is important because it is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who makes this mystery of Christ’s nature possible. She is the one who helps bestow on Jesus his humanity. It was in her womb that he was knit and nurtured. She is the source of his humanity. The marble cornerstone of the building that will be placed in the coming months just outside the main entrance will speak of this. On it will be a phrase taken from one of St. Augustine’s Christmas sermons, “He who the heavens could not contain, was contained in the womb of the Virgin.”

This role of the Blessed Mother is crucial. It is the reason why theologians for centuries have referred to her as the new Arc of the Covenant. The old Arc, so important to the people of Israel because it represented the presence of God in their midst, contained in it three things: pieces of the Ten Commandments or law given to Moses by God, the manna or bread given to the Israelites by God to sustain them in the desert, and the staff of the priest Aaron. Mary is understood as the new Arc because in her womb she contained Jesus who was the embodiment of the new commandment or law of loving God above all things and neighbor as self, the new manna or bread of life (Eucharist) to sustain us through the desert which is life, and the high priest who presides over every mass and the whole of the Church community.

This image of the Blessed Mother artistically expressed as Our Lady of Belen, patroness of our school, has been a part of us since our founding. It is the reason why the chapel is dedicated to her. Our Lady of Belen has watched over our school and has helped us overcome all sorts of adversity. When most thought that Belen would not overcome war, financial constraints, pandemics, a totalitarian dictatorship, and exile, Mary said we would because, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

Auspice Maria