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Latest News
Celtic cross tops AMU Oratory
October 25, 2006
A simple yet symbolic ceremony took place at the site of the Ave Maria Oratory Oct. 25. A steel Celtic cross was placed at the top of the 100-foot high oratory framework after being blessed by several priests from the Ave Maria University community.
"The oratory will be the spiritual center of the university and the town," said AMU President Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. "The placing of the cross at the community's highest point represents very well the reason we're all here."
The 10-foot tall, 2,500-pound Celtic cross was donated to the oratory by Dian Jennings Mayo, Westport, Conn. Mayo, a long-time friend of Healy and his wife Jane, dedicated the cross to her parents, Hilda and Donaldson Jennings.
"Both of my parents were very devout; my father kneeling to say his prayers every night and my mother going to Mass every morning made deep impressions that I've carried with me my whole life," Mayo explained. "The Celtic cross is particularly special to me; I feel that it encompasses many aspects of our Faith in a very visual way."
During the brief ceremony, Fr. Richard McAlear, O.M.I., associate chaplain at AMU, sprinkled the cross with holy water and led several other priests from AMU in a blessing prayer. The cross was then raised approximately 100 feet into the air by a crane, guided into place by workers, and welded onto the top of the oratory's steel framework.
According to developers, the placing of the cross is another important step toward the completion of the oratory, which is on-schedule for its projected opening at Christmas 2007.