New Side Chapel and Reliquary
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This past Saturday, November 1, 2025, we were blessed to have Bishop Waltersheid preside for our 10 am All Saints' Day Mass at Assumption. During the Mass, the bishop blessed our new side chapel and reliquary.
A reliquary is any shrine or vessel designated to house relics.
The story of how this all came together is quite remarkable. Several years ago, prior to the merging of our churches into Regina Coeli Parish, staff at Assumption found a box tucked away in the safe room that contained over twenty relics. Most notably, a piece of the veil of the Blessed Mother - the only relic of hers that exists, as she was assumed into heaven body and soul - and a piece of the True Cross were among these relics. Though it is unknown how these relics ended up at our parish, we were fortunate to have found that the proper paperwork was included for the majority of the relics (no relic may be displayed or venerated in public without the paperwork proving its authenticity). Since the initial discovery, the several relics that did not have paperwork were authenticated by a relic expert with the Vatican.
At about the same time as this discovery, a young man from Assumption passed away and left the church a bequest designated for “the beauty of the church.” After much prayerful discernment and discussion on the proper way to honor his wishes, while keeping in mind the needs of our parish and parishioners as we were going through the merger, it was eventually decided to turn an unused confessional at Assumption into a side chapel. At that time, the confessional had already been gutted and was being used for storage. We felt it was the perfect area to make small, quiet place of prayer within the church, as well as a beautiful way to display the relics.
Displayed in this chapel are our twenty-six relics in a beautiful custom-made walnut reliquary cabinet. Laminated posters show the location of each relic, and there is a card in the pews for you to take home so you can learn more about our special saints (you may also view that page by clicking here). All of our relics are first class relics, which means they are pieces of bone, with the exception of the rare and unique relics of Blessed Mother’s Veil and the True Cross. Below the reliquary is an altar, on which sits a Crucifix. The Crucifix has been at Assumption for decades and may possibly be original to the church. It was the processional Crucifix for many years, but it broke internally and has not been able to be used as intended since then. The altar stone is also from the church, though its origins are unknown.
It is our sincere hope that you find this chapel to be a quiet and peaceful spot in a busy world.
Please take the time to get to know our saints. If you do not have a special saint in your life, one of these saints is calling to be your companion on your journey.
We are grateful to all the parishioners and staff that have given their talents to make this chapel possible. We truly appreciate all you do for us. In particular, we thank:- First and foremost, the young man and his family for the bequest that made all this possible.
- A parishioner who wishes to remain anonymous, but put many hours of labor into the creation of the chapel (installing the wood on the walls and ceiling to bring the inside back to its original state, electrical work, installing the pews, the re-purposing and installation of the altar, and many other little details).
- John Parks and Dave Damon, for their helping restoring the wood in the chapel
- William Peters, for providing the photography used to make the graphics for the chapel materials
- Tom Oberst, for donating the fabrication and installation of the iron work in the chapel.
- Corey Morgan, owner of Corey Morgan Woodworks, for the creation of the beautiful reliquary.
