Judith Romances the Stones of Marquette’s old chapel

It’s easy to ignore the story behind the charming Gothic chapel on the west end of Marquette’s campus. Sitting inside the cool confines of a stone structure dedicated to the memory of St. Joan of Arc makes me forget that she who was burned at the stake died to atone for the considerable sins of the French nobility, who let everyone besides themselves “eat cake.”

Whole careers were built on this heap of stones left to fall into rack and ruin, far away in an area near Lyon. At one time, the Chapelle de St. Martin de Sayssuel formed the ecclesiastical center of the village and the surrounding chateau. It’s a sure bet that only the wealthy prayed there (no peasants allowed?), but at least those who entered the arched confines didn’t have to endure signage proclaiming “No firearms allowed inside.” You’ll see just such a sign, on the left, as you enter the wooden doors of the Chapel today.

Centuries pass — a lot of them, as the chapel went up before the First Millennium. Then, just after World War I, along comes Jacques Couelle, a young architect/archeologist riding through the village (I imagine him as a kind of windmill tilter) and voila! He pauses to refer to the chapel as a big deal, one of a kind. He went on to restore many ancient buildings, and of course that takes a heap of coin. He was wise enough to take numerous photographs and drawings of his find. Money attracts money and people with heaps of it tend to gather together to figure out how best to spend it.

Enter Gertrude Hill Gavin, with heaps of coin.

It’s unclear what Couelle’s connection to Gertrude Hill Gavin was, but in 1926 she acquired the Chapel. And wouldn’t you know, Couelle helped her transfer it to her 50-acre-estate at Jericho, Long Island. Ah yes, it should be noted here that Gertrude was the daughter of James J. Hill, the American railroad magnate. Money greases wheels.

And yes, more money was needed to reconstruct the stones for her Long Island estate. Need I mention that Mrs. Gavin of railroading bucks also brought from France, stone-by-stone, a Renaissance chateau. Money trickles down if you have enough of it. Stained glass windows were designed and added to the Chapel, so a craftsman or two prospered.

But wait! Curiously, in 1962, the Gavin estate passed on to Mr. and Mrs. B. Rojtman, but burned down before they were able to move in. Alors! The Chapel survived and was gifted to Marquette two years later. It took nine months to take it apart (again) and ship it from Long Island to M’waukee, and several changes were made to the original structure: more windows after the nave was lengthened, and a repositioning of the niche and the sacristy. The Marquette University website tells the fuller tale.

The day I visited the Chapel, a warm day in a summer of many warm days, a white floor fan whirled near the altar. It’s said that electric heating is installed in the floor to better ward off the winter chill of those who attend mass within the walls of stone, but this seems a bit ironic when you consider Joan was burned at the stake.

Stories aside, tales too, in a world of chaos and uncertainty, the Chapel is heaven on earth.