Explore our Campus @ HNM

The best place to start is our gathering area outside the main entrance to the church. It’s an area where people can meet and mingle and share news of other members of our parish. It is a place where visitors can be introduced and welcomed to our parish community. It is also a buffer zone between the noise and activity of the outside “market place of life” and the prayerful quiet of our house of prayer.

The focal point of the gathering area is the fountain. This is where our Easter Vigil ceremonies begin. The Bible contains frequent references to water, and of course, water is used in many of our liturgical ceremonies. You might notice the curved walkway in the cement leading to the doors of the church. The original design called for this pathway to be paved with blue tile, but this had to be postponed because of budget restraints.

Here in the gathering area you will see our Father Damien statue. He has always been important to our parish not only for his extraordinary life of Christ-like service to humanity, but also because he is a member of the Sacred Hearts Fathers who oversee the operation of our church. Father Damien was canonized—officially declared a saint—on October 11, 2009.

The gathering area is a good place to view the exterior of the church. The design is what we call a contemporary California mission style. We have achieved the mission influence primarily with the use of arches, tiles, and building materials with soft warm colors.
We think that you will agree that we have a beautiful entrance into our church. When we decided on the design of the doors we wanted a powerful image to let people know that they were entering a sacred place. It is our hope that everyone who passes through these doors feel God’s welcoming Love, Strength and Forgiveness.
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We started the walking tour of our church in the gathering area. While we are very proud of that outdoor area and the exterior of the church, it has been said that a building’s soul is on the inside. 

As you step inside, stop for a moment. We want the first thing you see to be the large curved glass alcove that displays our baptismal font. Then as you lift your eyes and look beyond to the church sanctuary, you see the altar. The two focal points of the church are the baptismal font and the altar and each has been given a prominent place in the overall church design. Now, look back at the baptismal font and you will see the reflection of the crucifix on the surface of the baptismal waters. We think that this is a dramatic first impression of the interior of our church.

As you know, Baptism is the first of the Sacraments of Initiation into the church. Thus, the baptismal font, and its location, reflects the Christian’s journey through the waters of baptism to the altar. The font is placed at the entrance of the church so people can touch the waters and bless themselves with the sign of the cross as a reminder of their own baptism. By the way, we actually obtained water from the River Jordan and placed it into the font. Jesus began his public ministry at His baptism in the Jordan.

The font that we have is solid brass and is designed to have the water flow over the top and down the sides. This water flow has darkened the color of the font and has vividly colored the grate at the base of the font.
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The earliest form of baptism was by immersion, where the person stood or kneeled in a pool while large amounts of water were poured over him or her. Over time, as infant Baptism became the most common form, smaller fonts consisting of a bowl on a pedestal were used. In recent years, baptismal pools are becoming more common because immersion expresses the total change of life that Baptism entails. Thus, we actually have a pool underneath the grating next to the font. During the Easter Vigil ceremony when a number of adults are baptized, the grating is removed and the pool filled for the immersion ceremony.

To the side, is a small cabinet where the oils for baptism are stored. This storage area is called the Ambry. During Holy Week, the bishop of each diocese presides over the Chrism Mass where the three oils that will be used for anointing the catechumens and for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and Anointing the Sick, are blessed.

Please also note the large Easter, or Paschal, candle. It is a key element in one of the most important liturgical celebrations of the year, the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. That service begins outside by the fountain where a flame is struck and is used to ignite the Easter candle. The candle is carried into the church, where all the lights are out, and then the Easter candle is used to light candles throughout the church. The candle is then placed next to the altar throughout the 50 days of Easter. After Pentecost, it is placed by the baptismal font where it is used during the year for baptism and funeral services.
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Having blessed ourselves at the baptismal font, let’s move into where the parishioners gather for worship. This area is formally called the “nave”.

Probably the first thing that strikes you is that we ​have a lot of pews out there.  We have increased our seating capacity from 700 seats in our old church to 1200 seats in our new church. That was the primary reason for building the new church. As we visited many churches during the design process, our first impression in most churches was not the fine woodwork of the pews, but rather, the helter skelter of books stuck in the racks on the back of the pews. The books came in all sizes, shapes and color, and they really distracted from the overall appearance of the church. To solve that problem, we have simply done away with the book racks and books are made available before Mass and returned after Mass. We think that you will agree that it leaves a much more pleasing impression of the church. Everyone seems to be happy that the pews are upholstered. That’s both for our comfort and to help with the acoustics in the church. We are pleased to report that parishioners are taking very good care of the upholstering.
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In the planning process for the new church, we heard time and again that one of things that our parishioners liked about our old church was the sense of community and the closeness to the altar. We have tried to maintain that relationship; however, the expansion of seating capacity makes the closeness a problem. Nevertheless, the radial type seating arrangement that we have around the altar area helps to keep that closeness. You will notice that the floor is sloped to increase visibility.
 
