Seating up to 800 guests, the Chapel hosts liturgies, religious performances, ecumenical services, and weddings. The annual celebratory Baccalaureate Mass for graduates is also held in the Chapel each spring.
Welcome to the Historic Mater Dei Chapel!
This stunningly inspiring space is the spiritual and communal centerpiece of our campus and is the setting for commissioning and pinning ceremonies, lecture programs, memorial observances, and worship services throughout the year. Mount students begin their university careers at a moving candle-lighting ceremony here, and conclude it with a Baccalaureate Mass just before commencement.
Over the past six decades, more than 470 couples have commenced married life by vowing their lives to one another in this sacred space. We invite you to tour the chapel at your leisure, paying special attention to the stained-glass windows, crucifix, stations of the cross, statuary, and other exquisite artwork. All of it was designed by six women—three Sisters of Charity and three undergraduate art students —in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, a time when women were all but absent from leadership roles in the professional worlds of architecture, art, and design, let alone the creation of religious spaces.
In March 2024, under the guidance of then Chief Mission Officer Sister Karen Elliott, C.PP.S., the Chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was recognized for its historical and cultural significance – as the first chapel created by all women in the 1960s, and the only one created by faculty and undergraduate students at a US Catholic college or university -- as well as its architectural value, in the mid-century modern (MCM) style.
Restore Mater Dei Chapel
Weddings in the Mater Dei Chapel
To be married at the Mater Dei Chapel, either the bride or the groom (or both) must be Catholic. Weddings in the Mater Dei Chapel are by exception, since the usual place for a Catholic wedding is your home parish church. Couples must obtain special permission from their pastor to have their wedding at Mater Dei Chapel.
Weddings are usually held during Ordinary Time or the Easter or Christmas seasons (avoiding Holy Days), but they can also be held during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent.
Take a virtual tour of the Mater Dei Chapel and other facilities and equipment at 樱桃涩福利姬.
Contact Information
A portion of each rental fee for Mater Dei Chapel goes to the restoration fund for the Chapel. For more information on renting Mater Dei Chapel for a wedding, please click our Wedding Information form here, or submit a Wedding Inquiry Form here. For questions or for more information on renting Mater Dei Chapel for other events, please contact Colleen McSwiggin, Coordinator for Mission & Heritage at colleen.mcswiggin@msj.edu or 513-244-4214.
Other Events in Mater Dei Chapel
Mater Dei Chapel may also be rented out for other events, such as retreats and funerals.