The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-08-21

The massive structure on the COM
handing site on Brigham street has
been nine years in the course of con-
struction. Those whose generosity and
energy made this occasion possible have
looked forward to the day of it's dedi-
cation as the goal of their life work.
The Importance of the occasion may be
judged from the fact that the Roman
Catholic church sent from every part of
the United States scores of its leading
brought Cardinal Gibbons for the first
prelates. 1t was this occasion that
time in his life across the great divide,
coming to the west as the first Roman
Catholic cardinal ever to visit the west
ern part Of the United States.
New Era Is Marked.
A new era in religious worship of the
west is marked by this dedication.
A new chapter in the Roman Catholic
history of the world has been written.
The cathedral itself is a monument to
the progress of the west and of Amer
lea.
The profound dedication has awak-
ened in the Catholic breast a greater
religious fervor and formed an incentive
for even greater piety and devotion.
To the others whose privilege it was
10 WllIl6SS li1lS uiluSudl QlSDldy VI pOI1p
and ceremony the dedication was a SER
vice Of wonderful and awe-inspiring
grandeur. To them it gave a suggestion
of the Oldest, and in point of numbers,
at least, the greatest church in the
world. The profound alteration Of the
Lord by cardinal, archbishop. bishop,
priest and people in the glorious ce1e-
bration of the most solemn ceremony
in the Catholic ritual was a sight that
can never be forgotten.
Added to all this was the stately and
solemn procession of scores of prelates
in the rich robes of their priestly sta
ton, the marching of 200 little girls and
100 acolytes with crosses, censors and
beautiful vestments, in brilliant ensem-
BILE
McCauIey's Essay.
From the dedication of the cathedral
of ST. Mary MagdaIen some thought
of the Wonderful organization of the
Roman Catholic chuch may be cleaned;
some suggestion of the tie that binds
millions of souls together in their aim
to secure eternal salvation through the
devotion prescribed by the ceremonies
Of the Roman Catholic church Too, the
ceremony recalled the essay Of McCau-
ley. not always a friend Of Catholicism,
in which he said:
commencement of all the governments
and all the ecclesiastical establishments
that now exist in the world, and we feel
no assurance that she is not destined to
see the end Of them all. She was great
and respected before the Saxon set foot
on Great Britain; before the Frank had
passed the Rhine. when Grecian elo-
quence still fiourished at Antioch; when
idols were stillworshipped in the temple
Of Mecca, and she may still exist in un-
diminished vigor when some traveller
from New Zealand shall, in the midst of
a vast solitude take his sand on
broken arch of London bridge and
sketch the ruins Of st. Paurs."
The dedication of the cathedral of St
Mary Magdalen on yesterday may be
construed in a sense as a fulfllment of
the fanciful prophecy of McCauley's
lines When they were written the fu-
ture site of Salt Lake was as desolate
wilderness as even the pen of Nc
Cauley could picture. Yet even at that
time there was the evidence Of the Ro
man Catholic religion in the valley of
salt Lake along the missionary trail of
Father Escalante.
A prophecy by McCauley that some
day in the midst Of the wilderness of
the unknown region between the
Rockies and the Pacihc at the dedica-
ton Of a massive cathedral a prince of
the Church of Rome would pronounce
the blessing of the pope on thousands of
devout Roman Catholics would have
appeared Just as fanciful as the sug-
gestion that when London was will
derness the Catholic church would be
lust as powerful as in the centuries Of
the past.
Thousands Attend.
And vet on Aug: 10. 1909. the feast of
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. beneath the towers of the great
cathedral Of St Mary Magdalen, which
has risen ike magic from what few
decades ago was a vast solitude, nearly
z. 600 people bowed their heads as James
Cardinal Gibbons archbishop of Balu-
more, pronounced the pontifical blessing
of Plus X
The long dedicatory ceremony and the
pontifical high mass that followed II at
tracted thousands. Hundreds of those
who sought to attend the ceremony were |
unable to get in. so crowded was the |
great cathedral. Those who were turned
awav saw only the beginning Of the con-
secration Of the great temple, when the
procession of priests and children moved |
about the edifice, blessing the exterior
of the structure.
The ceremony began with the process
sion Of little girls marching from the
old cathedral to the new, Two hundred
pretty little girls. whose juvenile voices
gave utterance to hymns Of praise as
they marched, formed long process
sion reaching nearly from the old
church to the new. Each little girl was
dressed in white. with a white veil and /
a wreath Of daisies.
Held's band preceded the little chll-
dren as they marched. The olatant
notes of the band Instruments were
softened as they played "Adeste FL
deIis" by NoveIlo. and the March or
the Priests" from Alfalfa.
Just at the new cathedral. as the chill
aren marched around thu residence OF
Risho6 Laurence Scanlen, the bano
nfn-.nd n+ +l,a rrrrarat raniIeEt of BtshOp