Sacred Heart Chapel

Sacred Heart Chapel is the spiritual centerpiece of Our Lady of the Lake University, which the Sisters of Divine Providence (also known as the Congregation of Divine Providence) founded in 1895. Designed by leading local architect Leo Dielmann (1849-1923), it is a fine example of Late Gothic Revival architecture, featuring buttresses, lancet windows, cast-stone tracery, pinnacles, and a large bell tower that reaches a height of 193 feet. The chapel was built in 1923 and is located between and connected by corridors to the university's Main Building and the Sisters of Divine Convent. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

A young French priest established the Congregation of Divine Providence in Alsace, France in 1762. It grew during the next century and members eventually reached into the United States, arriving in Texas in December 1866. They were first sent to Austin to establish a school but the bishop of Texas, Claude Tubuis, instructed them to go to the town of Castroville instead (it is 30 miles west of San Antonio). Over the next twenty years, the Sisters had established 24 schools in the town and surrounding area.

They decided to move to San Antonio in 1895, however, after the railroad bypassed Castroville. The mayor offered them 18 acres of land next to Elmendorf Lake as a gift on the condition they found a girls academy and improve the property within ten years. Upon looking over the property, the superior general of the Sisters, Mother Florence Walter, apparently declared: “This is the place. Someday, upon this land will stand a beautiful Gothic chapel with twin spires pointing up to the blue Texas sky.” Construction of the Our Lady of the Lake Academy, what would later become the Main Building, began in 1895. The Sisters began teaching at St. Joseph's School while the Academy was being built. The school grew in the coming years, prompting the construction of wings on each side of the building. By 1911, the Academy had grown so much that the school became a two-year college for women. It became a four-year college eight years later.

While the college had grown significantly by 1920, it lacked a communal worship space large enough to accommodate all of the students, Sisters, and faculty. There were only chapels in the convent, Main Building, and the recently built Moye Hall. Mother Walter started a chapel building fund in 1911 and enough money, $200,000, had been raised by 1921 to begin construction. It was completed in 1923 but the stained glass windows were not all installed until 1928, and the bells were installed in 1924 and 1931. The chapel was officially dedicated on July 26, 1928.

"About the Sacred Heart Conventual Chapel and Auditorium." Congregation of Divine Providence. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://www.cdptexas.org/chapel-information.

Garduño, Italia A. "Sacred Heart Conventual Chapel." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. July 26, 2021. https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/NR/pdfs/100006774/100006774.pdf.

"OLLU History." Our Lady of the Lake University. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://www.ollusa.edu/about/history.html.