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Community Corner

Day Tripper: St. Anthony's Chapel

More than 5,000 first-class relics are at the North Side chapel.

One of Pittsburgh’s biggest treasures is fairly unknown.

It's more of a treasure chest with thousands of valuables.

St. Anthony’s Chapel on Troy Hill on the north side of Pittsburgh is filled with more than 5,000 religious first-class relics. That's more than any private collection in the world except the Vatican.

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Sister Margaret Liam Glenane, assistant director at St. Anthony's, is a wealth of information about the small chapel. The Rev. Suitbert G. Mollinger of Belgium founded the chapel, she said.

“He studied medicine before he was called to be a priest and was asked to come to the United States," she said. "He served in Erie, Latrobe, Brookville, and Wexford. He came to St. Anthony’s on July 4, 1868.”

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Glenane said Mollinger personally funded the building of the chapel in 1880 to honor St. Anthony and to house the priest's collection of religious relics.

“When there was the turmoil in Italy and Germany, Father Mollinger had agents and friends collect the relics for him,” Glenane said.  

The chapel was dedicated on June 13, 1883, during the Feast of St. Anthony. Thousands of people came to see the chapel and to have Mollinger bless them with the relic of Saint Anthony, Glenane said.

“He was a great healing person," she said. "They came from all over, and many were completely cured. He had great love and was very compassionate. He also had a great devotion to St. Anthony.”

There are three levels of relics, Glenane said.

“First-class relics are the bones of the person," she said. "A second-class relic is something that was owned or worn by the person, and a third-class relic is one that was touched by the first-class relic.”

The relics are documented to verify their authenticity. There are reliquaries, containers where relics are stored, throughout the chapel.

Perhaps the most amazing relics are a splinter believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified and a thorn from the Crown of Thorns.

“There is also life-size Stations of the Cross,” Glenane said of the newer section of the chapel.

Mollinger obtained the stations while visiting Europe, Glenane said. He used more than $300,000 of his own money to build an addition to the chapel.

On June 13, 1892, the addition was dedicated during the Feast of Saint Anthony. Mollinger collapsed that day and died two days later.

Mollinger died without a legal will. Glenane said the Diocese of Pittsburgh had to negotiate with relatives to keep the relics and the chapel.

“His relatives took many of the relics and the candles," she said. "People were obviously worried that it would be ruined.”

Fortunately, the diocese was able to purchase the chapel. The local families of Troy Hill raised the money to repay the bishop for the sale.

Things weren’t easy for the little chapel, though. Due to insufficient funds, it deteriorated. It wasn’t until 1972 that a fund was created to restore the chapel. Renovations were complete in 1977, and the chapel was reopened in the 1980s.

Glenane, who came to St. Anthony’s in 1991, said the chapel is one-of-a-kind.

“You just can’t describe this to anyone," she said. "It is so very beautiful.”

The chapel has guided tours from 1 to 4 p.m. every day except Friday. There also are special tours available by request. 

Suggested admission to the chapel is $3. There also is a gift shop. For group tours or more information, call the chapel office at 412-323-9504.

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