The Living Church Building — Civium Architecture & Planning

Interior of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo; Rome, Italy. The church is famous for its many side chapels, tombs, and art by many artists , including Raphael, Bernini, and Caravaggio. Photo: Rita Batacchi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons,

Many of the great cathedrals and churches of Europe took centuries and generations to complete. And once “finished,” few remained stagnant spaces, enriched with additional devotional artwork, chapels, and monuments added by each successive generation of faithful.

Many people I know have visited the new Immaculata Catholic Church in St. Marys, Kansas, since it was consecrated, and they regularly return awed by what they saw. A few have even told me it reminded them of the churches they saw when visiting Europe. (A very generous compliment, in my mind.)

Now, in at least one sense, I can agree that the Immaculata is like the great churches of our past. Just two years after opening, the leadership of the Immaculata parish community has decided to add a statue of Our Lady on the epistle side of the Sanctuary, opposite the ambo. The statue portrays Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It has been displayed in the Assumption Chapel on the St. Mary’s Academy campus for many years. Civium Architects was fortunate to be asked to design a pedestal and canopy to display the statue that would complement the architecture and other furnishings we previously designed. Placed against the south chancel pier, Our Lady of Perpetual Help will be prominently displayed in the Immaculata so the faithful can continue to express their love and devotion.

The Immaculata holds many opportunities for additional devotional artwork to be added to further inspire faith and enable devotions. I hope this current project is only the beginning of many more beautiful additions to come in the years ahead.

If you would like to support this project, the Immaculata is currently seeking donations. Please visit https://www.anewimmaculata.org/olph.