St. Frances Academy restores historic chapel that welcomes all 

The first time Mary Turner attended Mass at the chapel of St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore, she sat in the very last pew. 

Growing up in segregated Southern Maryland, the young Morgan State University student had long since learned how discrimination could snake its way even into sacred spaces. Taking a seat anywhere else never crossed her mind – even in the chapel of the first Catholic school in the United States founded to serve Black children. 

As Deacon B. Curtis Turner remembered his mother’s telling of the story, one of the Oblate Sisters of Providence who staffed St. Frances Academy noticed her, walked over and grasped her hand. 

“No, sweetheart,” the habited religious sister told her, “you don’t sit in the back here.” 

The nun led the young Black Catholic to the first pew where, for the first time in her life, Mary Turner worshipped God from the very front. 

Nearly 75 years later, Deacon Turner is head of school of St. Frances Academy. The image of his mother being brought forward – literally and figuratively – remains etched in his memory. It is one of the forces that propelled him and other school leaders to oversee a recently completed $350,000 restoration of the school’s historic chapel. 

“This was one of the few places south of the Mason-­Dixon Line where African-American Catholics could worship and sit in the front row,” Deacon Turner said. “We had to restore it. It was a labor of love.” 

That vision became possible through the late Monsignor William Collins, a Baltimore priest who often celebrated Mass for the Oblate Sisters of Providence and supported the canonization cause of their foundress, Mother Mary Lange. In his will, Monsignor Collins left St. Frances Academy a $660,000 bequest – enough to cover the chapel renovation and strengthen the school’s endowment. School leaders said the size of the gift stunned them, calling it a providential blessing that allowed long-hoped-for plans to move forward. 

The chapel’s cornerstone was laid in 1906, and construction finished in 1907 – many years after the death of Venerable Mother Mary Lange, the school’s founder and one of the founders of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. The Baltimore-based Oblates, who still sponsor the 197-year-old school today, became the first women’s religious community for Black Catholics in 1829.  

The restoration, overseen by Maryland Bay Construction, involved repairing and repainting the ceiling; renewing moldings; refinishing pews; remodeling the choir loft, vestment room and sacristy; installing new doors at the entrance; fixing dry-rotted window panes; installing new windows; introducing LED lighting; refinishing the hardwood floor; and installing religious art. A former confessional area was transformed into a prayer alcove where students can light votive candles and seek the intercession of Mother Lange, whose sainthood cause is under consideration in Rome. 

One of the most striking additions is a wooden altar crafted by Bradley Wells, a woodworker from the Eastern Shore. Wells, a friend of Melissa D’Adamo, St. Frances Academy’s associate head of school and chief philanthropy officer, agreed to take on the project when she approached him. 

The owner of Brad Wells Woodworks typically creates commercial furnishings such as wooden bars for restaurants, but he was intrigued by the challenge of building an altar. He knew exactly what wood to use – white oak he had harvested 25 years earlier in Nanticoke and had been saving for a special purpose. 

Cracks and splits in the wood required reinforcement and dark-colored epoxy. 

“I made little wooden inlaid crosses to try to hide some of the knots that were in there and that turned out really nice,” Wells said. 

Deacon Turner and D’Adamo see flaws in the wood as a powerful symbol of the school’s mission. 

“We embraced the imperfections,” D’Adamo said. “There was a real parallel to what we do here. That’s what our ministry is all about.” 

Some students helped carry the massive altar up a stairway and into the chapel before placing it in the sanctuary. 

The 200-seat chapel cannot accommodate the entire school, but it hosts smaller liturgical gatherings. Students often stop in to pray – as do members of the wider community. Among them, Deacon Turner said, are firefighters from a nearby Baltimore City fire station. 

“I sometimes see the fire truck parked outside, and they’re in here praying,” he said. “Sometimes that’s happened when they’ve responded to a call with a tragic death that’s just impacted them.” 

For Deacon Turner, the chapel remains a place of welcome. 

“It still serves as a refuge for different people in Baltimore,” he said. “You have someone who’s feeling rejected, someone who’s feeling isolated, someone who’s feeling outcast – for some reason, this is the chapel where they still come.”  

“I’ve always loved the chapel and I had a vision of us being able to renovate it, but we really just didn’t know when that would happen,” D’Adamo said. “Providence definitely provided.” 

Email George P. Matysek Jr. at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

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