Emmanuel and Blessed Sacrament chapels at Cathedral serve the people of God in different ways

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Entrance to the Emmanuel Chapel at the Corpus Christi Cathedral on Lipan Street. The chapel houses 24 crypts for past, present and future bishops, as well as unique art and architecture that has been featured in magazines. The chapel is used for daily Masses and for special occasions, such as retreats.
Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic

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Like many cathedrals and basilicas throughout the world, the Corpus Christi Cathedral has smaller chapels within its walls. In the case of the Corpus Christi Cathedral, one chapel is located in the basement floor of the Cathedral and is a place for daily celebration of the Mass. A second chapel, located in a special place added to the main cathedral, is available only for quiet meditation and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Both were added to the Cathedral in the 1980s.

​The Emmanuel Chapel was dedicated on Nov. 21, 1985 by Bishop Rene Gracida and retired Bishop Thomas J. Drury. While the chapel’s main function is for daily Mass at 7 a.m. and 12:05 p.m., Monday – Friday, it has other uses and an interesting history.

In the early days of the Cathedral, it was called the “Crypt Chapel” because it served as a vault with 24 crypts to house the remains of bishops of the diocese. To date, the remains of four bishops—Paul Nussbaum, Emmanuel B. Ledvina, Mariano S. Garriga and Thomas J. Drury—are in the crypts located at the rear of the chapel.

Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Corpus Christi Cathedral fulfilled a long held desire of Bishop Rene Gracida to provide a quiet space in the Cathedral for Eucharistic Adoration, free from the distractions. It is not designed for celebration of Mass, which are held at the Emmanuel Chapel and the Cathedral proper. Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic

While Bishop Gracida was able to secure an initial $200,000 grant from the Kenedy Foundation, the Cathedral parish community secured donations and raised the remaining funds needed for the altar, one statue, the tabernacle, two doors, the retablo altarpiece, pews, a Ruggles pipe organ and other smaller items.

Like many older buildings, the basement of the Cathedral was, as the Corpus Christi Caller reporter described it, “…a dank dark place dominated by concrete pilings” that supported the main cathedral. Noted Corpus Christi architect James Rome and artist Michael Tracy of San Ygnacio collaborated to convert the space, not only to a place for worship, but also into an artistic creation featured in art magazines.

Tracy used a Spanish Colonial Primitive style in his designs of pews, which were hand carved in Mexico, the retablo and the tabernacle. Tracey named the retablo “Retablo de la paz sagrada.” He found a wooden crucifix for the chapel that dates to 18th century Mexico and a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the 19th century.

Michael Manjarris of Corpus Christi created the Lipan Street entry features, a terra cotta base relief of St. Jude. Donald M. Olszewski, also of Corpus Christi, designed the stained glass window over the Lipan Street doors.

“It has been a personal joy to work on the Emmanuel Chapel. I believe it’s some of my finest work and I really love the way it is and feels. It is my hope that you are happy with its final result,” Tracey said in a letter to Bishop Gracida.

The Emmanuel Chapel has two entrances, one on the Lipan Street side and the other on the side of the Cathedral parking lot. This second entrance has provisions for handicap access.

Three years later, in 1988, Bishop Gracida—with Rome again serving as architect—began working on a second chapel; this time in the main sanctuary. The work involved moving the Blessed Sacrament from the apse to a new location on the Lipan Street side of the Cathedral, requiring an addition to the original structure.

According to the “Corpus Christi Cathedral History and Tour Guide,” the …reredos and tabernacle from the Cathedral's sanctuary were relocated in tact to the apse with a large iron reja enclosing the area. The white marble backing the tabernacle was originally incorporated in the design of the Cathedral.”
The idea did not meet with universal approval. Many parishioners wrote letters of protest to Bishop Gracida and the local newspaper.

“I know that if Bishop (Emmanuel) Ledvina had sufficient funds he would have included these in the scope of the work when the Cathedral was built,” Bishop Gracida wrote to parishioners. “With your help, and hopefully the help of many others, we will be able to finish the noble work which he so bravely undertook, not without some opposition from individuals lacking in vision of the future, who opposed his plan to build our beautiful cathedral…we have made every effort to maintain the integrity of the beautiful work he accomplished. Nothing will be lost that he built and furnished for our cathedral.”

Bishop Gracida pointed out that the document Eucharisticum Mysterium, published in May 1967 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites provides instruction on Eucharistic worship required that “The place in a church…where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle should be truly prominent. It ought to be suitable for private prayer so that the faithful may easily and fruitfully, by private devotion also, continue to honor our Lord in this sacrament” and recommended that, “…the tabernacle be placed in a chapel distinct from the middle or central part of the church, above all in those churches where marriages and funerals take place frequently and in places which are much visited for their artistic or historical treasures.” He pointed out that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal concurred, pointing out that “the Most Blessed Sacrament should be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, conspicuous, worthily decorated, and suitable for prayer…” such as “in some chapel suitable for the private adoration and prayer of the faithful and organically connected to the church and readily noticeable by the Christian faithful.”

It was with all this in mind, the bishop said, that he directed the construction of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Corpus Christi Cathedral. Moreover, it fulfilled a long held desire of the bishop to provide a quiet space in the Cathedral for Eucharistic Adoration, free from the distractions in the nave of the Cathedral. This chapel, with pews that can accommodate 18-24 worshipers, was not intended to celebrate the Liturgy, that is reserved for the Emmanuel Chapel.