A new St Blasius chapel was consecrated in Tisovac near Staro Petrovo Selo following a three-year construction project initiated by a number of local Tisovac residents gathered under the umbrella of the Sveti Blaž association, and by the family of Antun and Mirjana Valčić of Switzerland.
A new St Blasius chapel was consecrated in northeastern Croatia, in the small Slavonia region village of Tisovac near Staro Petrovo Selo, on the 4th of July. The consecration followed a three-year construction project initiated by a number of local Tisovac residents gathered under the umbrella of the Sveti Blaž (“St Blasius”) association, and the family of Antun and Mirjana Valčić of Switzerland. The bulk of the funds for the erection of the chapel were gathered at fundraisers in Switzerland organised, with the help of the members of the TS Alkari and the Sveti Blaž associations, by Antun Valčić, who also donated the land on which the chapel sits. Antun Prpić, the parish priest at the time, consecrated the foundation stone back in May of 2017. The chapel features an elliptical layout with a one hundred square metre footprint, a sacristy, and fifteen-metre-tall belfry. The general contractor awarded the job was the Vodoprivreda-Nova Gradiška d.d. company. Also taking part in the construction work were local tradesmen in the Nova Gradiška area and, in some of the construction phases, the residents of Tisovac. The landscaping work, besides the efforts of a number of individuals that generously donated their time and effort, also saw a significant contribution from Hrvatske Vode, the national waterworks authority, which cleaned up the channel of a nearby creek, and the Municipality of Staro Petrovo Selo, which financed the building of a bridge. The chapel was designed by architect Robert Klobučar and engineers Ivan Rašić and Ante Dukić.
Also taking part in the consecration of the chapel and the festivity were benefactors and friends from Switzerland. The event opened with a patriotic melody performed by the town band of Nova Gradiška. The bishop and other guests were greeted in front of the church with a song performed by the Drežnik Culture and Arts Association. Dražen Mikojević, the secretary of the Sveti Blaž association welcomed the bishop on behalf of the hosting organisation. He was followed by greetings from parish priest Nikolić, and by the designer of the church architect Robert Klobučar who spoke about the church building. The Catholic mass was led by Antun Škvorčević, the Požega bishop. He thanked the Valčić family, the former and current parish priest, and all the residents of Tisovac, and recalled the late former president of the Sveti Blaž association Slavko Mulac.
The bishop consecrated the building and celebrated the mass, joined in concelebration by Antun Prpić, archdeacon of the Posavina archdeaconate of the Požega diocese and former parish priest in Staro Petrovo Selo, Ivan Popić, the chancellor of the bishop’s ordinariate, Goran Mitrović, the dean of the Nova Kapela deanery, the local parish priest Ivan Nikolić, and a number of other priests from this deanery. Music was provided by the church choir of the St Anthony of Padua parish of Staro Petrovo Selo.
The consecration was followed by a group singing of the national anthem and the hymn Zdravo Djevo, which celebrates Mary, the mother of Jesus, as “queen of the Croats”. The festivity continued with a lavish Slavonian style luncheon, songs, socialising and meetings with the residents.
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