I headed over to what I presumed was the cathedral. It turns out the this diocese has two cathedrals. This one, which is the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.
The copper-clad dome 76 feet in diameter and 186 feet high. It is the third largest completed church in the United States, as well as the fourth tallest, at least according to my preferred source. I guess my preferred source wasn’t considering mega-churches.
It was, however, the tallest building in St. Paul from when it opened in 1915 until 1931, when the First National Bank Building opened.
The Beaux-Arts era was definitely over when they designed this building. I include this picture of the First National Bank Building merely for reference. I was curious about the building that unseated the Cathedral as the Tallest Building in Saint Paul list and I had to look.
There was a parking lot nearby, and there was plenty of room for Bart on this weekday afternoon.
I walked past what I presumed were chapels off the apse.
I entered through the front doors into the Cathedral, which became the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul in 2009.
It looked like people were waiting to go to confession, which is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic church. I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible as I took in the beauty of the building.
I came up on this statue of Mary. She is wearing a crown in this statue as recognition of one of her epithets, “Queen of Heaven.” (I love it when I learn a new word – or at least a new use of the word.
The life of St. Paul is commemorated in the baldachin over the altar. In case you didn’t know, a baldachin is a structure over high altars in cathedrals. Its more proper name is a ciborium, when it is architectural rather than a cloth canopy. I guess they like the idea of recalling the “good old days” when they actually used cloth canopies. Could it be that it is related to the chuppah that they use in Jewish wedding ceremonies?
Again, thanks to Sister Jeanne for all the art history lessons. Sure, I looked things up just to verify that I was remembering correctly, but my last art history course was in 1977. Wow! 41 years ago!
The dome of the cathedral is over the crossing, in front of the altar.. According to my preferred source, warm-colored paint and gold leaf were added during a major renovation of the dome in the 1950s.
The windows were rather magnificent. The light conditions made it hard to get good photos, but they were quite lovely. If you like stained glass windows, it would be worth a trip.
There was this small sign directing us to the Shrines of the Nations. I have no photos of these chapels, but the cathedral has six chapels dedicated to the parton saints of European ethnic groups that settled the area around the city: St. Anthony for the Italians, St. John the Baptist for the French Canadians, St. Patrick for the Irish, St. Boniface for the Germans, and Saints Cyril and Methods for the Slavs. There are also chapels dedicated to the Sacred Heart, to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to St. Joseph, to St. Peter as well as St. Therese of Lisieux for the missionaries.
I spent a few minutes admiring the cathedral’s copy of Michelangelo’s Pietà. The original is in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. I remember the first time I saw it back in 1976. I stood there with my mouth hanging open for the longest time. It was breath taking. This one was nice, but it was much smaller than the original, which was 68.5 in × 76.8 in.
There were lovely details to be found.
As I walked around, I noticed this banner that directed people to their Giving Kiosk.
They make giving easy. I know I do most of my transactions electronically these days.
I was about to leave when I noticed a sign that directed us to the lower level for more information. There was even an elevator! How could I turn that down?
There was a drawing of the first church in what became the Diocese of St. Paul. It was built in 1841 and became the cathedral when Joseph Crétin was appointed as bishop of the newly established diocese in 1851. While this bears little resemblance to what we think of as a cathedral these days, a cathedral is the principal church of a diocese that contains the bishop’s seat, which is called a cathedra.
Bishop Crétin started immediately to build a larger church to serve the fast-growing population of St. Paul. The school was on the first floor, the church was on the second and the offices and living quarters for the bishop and his staff on the third floor.
The second building was still too small for the needs of the diocese, so the bishop began plans for a third cathedral. It was started in 1853 and completed in 1858. Its construction was delayed by the Panic of 1857 and Bishop Crétin’s death.
Incidentally, the Panic of 1857 was the first worldwide economic crisis and it started in Britain. In the United States, it was caused by the declining international economy and the over-expansion of the domestic economy. It was a fairly short-lived financial downturn. However, a proper recovery from the downturn didn’t happen until the Civil War in 1861. The banks didn’t recover until after the Civil War.
The Panic of 1857 is significant regarding the third cathedral for two reasons. The first reason is that it delayed its construction. The second reason that the cathedral had practically no ornamentation in an effort to cut costs.
I would be remiss in my report if I didn’t include the last thing I saw in the display.
There was also a nifty model of the fourth cathedral made of Legos.
And with that it was about time for me to head out.
I drove around a bit. While stopped at an intersection, I spied this billboard for South Dakota. Too late! I’ve already done that state.
I was rather thrilled to see the Fitzgerald Theater. That was the home theater for A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor from 1974 until 2016.
With that I was ready for dinner. I headed out to Mall of America.
Really, malls aren’t my thing, and ENORMOUS malls are even less appealing, but I figured it was one of those “while I’m in the area” places. Besides, I was hungry, and I figured that they had to have restaurants.
I parked and took this picture to help me find my car again. This is one place I didn’t want to have to wander around aimlessly when it was time to leave.
I wandered around for a bit, just looking at what there was to see. In addition to the usual assortment of stores, there was an amusement park.
I stood and looked for a while, but I didn’t find anything tempting enough to make me get any closer. Besides, I was getting hungry.
I found a kiosk that I could use to select a restaurant and then help me plan how to get there.
I chose Cadillac Ranch, not because I knew anything about the food, but because I had visited Cadillac Ranch when I visited Amarillo, Texas.
I had asked people what I should eat while I was in the area. They recommended a Juicy Lucy.
It was quite the burger.
Actually, it was kind of like a double cheeseburger with the cheese on the inside. I managed to eat my dinner. Sufficiently nourished, I head back to find Bart on the P2 floor of Georgia.
On the way out, I spied this gelato shop.
Actually, what caught my attention was the chandelier made of gelato spoons.
And with that, I called it a night.