​Over to the left, you can see the area set aside for our music ministry. Fortunately they have considerably more room than before. Please notice that the musicians are actually part of the congregation, because their function is to lead us in song rather than to perform for the assembly.

As you look around, you will see the Stations of the Cross that are mounted along the perimeter walls of the church. They have been refurbished and brought forward from our old church. These stations are symbols that represent the journey of Christ on Good Friday. Please also note the wall sconces that are shaped like chalices.

You will be interested to know that we have obtained some actual soil from Bethlehem and have sprinkled it over the ground where the four cornerstones of the ​church are poured. This is simply a small connection with the birth of Jesus and another of the signs and symbols that have been incorporated into the church design.

Our beautiful stained glass windows were designed and assembled by a former pastor of our church, Father Bill Moore. In the original discussions about design, it was decided not to have a pictorial design. We were concerned that a specific scene would draw attention away from what was happening at the altar during the Mass. So we have an abstract design with many forms and shapes and colors. Fr. Bill would tell us that each person would read the design in different ways and the connections would be endless.

Each piece of glass was individually cut, stained, etched, and sculpted to achieve unique color and textural variation. Fr. Bill points out that like us, each piece of glass is different and none has a perfect shape, but all relate harmoniously, each one with the others. You might also notice that some pieces seem to be leaning on another, very much like we often do.

Fr. Bill talks about how the blocks of glass might remind us of the construction of a temple, with Jesus the rejected stone, who becomes the cornerstone of the Church.He also tells about the various colors in the glass, with the blues celebrating that all life came from the sea. We can think of waters of living springs, rivers, waterfalls, and the water from the rock struck by Moses. Most of all, we can recall and celebrate the waters of our own Baptism. So once again, we see the symbolism of water.
During the original discussion of color coordination in the church with Fr. Bill, it was emphasized that we did not want any red in the stained glass. But when he showed us the final design, we were surprised to see small touches of red glass. He quickly explained that the small pieces of red represented the five wounds of Christ on the cross. From where you sit, it may be difficult to see each of the five pieces, and in fact, two of the pieces are bonded together to represent the two wounds in Christ’s feet that were together.

It is said that you don’t decorate a church, but rather, you establish a liturgical environment. Thus, the Sanctuary, also called the Chancel, has three focal points—the altar, the ambo, and the presider’s chair. The Mass has a four part format—the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Concluding Rites. The Introductory Rites begin with the priest leading the assembly in prayer standing by the presider’s chair.

After those introductory prayers, the focus turns from the presider’s chair to the ambo for the Liturgy of the Word. The ambo is essentially a standing desk that is reserved for the Scripture readings and the Responsorial Psalm. General announcements are made from the lectern off to the left of the sanctuary.

The altar is where the Liturgy of the Eucharist takes place. Our distinctive altar is all wood and is made primarily of mahogany, with maple and purple heart inserts. The five purple heart inserts on the top of the altar represent the five wounds of Christ on the cross. The altar itself is stained a deep reddish color symbolic of the blood of Christ. The Catholic Church has a practice of placing the relics of a saint in the altar of each church when it is consecrated for use. The relics that we recovered from our old church have been embedded in the new altar.

Most of you will recognize the crucifix, or at least a portion of it, on the wall of the sanctuary. We used the corpus from the crucifix in our old church and mounted it on a different cross that is part of the wall and shows it off with some back lighting.

You will also notice the large convex wall that provides the backdrop for the sanctuary. We have tried to keep it as plain as possible in order not to detract attention from the Mass itself.

​The concluding rites find the priest back at the presider’s chair where he leads the assembly in prayer.

​Behind the wall is the sacristy. This is simply a place of preparation for the celebration of the liturgy. It is both a place where the participants in the Mass put on their robes and garments, and a place for storage of all the items that are used in the various ceremonies. This is usually called the working sacristy because a number of people are involved here in preparation for the Mass. There is also a priest’s sacristy in the administration office. It is reserved for the presiding priest and concelebrants to prepare for Mass.

"Celebrating our History" 2010, Compiled by Father Peadar Cronin, SS.CC.