Belmont Abbey College Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Mary Help of Christians Abbey Basilica === {{Main|Belmont Abbey, North Carolina}} [[Image:BelmontAbbeyGrotto.JPG|thumb|right|The Lourdes Grotto]] The Abbey Church, the most prominent building on the college's campus, was completed in 1894 under the supervision of Abbot Leo Haid. Drexel made significant donations to the completion of the structure, which served as North Carolina's first and only [[cathedral]] prior to the erection of the [[Diocese of Raleigh]] in 1924. The church is constructed in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|gothic-revival style]] out of brick and granite, built in the shape of a [[Cruciform|Latin cross]]. The towers of the church, named Ora (the taller) and Labora (the smaller), can be seen from most of the college campus. The taller of the two towers holds bells which ring to signal the celebration of the [[Eucharist]] and the [[Liturgy of the Hours]]. The monastic community continues to hold daily services which are open to the student body and the public. Following the [[Second Vatican Council]], the interior of the Abbey Church was renovated in a [[mid-century modern|modernist]] style in order to facilitate the liturgical reforms of the era. In 1975, Belmont Abbey lost its territorial status and cathedral rank to the newly created [[Diocese of Charlotte]]. In 1998 [[Pope John Paul II]] named the Abbey Church a [[minor basilica]] in recognition of the historic and aesthetic significance of the structure.<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|diocese|db006|Territorial Abbey of Belmont-Mary Help of Christians|21 January 2015}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page