A Lasting Offering: Elliot Carlson ’26 and the Altar That Endures

There’s something quietly revealing about the way a school gathers for Mass; what it places at the center, and how much care it gives to that space. At De La Salle, that center has been renewed in a lasting way, not by a distant benefactor or outside commission, but by the hands and vision of one of our own.

For the class of 2026, Elliot Carlson’s legacy will not be measured only in years or accolades, but in something more enduring: an altar.

The idea began simply, almost practically. During the 2023–2024 school year, Elliot was a student in Andrew Berkes’ Lasallian Leadership class, a course rooted in service, reflection, and attentiveness to community life. That year, Elliot spent countless hours helping set up for school liturgies: quiet, behind-the-scenes work that most never notice, but that shapes every Mass experience.

What he saw was not broken, but it wasn’t right either. The school’s existing altar was what Berkes describes as a “table altar,” functional, but makeshift. It came apart into three pieces, assembled before each Mass with wing-nuts, growing increasingly unstable over time. It served its purpose, but it did not reflect the significance of what took place upon it.

Elliot saw the same thing, but more plainly.

“The idea came as I was looking for Eagle projects, for Boy Scouts. I was looking for them, and I was taking Mr. Burke's seventh period, LaSallian leadership at the time, and the altar at the time was pretty crappy. So I decided to make a new one.” 

There is something honest in that explanation; direct, unpolished, and rooted in action. What began as an observation quickly became a responsibility.

What followed was months of planning, paperwork, and work, much of it unseen. Elliot carried the project from concept to completion through the end of the school year and into the summer of 2024, designing and constructing a permanent altar that would no longer need to be assembled and disassembled, but would instead stand as a constant.

It demanded more than intention. “It was a big project. I do feel joy. I'm very happy that I got that done and that it's gonna last for years to come and help the community. But I also feel relief, because I've been meaning to get this project done for a while, and it lasted the whole summer. I did a lot of traveling, but I did also spend over 100 hours just working on the altar.” 

The work itself was careful and deliberate, down to the materials chosen. The bottom is made out of red oak, and the top is made out of an acacia wood.

By August 2024, at the first all-school Mass of the year, the new altar was ready to be revealed.

The difference was immediately visible, but its deeper significance runs beyond appearance.

The new altar brings what Berkes calls a sense of “dignity” to De La Salle’s liturgies. Where the previous altar required cloths to conceal its wear, this one stands on its own, crafted with care, visually grounding the space, and elevating the experience of worship for the entire community.

But more importantly, it is now a true altar in the fullest sense of the Catholic tradition.

Elliot understood that dimension as well: “Father LaSalle had me sign the relic of the saint. We don't know which Saint it is, but it is required to make an altar, a genuine altar used in Mass.” 

Because the altar remains intact, it was able to receive relics of a saint, placed within during a solemn blessing at the Mass of the Holy Spirit by Fr. LaSalle. That moment, marked by prayer and intention, transformed the alter from a well-built piece of furniture into something sacred and enduring.

Yet even here, the story carries a quiet mystery.

When asked about the identity of the relic, Fr. LaSalle offered a thoughtful and humble reflection: “Unfortunately, I cannot answer this important question. We found the altar stone in our storage closet with the relic sepulchre intact. The stone was dated 1929, but beyond that I have no idea who is entombed in the stone or how that stone got to the Campus Ministry storage closet. However, when we blessed the altar we happily claimed it for our use and though we do not know the martyr's name or sex, we joyfully ask for their intercession whenever Mass is celebrated over their tomb.”

There is something fitting in that unknown. The altar, newly built by a student, now carries within it a relic from nearly a century ago, linking generations of faith in a way no one could have planned. Named or unnamed, known or hidden, the presence remains. And with it, a quiet invitation to reverence. From that point forward, every Mass celebrated at De La Salle has been offered on a consecrated altar.

The altar now moves where the community gathers—most often in the Hofmann Center, but at times into the theatre for liturgies held there. It travels carefully, intentionally, always for the same purpose.

And that is the point. It is not a multi-use piece. It is not a stage prop or a table. It exists for one reason alone: the celebration of Mass. In that way, it reflects something essential about both the school and the student who built it.

For years to come, long after the Class of 2026 has graduated, students will gather around that altar, perhaps without knowing who built it, or how it came to be. But they will experience its impact all the same.

And that, in the end, may be the truest measure of a legacy.

Blessing of our new Altar and the entombing within it of Holy Relics from 1927 at the Mass of the Holy Spirit on August 21, 2024

Blessed are you, O God, who accepted the sacrifice of your Christ offered on the altar of the Cross for the redemption of the Human Family, and who with a Father’s love, gather your people at the table of the Lord to celebrate His Memorial.  Therefore look, O Lord, upon this Altar so lovingly and beautifully crafted by our Spartan Brother Elliot ….. which has been prepared for the celebration of your mysteries.  As we entomb within this beautiful Altar the Holy Relics from 1927; may this Altar always the center of our praise and thanksgiving here at De La Salle High School; may it be the Altar where we offer in mystery the Sacrifice of Christ; may it be the table where we break the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Unity; may it be the fountain from which flows an unending stream of Salvation so that as we come to Christ, the living stone, we may grow in Him into a holy temple, and offer on the Altar of our hearts a life spent in holiness and brotherhood, pleasing and acceptable to the praise of your glory! Blessed be God forever, Amen!