St. Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee "exquisite tribute to the divine"

What is holy is perhaps, by its very nature, ineffable.

Still, we try.

We compose music. Create paintings. Carve statues. Write poems.

We build sacred places and fill them with sacred things, trying to make firm what many believe is impossible to touch. The effort is very human, sure to fall short, and the best attempts are therefore all the more exquisite.

Milwaukee is dotted with such places. Some are right there, out in the open - Calatrava's brise soleil, for instance.

Others are all but hidden. Among the all but hidden, none is more extraordinary than the School Sisters of St. Francis' 95-year-old St. Joseph Chapel.

Given its dimensions - a cruciform 200 feet long, 90 feet wide, with a dome that reaches 70 feet above the sanctuary floor - its very location is unlikely.

Come through the St. Joseph Center's nondescript entry in the 1500 block of S. Layton Blvd., sign in at the front desk and follow directions to the second floor. Look for the room with a cathedral in it.

continue at MkeJS