This is the Chapel of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration. This order has been a presence in Indiana since the late 1800's. They currently serve in schools around the diocese, as well as staffing hospitals for the local organization, Franciscan Alliance. This is their chapel at the motherhouse in Mishawaka.
While some convent chapels have incredible gothic interiors, (Ancilla Domini college) or horrendous "wreckovations" (Sienna Heights college), this chapel has neither. It has kept much of its original architecture from its construction in the Mid 1950's. The solid floor and high ceilings make for excellent acoustics.
The stained glass. If you're noticing that the scene in the stained glass doesn't seem to fit, you would be correct. The stained glass came from a chapel in Memphis which was part of another convent that closed.
While I have no specific information on the added panes of glass, I can safely assume they came from Germany. A big hint to this is the incredible detail on the clothes. (The embroidery on the child's outer garment.)
Another one of the stained glass windows. At the bottom of the window is a depiction of the former hospital and convent in Memphis. It was at that hospital that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr was taken after his assassination
The choir loft. The sisters take great pride in showing off their chapel and giving the history of its walls
The left transept. The figure within the cross is Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order. To the extreme left is a confessional and in the center is an altar for visiting priests to celebrate daily Mass.
The sanctuary. Aside from Saint Monica's, just across the Saint Joe river, this is the only Catholic structure in the diocese to have a baldacchino
The intact communion rail. Within the marble and etched in the metal are very art deco styled images of wheat and grapes, symbols of the Blessed Sacrament.
Side Altar of the Blessed Mother. The pews are arranged in such a manner that a priest could celebrate a daily Mass at this altar for a small gathering of nuns
A closer view of the side altar, note the heavy use of marble in the build of the altar itself
The stations were also of solid marble, and the pink frame matched that of the other pink accenting around the church
A close up of one of the stained glass windows in the chapel. The line where original stained glass and added stained glass stands, is quite obvious
In 2013, the foundress of the order, Mother Maria Teresia Bonzel was beatified. This means she can now be prayed to and, as seen directly below the portrait, her relics may be venerated
The whole chapel; most notable are the pews. While most parishes have long pews to accommodate entire families, these pews are deliberately short, at the absolute most able to accommodate three people. This is by design as it is intended for two nuns to be sitting in each pew for the various prayers and Masses said in the convent.
The exterior. Located in a remote corner of Mishawaka, these sprawling grounds were home to the affluent Carlisle family of South Bend. In the late 40's, the mansion was purchased by the nuns, and then slowly additions were added. After the mansion, (extreme left) was the main building, added in the 1950's. Once the main building was complete, then another convent was added to the right, and behind the main building. This final convent was for aging sisters.
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