reredos

The Altar of Sacrifice is the focus and center of the Sanctuary. Placed on a platform raised three steps from the floor of the Chapel, the altar consists of a marble slab resting on two marble pedestals. Here, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated; here, the Body and Blood of Christ , which Saint Francis loved and adored, is effected and brought to all who come to celebrate and to worship in this Act of Redemption and Salvation.

The Main Altar of the Doyle Chapel

Over the Altar of Sacrifice is a Crucifixion Scene, the Altar of Calvary, Christ on the Cross with Mary, His Mother, and John His Beloved Disciple, gazing up at Him.

Christ on the cross, accompanied by Mary (right) and John (left)

Beneath the Altar of Calvary, and behind the Altar of Sacrifice is a terra cotta reredos (partition-wall). This reredos depicts two scenes, an event in the life of Saint Francis and an event in the life of Saint Bonaventure, both of which took place on Mount Alverna. On the left, in an event which took place two years before his death, Saint Francis is pictured receiving the imprint of the Sacred Wounds of Christ- the Stigmata. The words Deus Meus et Omnia (My God and My All) express the ecstatic love of Francis for Jesus. on the right, Saint Bonaventure is depicted in the act of writing his treatise Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum (Journey of the Mind to God). The words of Saint Bonaventure express his intellectual pursuit of God: "Domine, exivi a te Summo, venio ad te Summum, et per te Summum" (O Lord, I have come from Thee, the Most High, I come to Thee, the Most High, and I come through Thee, the Most High).

The two Saints represent the Franciscan approaches to God:

	Here Saint Francis is kneeling, in a very natural and affective approach, direct, with his eyes open. The Saint is depicted as giving all of his attention on the crucified Christ in the form of a seraph.
Saint Bonaventure is considering the scene, through an intellectual approach, indirect, with his eyes closed. The Itinerarium Mentis in Deum accompanies Bonaventure, which is centered on Saint Francis and his stigmatization.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE REREDOS and Its Construction:

Reredos Design.pdf