The Blue Chapel, officially consecrated as the Chapel of Most Holy Mary, Mother of Sorrows is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

memorial

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

located in Keating Hall on the

Rose Hill Rose Hill may refer to: People * Rose Hill (actress) (1914–2003), British actress * Rose Hill (athlete) (born 1956), British wheelchair athlete Film * ''Rose Hill'' (film), a 1997 movie Places Australia * Rose Hill, New South Wales * Rose ...

campus of

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City. It originally opened in 1937 upon the completion of Keating Hall. The chapel went through two different renovations: One in 1980, in which several of the chapel's original architectural features were masked or removed, and another in 2007, in which it was restored to its original state. Its prominent

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

faces outward from the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of Keating Hall overlooking Edwards Parade.

Construction and use

The Blue Chapel was constructed in 1937 on the third floor of Keating Hall, which had been completed the year prior. The chapel was dedicated to

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Colkin, in memorial of their daughter, Dolores Colkin, who died June 16, 1937, at age thirty one. The first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

mass was held in the chapel on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

1937. From the 1940s to at least the late 1960s, the university broadcast

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

services from the Blue Chapel each morning at 9:45 am on

WFUV WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop the nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the ...

Architectural features

The chapel was designed with faux stone walls and a faux brick ceiling. The chapel features a

in multiple shades of blue, with depictions of Jesus,

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and several saints. The altarpiece in the chapel is made of hand-hammered Swedish steel and draped with a blue

damask Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...

fabric. The chapel's stained glass-window is situated in the center of the

of Keating Hall, and is illuminated from within during the evenings.

Restoration

In the 1980s, the chapel was renovated to conceal damage it had sustained to its walls and ceiling. Instead of repairing the damage, the university used

wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

to cover the chapel's faux brick walls, and a suspended ceiling was installed with white acoustic panels; additionally, the original altarpiece was replaced with a

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

icon of Christ. In 2007, the university began restoration of the chapel to its original state; the original steel altarpiece, which had been in storage since the 1980s, was returned to the chapel, and the suspended ceiling and wallpaper were removed, exposing the original faux brick. The crucifix on the original altarpiece had been missing, and the university replaced it with a crucifix recast from unused candlestick holders from the original 1937 chapel.

Gallery

Image:Blue Chapel window.jpg, Window of Blue Chapel. Image:Mary Magdalene window, Blue Chapel.jpg, Detail of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

pane. Image:Crucifix detail, Blue Chapel - Fordham University.jpg, Restored crucifix at altar. Image:Stations of the Cross, Blue Chapel (Fordham).jpg,

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

in the chapel.

Notes and references

;Footnotes

Notes

References

* *

External links

Sacred Spaces
at

Blue Chapel
virtual tour at YouVisit {{Portal bar, New York City, Catholicism 1937 establishments in New York City Buildings at Fordham University Christian organizations established in 1937 Roman Catholic churches in the Bronx Roman Catholic chapels in the United States