New Hospital Chapel Opened

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 16

New Hospital Chapel Opened

A new’ chapel for the patients and staff of Calvary Hospital was blessed and opened yesterday by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch (the Most Rev. B. P. Ashby).

The chapel, of 4000 sq. ft, replaces a small wooden building which has served the hospital since the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary opened it in 1914. Calvary is the oldest private hospital in Christchurch and was known for many years as Lewisham.. Bishop Ashby told about 300 people at the ceremony that the new chapel would be the centre of peace and tranquillity for everyone at the hospital. The building will have a link with the old chapel. A stained glass window, which

a former member of Parliament, Mr J. Connolly, gave to the sisters in 1924, was built into the wall above the altar. Bishop Ashby consecrated the marble altar during the ceremony, which he described as rare in the liturgy of the Church. He said that while the sisters had waited for the new chapel they had built the Mary Potter hospice where the chronically ill are treated and the new home for nurses.

The chapel was designed and built in cruciform shape by a Christchurch architect and builder, Mr R. L. Kennedy, at a cost of $BO,OOO. Bishop Ashby said the shape was such that no matter how the surrounding buildings were built they would not dwarf the chapel. The chapel is topped by an aluminium spire. An electronic bell system which plays music has been installed. The chapel will be heated

by a hot water system connected to the hospital boilers. The member of Parliament for St Albans (Mr H. J. Walker) and the Deputy Mayor of Christchurch (Mr H. P. Smith) attended the ceremony. A former superior general of the Little Company of Mary (Mother Bernard) was also present and there was a large gathering of religious, clergy, and doctors. The photograph shows Bishop Ashby sprinkling the outside walls of the chapel during the ceremony of blessing the chapel. The Bishop is accompanied by his secretary, Father 51. O’Malley.