By Josh McDermid
In our college chapel there is a certificate which states:
I, George Pell,
Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan,
have, this second day of March,
in the Year of the Great Jubilee
dedicated
the Chapel of Corpus Christi College, Carlton,
enclosing in the altar the relics of
St. Francis of Assisi, Deacon,
St. Thomas Aquinas,
Priest and Doctor of the Church,
Blessed Alojzije Stepinac,
Bishop and Martyr
and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
I grant a Plenary Indulgence to
Christ’s Faithful
who are present at this Ceremony,
and to all the Faithful who visit this Church
on the Anniversary of its Dedication,
according to the norms of
the Holy Catholic Church.
And today, this certificate was proudly on display, as we celebrated this important anniversary in the life of our seminary community. In his homily at Mass, Corpus Christi College rector, Fr Cameron Forbes, explained that while our chapel had been first built in 1855, it ceased being used as a church when the much larger Sacred Heart Church, which is on the same property, was completed in 1899. The building was only returned to sacred use as the college chapel in 2000 following the relocation of the seminary to Carlton.
Fr Forbes then went on to explain the significance of the candles on the walls, which were lit for this celebration, quoting from the Rite of Dedication, which explains that “[t]he anointing of the church signifies that it is given over entirely and perpetually to Christian worship. In keeping with liturgical tradition, there are twelve anointings, or, where it is more convenient, four, as a symbol that the church is an image of the holy city of Jerusalem.”
Reflecting on the importance of this day, and why it has the status of a solemnity, Fr Forbes said that “the annual observance of the dedication of a church celebrates the mystery of the living church, that is, the people of God in pilgrimage to the new Jerusalem.” And finally, explaining the significance of this building, our college chapel, the rector left us with these words to meditate on: “The building matters because it orients the purpose of our lives. It is Jesus Christ who makes us living stones.”
