traditional semi-circular shape around the main altar, which also served to invite the congregation closer. The church was designed so that even with a capacity of over 2000, the entire community was able to feel like they were intimately involved in the liturgy. Perhaps the most striking part of the design was the facade and bell tower, which itself was shaped like a large bell and sat suspended over the main entrance of the church. The "banner" rises 112 vertical feet in front of the church and houses the 5 bells which sound the hours and call the monastic and university communities to prayer. The north facade of the building is the largest wall of stained glass in the world and contains 430 colorful hexagons of abstract design. Construction of the church began on May 19, 1958, and lasted until August 24, 1961. The church was consecrated in the fall of 1961 and serves to this day as the principal liturgical space of both the monastic community and the university. The monastic community gathers for Morning Prayer, Midday Prayer, Mass, and Evening Prayer every weekday and except for rare occasions these liturgies are open to the public. On the weekends there is not public Midday Prayer. All liturgical events in the Abbey Church are livestreamed on the Abbey website. Grounds In addition to the preparatory school, the abbey also established Saint John's University, which was connected to the abbey itself by "Quadrangle", at the time the largest building west of the Mississippi River dedicated to education. The abbey also operates the Liturgical Press, one of the foremost liturgical publishing houses in the United States. Also located on the grounds of the abbey are the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, the Episcopal House of Prayer (Diocese of Minnesota), the original Minnesota Public Radio studio, and the Saint John the Baptist Parish Center. The grounds of the abbey comprise lakes, prairie, and hardwoods on rolling glacial moraine, and have been designated the Saint John's Arboretum. The abbey is the location of a number of structures designed by the modernist Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer. The Abbey Church, with its banner bell tower, is one of his best-known works. The upper church houses the newly expanded Holtkamp Pasi organ with over 6,000 pipes. In its undercroft is a chapel that contains the relics of Saint Peregrine. A historic district of 17 buildings