Upper Church Tympanum

Upper Church

Over each main entrance door, three to the upper church and one to the lower church, is a tympanum (plural, tympana). These are sculpted in low relief, ceramic stoneware, painted with glazes and underglazes. The four tympana contain over 200 individually carved and glazed pieces.

To the right and left of Mercy Seat are tympana with The Woman Taken in Adultery and The Return of the Prodigal Son.

The Mercy Seat of Christ

Built and dedicated in the Jubilee Year Of Mercy, Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church takes the theme of mercy for the three tympana over the doors to the upper Church. The Mercy Seat (or kaporet) was part of the gold cover placed on the Ark of the Covenant. It is the space between the two cherubim where Yahweh was to appear. Christ invites His Church (symbolized by the pomegranate) “to approach with confidence that we may find Mercy”.