A Pauline Pilgrmage

Posted on 14 March 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Where better in N. America to make a Pauline Year pilgrimage than the Cathedral of St Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota?

One of the great cathedral churches of the continent.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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32 Responses to A Pauline Pilgrmage

  1. Anthony says:
    14 March 2009 at 11:33 am

    I just served a confirmation liturgy there.

  2. James Garrison says:
    14 March 2009 at 12:13 pm

    I haven’t been there since my own confirmation. I remember it being a beautiful church inside, but I didn’t know all the visual cues to look for, like I do now. Last I heard, a bishop comes down to our home parish for confirmations, and the kids don’t even get the chance to visit.

    I think that taking the trek up to the cathedral to seek confirmation is a sign wrought with meaning that should be retained.

  3. Matthew says:
    14 March 2009 at 12:39 pm

    Wow! If you didn’t tell me that was Minnesota, I would have to think that it’s somewhere in Rome! What a beautiful church!

  4. Thomasso says:
    14 March 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Nice to see the old high altar still in place. It looks a beautiful Cathedral. I may have the opportunity to visit the twin cities later this year, so will make a point of looking out for the cathedral.

  5. TJM says:
    14 March 2009 at 1:13 pm

    Absolutely magnificent Church. Is the EF or OF in Latin ever celebrated there? Tom

  6. ED says:
    14 March 2009 at 1:51 pm

    The Salvation of Souls is the Zeal that is needed , it is more important than your mass (Novus Ordo or Gregorian) Church Architecture , Church Music etc etc etc …….

  7. DGS says:
    14 March 2009 at 1:54 pm

    What a beautiful sanctuary. What’s that old table doing in the middle of it – completely ruins the architectural lines.

  8. Christopher Joseph says:
    14 March 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Magnificent. Beautiful.

    But nowhere near the majesty and splendor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California. That is, once they finish it.

  9. JMM says:
    14 March 2009 at 2:45 pm

    It’s definitely a BEAUTIFUL Cathedral. I go to confession there once in a while.

  10. TJM says:
    14 March 2009 at 3:49 pm

    The LA Cathedral gives new meaning to the term “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Tom

  11. Collegeville reject says:
    14 March 2009 at 4:09 pm

    “But nowhere near the majesty and splendor of the COLA in LA, That is, once they finish it.”

    Are you talking about the one Mahoney built? Cause that’s just the building where they keep the pews. I don’t think the church has been built yet!

  12. Sandy says:
    14 March 2009 at 4:25 pm

    The photos are a feast for the eyes! Oh, you who have these churches, appreciate them! I feel sorry for those who don’t understand that this beauty lifts the soul to God.

  13. TJM says:
    14 March 2009 at 4:42 pm

    Sandy, you are so right. These Churches evoke a foretaste of Heaven. Tom

  14. Tzard says:
    14 March 2009 at 4:58 pm

    My family and I had the opportunity to visit it last June just before the Pauline year. Truly a wonder.

  15. Paula in MN says:
    14 March 2009 at 6:26 pm

    I love our Cathedral!

  16. RichR says:
    14 March 2009 at 6:40 pm

    I flew up from Texas to be in a wedding at that Cathedral. A real Maestro played for the wedding, and I can tell you the acoustics there are well-suited for such a grand pipe organ. You truly feel as though you have temporarily slipped to the other side of the veil. It’s Heavenly.

  17. supertradmom says:
    14 March 2009 at 6:48 pm

    I was a bridesmaid in a wedding there. Walking down the aisle, (and I was the first to go down the aisle), was truly an awesome experience. A friend of mine who has converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism, invited her entire big, Greek family. It was an RC version of a “big, fat, Greek wedding” and what a fantastic venue. The Cathedral is truly a place of worship.

  18. DeborahAnne says:
    14 March 2009 at 7:29 pm

    Ethereal and resplendent! Would be so wonderful to someday visit. Thank you for sharing

  19. Kathryn says:
    14 March 2009 at 7:31 pm

    Dear Father Z,

    Just twenty years ago my dear hubby and I were married there. Monsignor Hayden officated. I grew up running around the place due to the fact that my Mum was a teacher in the Cathedral school. Ah, I have fond memories of the place. While in college I wrote about the Cathedral and received a good grade for my efforts. It is a glorious place and has an excellent man at helm right now.

    Pax,
    Mrs. B

  20. r7blue1pink says:
    14 March 2009 at 8:30 pm

    This is the ONLY place in Mpls/stPaul that we would go to Mass. 1990-1992 when we were stationed there with MWSS-271

  21. ssoldie says:
    14 March 2009 at 10:32 pm

    You know when it comes to the St.Paul Cathedral and the Yellow Armadillo you could clasify them as ‘ Beauty and/or the Beast’?

  22. Sarah says:
    15 March 2009 at 12:32 am

    I love our cathedral! Even when I was little it always made an impression on me, even if we were just driving by it. I knew there was something big and important and beautiful that this building was pointing toward.

  23. Immaculatae says:
    15 March 2009 at 11:20 am

    Wow. That is beautiful. Has anyone ever seen the Cathedral of St. Petersburg? no comparison…

  24. Roxanne says:
    15 March 2009 at 12:06 pm

    Glad to hear there is a good man at the helm, we may be visiting MN/STP this summer for a soccer tournament and will now deifinitely go to mass here. Thanks Fr. Z for the photos!

  25. joebe says:
    15 March 2009 at 8:07 pm

    Hey, what happened to the communion rail? I’ll bet it was a beauty.

  26. MB says:
    15 March 2009 at 8:59 pm

    Fr. Keith Streifel (now serving somewhere in ND, I believe) once told me that the Cathedral is higher than the capitol building *by the cross.* Pret-ty good trick, that!

    The Cathedral of St. Paul truly is magnificent: not only beautiful, but full of architectural gems that symbolise the multi-faceted truths of the Faith. (For how to ‘read’ a cathedral, see Fr. Robert Barron’s “Heaven in Stone and Glass,” http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=2855156 &matches=28&author=Barron%2C+Robert%2C+Rev. &browse=1&cm_sp=works*listing*title . )

    Fr. Z, you got a gorgeous shot of the statue/rose window/painting of the Crucifixion. I thought I’d stood in most of the ‘view-is-best-here’ spots in the Cathedral, but that’s one I missed!

    Thanks for the pictures.

  27. Mitchell Hadley says:
    15 March 2009 at 9:20 pm

    Joebe – the communion rail is still in place. I believe the first picture is taken from there, so it does not show up in the frame.

  28. Gerriet Suiter says:
    16 March 2009 at 4:07 am

    We are actually twice blessed here in the Twin Cities. The very same architect was also commissioned for the Basilica in Minneapolis. I think the Cathedral is the more impressive of the two, but both are striking and beautiful.

    http://www.mary.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=43

  29. Mattk says:
    16 March 2009 at 10:19 am

    On the todo list for Easter season.

  30. Mattk says:
    16 March 2009 at 10:21 am

    IMO, the Basilica is not in the same league as the Cathedral.

  31. irishgirl says:
    16 March 2009 at 10:32 am

    Beautiful pictures-thanks for showing these to us, Fr. Z!

    I think I have a CD of their choir-the cover shows a closeup of the sanctuary dome.

  32. joebe says:
    16 March 2009 at 10:00 pm

    Thanks, Mitchell, for the communion rail clarification. I will sleep better knowing it is there.