By JP Misheff, September 30, 2025
Last night, during Solemn Vespers in the chapel of St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, as the congregation’s voices rose in the Magnificat, a radiant shaft of light streamed down through the rose window, piercing through a great cloud of incense and bathing the altar at the easternmost end of the nave in heavenly brilliance. I wish I were exaggerating but this is precisely what happened — and happens every year in this space — by design.
The Romanesque-style chapel (along with a sprawling campus including a monastery, convent, administration building, etc.) was only recently finished in 2021, and beyond the chapel being an awe-inspiring monument to God’s supreme might and glory, complete with soaring radiused ceilings and a 108-foot bell tower, it is also a testament to the resurgence and renewal of the Norbertine order here in America.
Human design, when done in reverent alignment with God’s unfolding creation, enters into the ingenious. Think of Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, or the Egyptian pyramids —ancient marvels that continue to boggle minds. Now, this isn’t to suggest that a modest chapel in Southern California belongs in the same league. But everything about this service, complete with chanting accompanied by some of the most bombastic, wall-shaking organ playing imaginable, moved this writer very deeply last night — and I was only watching online!
Making the decision, in these fast and furious days, to orient an entire structure around a celestial event that occurs just once a year, and only for a few moments, is truly remarkable. It also offers, at least to this writer, a quiet hope: that even in this mad, irreverent age, a respectful nod to the past is still something worth investing in.
Silverado is no stranger to cloudless days, especially in late September, so one can more or less be assured the spectacle will go off without a hitch. Last night was no exception. One can catch a recording of it here. (Stay tuned for the recessional (an event in and of itself!) and a beautiful concert of baroque music performed by Musica Transalpina.)
This annual event certainly takes the art of liturgical setting to peak levels. The very fact that the solar event occurs while the congregation is singing the Magnificat, brings chills to this readers’ spine. One imagines Mary looking down and smiling as wide as the universe is long.
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We’re curious: what’s the most powerful moment you’ve experienced during a liturgical celebration—whether through music, architecture, or ritual? Let us know in the comments — scroll down below!
Below photo of the rose window courtesy of Grant Voss, at last night’s attendance. All other photos are screenshots from St Michael’s Abbey livestream.
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