The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-06-06
SUMMARY OF THE SERMON
PREACHED BY ARCHBISHOP
IRELAND AT THE OPENING OF
THE PRo-CATHEDRAL OF ST.
MARY, MINNEAPOLIS, ON PEN.
TEcoST SUNDAY, MAY 81.

TECoST SUNDAY, MAY 81.
This is Pentecost Sunday. 1t is
the great day of the year in which
we commemorate the descent of the
Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. 1t
was the consummation of the commits
sion given to them: Going, there
fore, teach ye all nations
'Pentecost Sunday is, in manner,
the birthday of the Church of Christ
because, while previous words and
acts had established the Church and
given authority to the Apostles to
serve her, yet it was only on Pentecost
Sunday that the divine graces needed
to carry out the commission were i'm
parted to the Apostles by the solemn
descent upon them of the Holy Spirit.
Then it was that the Apostles were
endowed with the spirit and. the cour-
age to go forth ON the streets and
fearlessly preach the conditions to
eternal salvation, to actualize the mis-
sion to teach all nations, to build tab
ernaeles in every land and call all
men into the hearing of the gospel of
Christ
1--WE are far removed in time and
place from the scenes of the first
Pentecost Sunday. And yet, brethren,
what are we doing this morning but
giving of our own, in carrying out the
great mission impaired to the Apostles
by Jesus on the mount and by the
Holy Ghost in the upper room of Jeru-
salem? We are here to say to the
world that the Church then establish
ed still lives and reigns. We are
here, nineteen hundred years later, on
a continent far removed from Jeru-
salem, to say that we bow in rever-
encerto the mission of the Apostles
here to do praise to the Church of the
ages and of the Apostles, and proclaim
ourselves it's loyal and devoted serv-
Sosnts.'
"It is with no small degree of emo
tion that on this Pentecost Sunday we
open to public worship the Pro-Cathe-
dral of st. Mary, of Minneapolis, that
we assist at the first Mass celebrated
within it's walls 1t is nearly ten
=. years since the first thought. of tho
project of building a great church in
Minneapolis was sent out to the ears
of the public. 1t is today exactly six
years since the cornerstone was laid,
May 81, 1908, amid much pomp and
ceremony. During all those years, to-
gether we have labored amid many
difficulties to give, in Minneapolis, to
our holy religion temple fully
worthy of it's mission and it's glories.
At times the task seemed very diff
cult. Well, today something of it's
completion has come. The first Mass
in its sanctuary is to be celebrated.
We are here to thank God that we
were able to do so much; here to say
to the eternal that this temple is the
gift of our hearts. o God, accept it
for thine own honor; accept it for our
salvation! Accept it, Great Founder
and Author of the Church of the ages,
the Church of the nations! Accept it,
Thou who wilst come down on its altar
in the mystery of the Eucharist to tell
us that Thou art pleased with our
gift. And Thou, Holy Spirit, who, on
the first Pentecost Sunday, filled the
souls of the Apostles with Thy bless
ings, shed Thy graces upon it in Thy
plenteous generosity!
THE ceremony today is not what a
dedication ceremony should be; in
deed this is not the dedicatory cere-
mony. That will come later when we
shall be better prepared for the splen-
dors to which it is entitled. But you
were in hurry to hear Mass in the
new Pro-Cathedral. Your numbers
crowded to overfowing the venerable
old church which has done such long
and valiant service, and we have yield.
ed to your wishes.
"The Pro-Cathedral is open hence
forward to public worship: but you
must know that it is still in an un-
finished state. The statue of the Vir-
gin on the facade has not yet received
the final touches of the artists chisel.
The interior walls do not wear their
marble decorations. The arches are
without their stately pillars; the altars
that you see in their places are only
temporary.
But unfinished and incomplete as
it is, is it not noble edifice? Are
you not proud of it? Is it not some
thing you can speak of with joyous
ness; something that you can offer tc
God with love and devotion, some
thing of which the City of Minneapolis
must be proud?
what has been done has beer
done, we'll and gloriously. Even now
we easily see the great edifice as one
day it will loom up before our en-
tranced vision. Providence has guided
us in the selection of a site, the equa
of which in perspective, in elevator
and other external qualities of beauty
has no parallel in the city. 1t is the
best site your great city could furnish
We were blessed with having at oul
disposal the. richest designs of church
architecture. No small thing it is tt
be told what the building should be
to have every architectural point, the
line of every wall and every elevation
marked out so that as stone was lait
on stone, we knew whittier we were
going. All that we have had. from
clear-seeing mind, from an artistic
pencil We thank the architect of th'
ro-fIafhndral Il tssHs t1fs $50