St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul, Minnesota

We went to mass at St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday 8/9/09. There were more frills than we are used to at Holy Cross - an impressive pipe organ and incense too! After mass we walked around a bit. We found the statues of the 4 evangelists in niches in the piers of the crossing of the church, under the dome. St. Mark is represented by the lion, Luke the ox, John the eagle and Matthew the angel.

Behind the altar were the chapels of the nations, representing the different nationalities of people who helped build the church. There were bronze screens that separated this area (the ambulatory) from the sanctuary (where the altar was). The bronze screens had angels and saints set into them as well as scenes from the life of St. Paul. Magnificent!

We walked around to a side chapel dedicated to St. Peter. (We found a key in his hand.) While we were talking to the kids about it, a parishioner approached us. He pointed out the Latin inscription carved in the frieze of the chapel. He told Paul and Elizabeth that this was the same inscription that is in St. Pater's Basilica in Rome, only in St. Peter's the letters are 6 feet tall! He was astonished when we told him we were heading for Rome in a few weeks!

Mike, the parishioner, introduced himself and then showed us something else unique about the cathedral. He explained that the architect was Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, a Frenchman. Mike took us back to the chapel of St. Therese of Lisieux and showed us a stone that Masqueray had sent away for and placed in the wall of this chapel. It was a stone from the cell where Joan of Arc was imprisoned before she was killed. Wow! I guess the kids and I need to do a little research on Joan of Arc now!

We also chatted with a nun from the Little Sisters of the Poor. (There was a second collection during mass.) Their founder, Blessed Jeanne Jugan, will be canonized (become an official saint) on October 11, 2009 in St. Peter's in Rome! Maybe we can go! How many connections we made that morning!