Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana

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Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, Indiana

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana serves as the college church of the University of Notre Dame as well as the mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States. The neo-gothic church features 44 large stained glass windows and murals completed over a 17 year period by Vatican painter Luigi Gregori. The basilica bell tower stands 218 feet high.

Interior of Basilica

The current edifice was preceded by a smaller structure erected in 1848 by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, the founder of the University of Notre Dame. The current neo-gothic church was begun in 1870 and consecrated by Bishop Joseph Dwenger on August 15, 1888. In 1968, the church was renovated with the intention of bringing it to line with the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. The church again received a renovation 20 years later executed by Conrad Schmitt Studios. The conservation and restoration of the historic stained glass windows, created in LeMans, France, was one of the studio’s largest single projects, with 116 windows and over 1200 panels of glass. On January 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II raised the Church of the Sacred Heart to the status of Basilica. This status helps make it a popular destination for pilgrims and tourists to the site, who number around 50,000 per year.

Basilica Wedding

The basilica is a popular place for weddings of Notre Dame alumni, and hosts several weddings each Saturday that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish do not have a home football game.

[edit] Mass Broadcasts

Since 2002, Sunday masses from the Basilica have been broadcast nationwide. Special care is taken to ensure that broadcasting equipment captures the beauty of the Mass without impacting the rite.

Currently, 10:00 am Mass is broadcast on DirectTV channel 103, and 8:00 am Mass is broadcast on the Hallmark Channel.

[edit] Damage in 2007

In a May 2007 storm, one of the main spires flanking the central cross tower fell from the edifice and was destroyed. As a precaution, the three remaining spires were removed. The spires will be reengineered and reinstalled coincident with additional exterior maintenance during summer break in 2008.