There are still few news on the progress of the restoration procedures inside the St. Augustine church. But what we are happy to inform is that the parishes of Utrecht are going to setup a temporary Mary chappel, inside the church. We can’t at this moment use the usual Mary chappel. This one is closed because it’s space is being used as a storage space for organ material. After the interior of the church is ready to use the pipes of the organ can be put back into the organ closet.
But in the meantime the parish of Utrecht will setup a temporary Mary chappel in the space behind the Porta Sancta, the Holy Door. This door gave access to the church during the Holy Year. The church had to be closed in September 2016, because a rosette fell of the ceiling and the stability of the whole building caused concerns. Now we have the opportunity once again to access the Mary chapel, through the Holy Door, while we wait for the moment when our community can once again make use of our trusted St. Augustine church.
The space behind the Holy Door is now available. The parish has however still to clean up the space, specially the floor. This space will be temporarily setup. An image of the mother of God will be hanged up. Folding chairs will be placed and there will be oportunity to light up candles. The municipality of Utrecht gave permission to use this space, and there is no danger of fire.
For the cleanup and setup of the space we have a couple of volunteers needed. Bouwien Vermulst will coordinate the cleanup and the setup will be led by Albert Smit. In the chappel will be hanged an image of Our Lady of the Good Advice. This icon was brought to the St. Augustine church from Genazzano, nearby Rome. This image was specially chosen because we are in need of the good advice of Mary to help us speed up our come back to the St. Augustine church.
Whenever the space is setup, Fr. Boogers will be asked to inaugurate the temporary Mary chappel. We will inform when that happens.
If you are interested in helping, as volunteer, please contact the secretariat of the parishes of Utrecht: tel. 030-254 61 47 or send an email to secretariaat@katholiekutrecht.nl