Small Pennsylvania chapel known for collection of Columbus artifacts

Published: 2003-10-09

BOALSBURG, Pa. (CNS) -- Each year on Columbus Day a contingent of Knights of Columbus, some wearing their plumed hats and capes, gathers for Mass at a chapel in central Pennsylvania that its caretaker says houses the most important collection of artifacts associated with Christopher Columbus in North America. The Columbus Chapel sits on the grounds of the Boal Mansion Museum in Boalsburg, which is in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Inside are artifacts such as an admiral's desk believed to have been owned by the explorer; European oil paintings and statues from the 14th through 17th centuries; 165,000 pages of Columbus family documents, some dating back to the 1450s; and two pieces of the true cross given to the Columbus family in 1817 by the bishop of Leon, Spain. This year on Columbus Day, observed Oct. 13, Mass was to be celebrated by Msgr. David Lockard, administrator of Our Lady of Victory Parish in State College.

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