The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-07-22
"THE BUILDER" OF LONDON, ENG
LAND, WRITES OF OUR CATHE-
DRALS AND OF THEIR
ARCHITECT.

Pro- Cathedral of Minneapolis. We at
home, it would appear, are too apt to
believe that what is near cannot be of
supereminent value and beauty, and
while we are pleased with what is
ours we are timid lest We burst forth
into over-rapturous and exaggerated
applause, and SO we speak our pleas
ure in discreetly mild and subdued
language. Those farther away Judge
things purely on merit without the
fears that narrow localism inspires;
they need to be heard if we are to
know the treasures that we possess,
the wonders that grace the banks of
our own Mississippi, that proud capi-
tails would fain claim as the adorn-
ments of their grandiose avenues and
plazas. We have to learn from writ
ers and architects far removed from
us to prize our noble Cathedrals, if we
mean to bestow upon them the full
need of praise that justice bids us
accord.
Sometime ago we quoted eulogies
of our Cathedrals from "The American
Architect" of New York, the foremost
of journals of architecture in Amer
lea: today we listen to great repre-
sentative of art and architecture be-
yond the seas-"The Builder" of Lon
don, England.
The number of "The Builder" for
June 18th, 1911, may be termed-a
Masqueray, st. Paul and Minneapolis
number, SO many of it's pages are CIV
en- up to the Cathedral of st. Paul,
the Pro-Cathedral of Minneapolis and
their architect, Mr.. E. L. Masqueray.
Five pages of this authoritative organ
of English architecture are covered
with views of the two Cathedrals;
there are besides some six views of
buildings of the st. Louis Exposition,
designed by Mr.. Masqueray, the Chief
of Design of the Exposition-and with
those views there go some eight col
umns of editorial matter, rehearsing
the general architectural career of
Mr.. Masqueray, and descriptive of the
plans of our two Cathedrals.
Eulogies from "The Builder of
London, challenge attention, and it is
with no small degree of pleasure that
we take note of it's number of June
10Th. An architect of mark Mr. Mas
queray assuredly is, when, having re-
viewed his career, "The Builder"
writes: "Shall we not be justified to
include the name of Masqueray upon
the list of our most distinguished con-
temporary architects?"; and must not
ST. Paul and Minneapolis realize that
in their Cathedrals they find models
of high architectural art, when of the
Cathedral of st. Paul it says that it is
"a plan of exceptional merit for the
purposes of the Roman Catholic
Church in the United States" and
with regard to both Cathedrals, it is
willing to write: "The architects of
the United States have not produced
many, if, indeed, any, churches to
compare with &he st. Paul Cathedral
or Minneapolis Pro-Cathedral."
We copy into our present number
er" which deals with our two Cathe-
drals.
The Cathedral of St. Paul.
The Cathedral at St. Paul is a plan
of exceptional merit for the purposes
of the Roman Catholic Church in the
United States. 1t possesses all the
fine qualities and characteristics of
the old traditional plans of the Church
in Europe, but meets the demand Of
the people in America to bring as
near as possible together the priest,
people and choir, in order that the
altar and pulpit shall be in clear view
from every part of the church, and
that the voices of the priest and choir
may be distinctly heard by the con-
gregation. The comparative short
ness of length to width, and the ap-
sidal treatment of the ambulatory be-
tween the body of the church and the
surrounding chapels, at once reminds
us of the medieval church in France,
and the general outline of cross re-
tains the old symbolic form; but to
create modern structure suitable to
the needs or wishes of the congrega-
ton it has been necessary to modify
the relative proportions of the differ
ent elements of the ancient buildings.
The nave and transepts are short and
wide, instead of narrow and long. At
their intersection is great dome 96
feet i'm diameter and It's feet high,
internal measurements, and lighted
by twenty-four large windows in the
drum. The nave and transepts are in
height 81 feet and the width so feet.
The ambulatories are 12 feet wide.
The sanctuary occupies the whole
apse, and il so feet wide by 65 feet
long. 1t is surrounded by an arcade
with columns of marble, which sepa-
rates it from the ambulatory. Beyond