Right up there with
castles and countryside, cathedrals are what everybody expects to see when they
visit Europe. Chartres, Canterbury, Cologne – nobody
would dream of skipping these monumental edifices if they passed within fifty
miles. People who do not otherwise darken the door
of a church in the course of their year, or even their lives, are all
excited to tour the great cathedrals.
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| One of the stained glass windows for which Chartres Cathedral is famous. |
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| The interior of Canterbury Cathedral. |
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| The Cathedral of Cologne. |
This is a worthy activity,
and I would never try to discourage anyone from it. We Catholics should eagerly engage in it,
since we are truly “at home” in any Catholic church around the world, grand or
grungy. We are more likely to understand
elements of the cathedrals, and recognize artistic depictions for their true
purpose, since we have similar elements in our own church and use them all the
time.
I have always been a
bit defensive about our cathedral, since it is not very large and most people
think of some other building in DC when they hear that word. Besides the awesome significance of being
where I was ordained a priest, Saint Matthew’s Cathedral boasts a truly
beautiful interior hidden behind its mundane façade. Our Religious Ed families so enjoyed their
pilgrimage there two year ago, that they are making another one soon this year.
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| The interior of Washington's Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle |
Last week, I went to
visit my friend Msgr. David Brockman at his parish in Wake Forest, North
Carolina (the town, not the university).
He gave me the grand tour of the new cathedral of the Diocese of
Raleigh, apparently the third largest in the US, and the first new cathedral
built east of the Mississippi in over a century. (Knoxville now has one under construction too).
Having heard about it from him when his
bishop was first set on building it, I followed through him the planning and
design, the fund raising and the permitting, and the construction and
consecration, in all of which he played a large part.
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| Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh, North Carolina |
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| The interior of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral |
Let me tell you, the
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh is worth a visit if you are passing
within a hundred miles of it, perhaps on your way to the beach, or even a
special trip. It makes you proud to be
Catholic, and relieved, even exuberant to know that they can still build
beautiful churches. It is already packed
with parishioners, and was filled to overflowing for its first Christmas. The
city of Raleigh, where Catholics have traditionally been in a small minority,
is thrilled to have it soaring up at the edge of town.
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| The baldacchino and interior the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican. |
We know that a true
cathedral is not just any big church, but is the seat of the bishop of the
local church, the diocese. People who
think they have found a cathedral in the Vatican are mistaken, since the great
Saint Peter’s is not that but rather a basilica. We have one of those too, right down the way:
the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Even if you know it well, it too now merits
another trip since the magnificent Trinity Dome mosaic was completed last
month. You will stop and stare.
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| The newly completed mosaic of the Trinity Dome at our Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. |
There is yet another
basilica in town – Old Town Alexandria, to be precise. Saint Mary’s Church there, not large, and
only beautiful in comparison to its neighboring churches on that side of the
river, is rich in historical significance, and was given the Papal honor of
Basilica just this month. It connects
with my family history too: my maternal great-grandmother, Kathryn Risacher, was
housekeeper there in the middle of the last century.
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| The newly-designated Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria, Virginia. |
At all these places,
tourists will gape and passersby will gawk, but you and I are at home there as
if in our own parish. That should be
more reason, not less, for us to pay a visit, to take a tour, to say a prayer
and light a candle, and especially to attend a Mass. Bring the family, and a friend, not as
tourists, but as pilgrims. For these
monumental churches do not require a journey to Europe, but rather point the way on our journey to heaven.
Monsignor Smith
