Liturgical Design and Consulting Files, Ade Bethune Papers

Ade Bethune was born in Brussels, Belgium on January 12, 1914 and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1928. Raised by progressive Catholic parents, even at a young age Bethune had a strong interest in Catholicism, liturgical art and the Progressive movement. She attended Cathedral High School in New York and later, the National Academy of Design and Cooper Union.

Her early years as a young artist in New York were spent with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, and her designs of Biblical scenes and common, working class individuals were often published in the Catholic Worker. This early work helped lead to her first church commission in 1935, for St. Paulinus Church in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Her first work consisted of three crucifixes to be placed within this new church. This work expanded to include churches throughout New England and the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Philippines.

A strong proponent of Vatican II and its architectural and procedural changes within the Catholic Church, Bethune worked to design and renovate churches to meet these new, open guidelines. Her liturgical design work encompassed a wide variety of mediums, including stained glass; woodcarving; painted murals; mosaics; vestments, banners, and other textiles; and metal and pottery chalices. She incorporated her artistic designs into all aspects of church liturgy and architecture, ranging from a simple banner to the design of the building itself. Her work was not limited to artistic design; she also worked as a liturgical consultant for other church architects.

In particular, Bethune worked with several churches quite intensively throughout the years. In some cases, she designed entire churches, including St. Leo’s Church in St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1960s; St. Michael’s Church in Troy, New York in 1981; and St. Lucy’s Church in Middletown, Rhode Island in 1986. In her later years, Bethune concentrated more heavily on liturgical design, but she remained active up through 1999 when she created designs for Our Lady of Peace Church in North Augusta, South Carolina. Her work as a liturgical artist and consultant spanned several decades and influenced many others to incorporate her ideas into church architecture.

Bethune died in her long time home of Newport, Rhode Island on May 1, 2002.