The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-04-03
OF THE MOST REVEREND
ARCHBISHOP, PALM SUNDAY, ON
THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST
MASS IN THE NEW CATHEDRAL.

Hail thou, Cathedral of st. Paul!
With joyous acclaim of soul, with
hearts aglow of love and gratitude,
we salute thee.
This is the day which the Lord
hath made: let us be glad and rejoice
therein" Long have we waited for
its coming, now amid hopes, now amid
fears-hopes that at time not too
remote the Cathedral would rise into
full stateliness of form and open to
our impatient steppings its welcoming
portals: fears lest our visions had be-
trayed us, lest our ambitions had gone
beyond the reach of our love- and sacri-
flee. This is the day which the Lord
hath made: fears are departed
shadows: hopes are blissful fruitions.
The Cathedral enters on it's Heaven
born mission-service to God, service
to souls. Hail thou, Cathedral of st.
Paul.
Perhaps, we are unjust to the Cathe-
dral. We have allowed it no leisure
to put itself into due readiness-to be-
deck interior walls with marble rob-
ings, to set in place sculptured col
ums and fretted arches, to grace sane
tuary and chapels with the beauteous-
ness of which they must be radiant,
when the last bidding of the artists
pencil will have been obeyed. But
seeing it as it is, does it not wrest to
itself, friends and benefactors of the
Cathedral, your admiration, your
praise, your exultation of mind and of
heart? A great, a noble edifice it is
this Cathedral of st. Paul, regal in the
hilltop chosen as its throne, regal in
the sparkling granite of it's towering
walls, regal in vast proportions and in
elegance of architectural lines, regal
in the grandeur of its peerless dome.
In pride and happiness we salute thee
Cathedral of st. Paul.
And, Catholics of the Diocese of st.
Paul, it is your Cathedral You built
it: you paid for it: it is yours Fond
ly rest your eyes upon it: caress it
with tender touch: it is your home,
purchased with the fruits of your toll,
of your Christian selfdenial.
You built it--you, Catholic men and
women of the Diocese of st. Paul. The
appeal was made: the thousands, the
tens of thousands gave answer. The
greater number are poor in worldly
store: all are rich in Christian faith,
in Christian love: and, thus, the Cathe-
dral was built.
1t is your Cathedral, Catholics of the
Diocese of st. Paul: or, rather, it was
your Cathedral. 1t now becomes the
property of the Living God, His house,
His home. AS Solomon spoke of the
temple of Jerusalem, so we today
speak of the Cathedral of st. Paul:
81 have built house to the name of
the Lord, the God of Israel" And
far more true this is of the Cathedral
of st. Paul, than it was of the temple
of Jerusalem. Upon the temple of
Jesusalem there rested the shadow of
the Divine Majesty: within the Cathe-
dral of st. Paul there dwells the Liv-
ing God Himself, in the Eucharistic
Sacrifice and Sacrament of His new
covenant with men.
The Cathedral was built by the
NdIuOllCS VI the DlOCGSG VI OI. Idul DIS
the supreme monument of their Chris
tian faith and their Christian love.
Therefore, today it is beautiful, it is
noble: therefore tomorrow it will be
still more beautiful, still more noble.
Every chapel, every church in every
parish of the Diocese is a monument
of the Christian faith and the Chris,
tian love of those who built it. Neces
sarily, however, the resources at the
disposal of any one parish are linn.
tied: at best the monument it builds
is only partial token of the good will
of its Catholic people. Therefore, they