Located along Memorial Drive across from the Charles River is the Society of Saint John the Evangelist monastery and chapel designed by Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942). Completed in 1936, the complex includes a monastery with a two-tiered bell tower, a chapel, and a guest house. A proponent of Gothic Revival and Collegiate Gothic architecture, Cram was inspired by Gothic architecture in England and furthered those ideas in his designs of numerous churches in the U.S., including St. John the Divine in New York, as well as libraries and academic buildings. Isabella Stewart Gardner, the great philanthropist and patron of the arts in Boston, helped select the site and provided financial support for the purchase of the property.
Dedicated to St. Mary and St. John, the chapel’s exterior is constructed of seam-face granite block with buff limestone trim, and an arcaded brick cloister supporting the stucco monastery.
The interior features Indiana limestone pillars and arches, marble floors in the choir and sanctuary, green slate floor in the ante-chapel, and stained glass windows designed by Charles J. Connick. The trussed roof beams were originally part of a wooden bridge over the Mystic River that was removed at the same time the chapel was being built. Cram’s meticulous attention to detail extended to the design of the crucifix and candlesticks for the high altar.
The chapel is open to the public for prayer services, and the monastery hosts retreats.
Sources
Society of St. John the Evangelist, http://www.ssje.org
Architectural Record, June 1941, pp 54-56.
Davis, Karen, “The Society of Saint John the Evangelist Monastery and Chapel, Architectural Tour,” May 10, 1998.
Chapel interior images courtesy of Lumen Studio Architectural Lighting Design, Lowell, Massachusetts, http://www.lumen-studio.net
Exterior images and stained glass window image, http://www.wikipedia.org
postcard from http://www.thecowleyproject.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/rediscovering-the-cowley-fathers
