Our Lady of Good Voyage: Boston, Massachusetts

Dedication Photos by Luz Anthony and George Tracy. Interior Photos by James Abrams

Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel was completed and dedicated as the first new Catholic church to be built in Boston in more than 60 years. Located in the Seaport District and designed to seat 254, it replaces the former 1949 Seaman's Chapel, demolished to make way for the Seaport Square Development.

The exterior of the new Chapel, at first a contemporary design, was modified to express a more Traditional appearance as a result of a collaboration between Exterior architect, Stantec, and Cram and Ferguson Architects, LLC. Ethan Anthony, Matthew Alderman and Kevin Hogan designed the interior which is inspired by centuries of English Catholic wooden churches. It speaks also to Cardinal Sean's desire that the church reflect the ship of the spirit on the voyage through life.

An important part of the design effort was the reuse of items salvaged from closed churches in the Boston Archdiocese, including approximately thirty stained glass windows, the pendant light fixtures, woodwork items, the Baptismal font, a Victorian era altar and a Romanesque reredos. Even the 23 carat gold leafed cross that tops the tower was fashioned by welding together two reused crosses salvaged from another Parish church.

The chapel front doors were hand made by Historic Door in Philadelphia with new traditional iron hardware fashioned by Carl and Susan Close of Hammersmith Studios in Newton. They are surrounded on either side by new stained glass windows depicting Our Lady of Good Voyage on one side and St. Peter on the other, hand made by Lyn Hovey Studios in Boston.

A Time-Lapse photo gallery of the church under construction is here: