Altar dedicated to the Purgatorial or Holy Souls
The altar is a copy of the grand altar of The Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which is considered one of the most beautiful altars in the Eternal City. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The focal center of the altar is the Ciborium. Two angels kneel at the sides, a motif dear to Bernini from the beginning of his career. These two figures are magnificent and at the same time light because of the wide looseness of their robes, the affected grace of their attitudes and the expressive ecstasy of their faces. The columns that support the dome are of the finest Paonazzo marble, streaked with dark veins. The top table of the altar, where the angel figures and tabernacle rest, is engraved with “Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis Domine” (“Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord”). The next layer of the altar, slightly recessed and all white, is a domed edifice with three pillars on each
side. Three smaller angels are among the pillars. The ones on each side have hands crossed over chest and the one in
the middle is with hands together in prayer. The dome is topped with the Holy Spirit (a dove figure) in the middle.
Sitting at the very top is a brass cross.
Altar dedicated to the Purgatorial or Holy Souls
The altar is a copy of the grand altar of The Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which is considered one of the most beautiful altars in the Eternal City. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The focal center of the altar is the Ciborium. Two angels kneel at the sides, a motif dear to Bernini from the beginning of his career. These two figures are magnificent and at the same time light because of the wide looseness of their robes, the affected grace of their attitudes and the expressive ecstasy of their faces. The columns that support the dome are of the finest Paonazzo marble, streaked with dark veins. The top table of the altar, where the angel figures and tabernacle rest, is engraved with “Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis Domine” (“Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord”). The next layer of the altar, slightly recessed and all white, is a domed edifice with three pillars on each
side. Three smaller angels are among the pillars. The ones on each side have hands crossed over chest and the one in
the middle is with hands together in prayer. The dome is topped with the Holy Spirit (a dove figure) in the middle.
Sitting at the very top is a brass cross.