Three rondels, designed by Eugene Nikitin of EverGreene Architectural Arts and painted by Sofi Stambolieva, have been added to the reredos, as well as Beuronese border designs. The columns supporting the pediment are of Beuronese design, modeled after the Egyptian altar pillars at the monastery church of St. Gabriel’s Convent in Prague, Czech Republic. The palm frond background behind the sedilia or presider’s bench is reminiscent of the Beuronese palm trees surrounding the images of the saints in the apse.

The addition of an aedicule (pediment with pillars) to the center section of the reredos recaptures the architectural lines of the baldachin of the original church of 1891. It also adds design variety to the otherwise flat surface of the top of the reredos and draws the eye upward to the saints and the Immaculate Conception mural. At the ends of the aedicule roof are small sculpted pieces called acroteria, architectural ornaments.

The rondel at the peak of the pediment is known as the Pax Inter Spinas or “Peace Among Thorns.” The word “peace” (or pax in Latin) is at the very core of monastic life. The search for God and for inner peace is achieved through obedience, the conversion of one’s life, the renunciation of self, perseverance in trials (hence the word pax is surrounded by a circle of thorns), and learning to live in harmony with the members of one’s community.

In speaking to those who wish to pursue monastic life, St. Benedict asks a question using a quotation from Psalm 34:13: “Who is it that desires life and longs to see prosperous days?” His answer? “Turn aside from evil and do good. Seek after peace, and pursue it” (Ps 34:15).

The pediment is decorated with two Beuronese-style angels posed in adoration, drawing the viewer’s eye toward the crucifix. These images were inspired by the angels which adorn the baldachin at the monastery of São Bento, São Paulo, Brazil.

Above the left doorway is the image of St. Gabriel, and above the right portal is the depiction of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary. These rondels are rendered slightly different from the other murals in the Basilica. The figures are in grayed, monochromatic colors, a painting technique known as grisaille. The rondels were modeled after paintings in the Beuronská kaple in Templice, Czech Republic.

“…the Spirit who molded a body for the Word in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Spirit who raised the body of Jesus from the dead—this same Spirit now fills the gifts that the Church brings for transformation
and makes them to be one same thing: the body formed from Mary’s body, the body raised from the dead, Christ’s body made present in the gifts the Church has brought” (Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, What Happens at Mass, p. 87).

Many Eastern Catholic and Orthodox iconostases have the Annunciation on doors into the sanctuary. It is a sign of the opening of the Christian Mystery. There is also the reality of Incarnation and Transubstantiation being connected: the same body born at Bethlehem, crucified and Risen, is what we receive in the Eucharist.

The crucifix is encircled by a background of deep red to allow the white gold of the corpus to clearly stand out. The Greek letters alpha and omega flank the cross recalling the biblical passage: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” Rv 21:6. The same symbols originally decorated the lower wall of the apse in 1893.

The General Instruction of the Lectionary for Mass describes the ambo as a place for the proclamation of the Word of God: “There must be a place in the church that is somewhat elevated, fixed, and of a suitable design and nobility. It should reflect the dignity of God’s word and be a clear reminder to the people that in the Mass, the table of God’s word and of Christ’s body is placed before them…Great pains must therefore be taken, in keeping with the design of each church, over the harmonious and close relationship of the ambo with the altar” (GIL 32).

In light of this instruction, a new marble ambo was designed for the basilica by Br. William Woeger, FSC, and Eugene Nikitin of EverGreene Architectural Arts, New York. It is made of the same Carrara marble as the altar and has been modeled after the design details of the altar to emphasize the close relationship between these liturgical furnishings. It was fabricated by J. C. Stone Experts of Houston, Texas.