Evening star., 1924-09-21

land. Greece. The Netherlands Panama.
Rumania and Switzerland were also
present. also the counselor of China
Canada was represented by Sir Francois
Lemieux, chief justice cf the Supreme
Court of Quebec. American representa-
tives were Justice Joseph Mckenna Of
the Supreme Court. Admiral w. s. Ben
son, chairman of the Shipping Board
Admiral McGowan, Mai. Gen. Tasker 8
Bliss. Brig. Gen. J. W. Littell and Col
Fl. =. Birmingham of the Soldiers
Home, with delegation of five veterans
of the Indian and five veterans of the
Civil War
TO-DAY approximately 100000 mem
bers of the Holy Name Society.
gathered from many States attend
mass in the cript of this future great
cath edral. where some $50 masses are
celebrated by the spiritual directors
of the various Holy Name bands
The cript, which is merely a corn,f
of the basement under the main
church. is in itself a gem OF arch-
lecture and religious decoration.
amazing to the visiting thousands.
and a symbol of promise Of the great
er work-the basilica itself
From this crypt the laymen. un-
project. may gain some vision of what
the shrine itself is to be. II is 2nf
feet long. $50 feet wide and IS feet
high in the clear. Capable OF ar-
commodating 1000. containing IL al
tars, itself an exquisite edihCe. it is
but corner, as it were, of the whole
scheme. In point of face, its roof will
be the main floor of the shrine itself.
And extending away before il is the
sketching of the lines the remainder
of the structure will follow, dWarfing
the great work already done.
on the crypt alone $4,000 thus far
| has been spent, not counting the site.
which was donated by the trustees OF
| the Catholic University. Another
! $500 000 will go into ii before its COM
pletion.
| If the scope OF the crypt gives an
| idea of the vast size of the shrine it
| self there is here also hint of the
| magnificence. and particularly of the
wealth of symbolism, that will mark
the entire structure.
In the crypt beneath the main
church the high altar and fifteen les
| ser altars will represent incidents in
| the life of the Blessed Virgin. Tha
high altar will be dedicated to her un-
der the title Our Lady OF the Ca
acombs" In the title is the keynote
of the decorative treatment Of the
crypt Accordingly, there will be re
| produced striking features of the re-
/ Iigious art of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and mosaics picturing the Madonna
| and the Divine Child.
"Our Lady of the Catacombs' will
occupy the space beyond the high al
! tar. and the columns of each of the
| lesser altars will represent famous
| national shrines Of the old and new
worlds Italy. by "our Lady of the
] hI- n +
! Chartres"; England. by Our Lady of
| Walsingham: the Orient. by Our
| Lady of Ephesus": the United States.
/ by Our Lady of MarNland Spain
| by .'Our Lady of Maryland": Greece, By
| Our Lady of Tenos": Norway. by our
Lady of Bergen: Switzerland by our
! Lady of Linseideln.' and Germany, by
''Our Lady OF kevelar.
The tiled vault is in four arches.
! each 81 feet wide. and in each are
| to appear five medallion scenes from
| the life of the Blessed Virgin and
! her types, taken from the sacred
| Scriptures and from the Oldest Cath
| Ollie traditions. The ceilings arc OF
! rich Guastavino, with mosaic inserts.
and the groining OF the arches abov"
! the affairs is covered with symbols
of the earliest Christian ideas. in gilt
and colored ceramic. 1t has been
! termed a pictorial theology Of the
| first three centuries after Christ.
| The high altar is to he of Algerian
| onyx and most of the Is chapels are
| to be dedicated 10 the Holy Family
and the famous virgin martyrs Of
| the church. such as Cecilia and
| Agnes.
As an illustration of how Catholic
| organizations are contributing funds
| for these chapels. word was received
| here from the convention of the
Daughters of Isabella, at Chicago,
saying the order unanimously voted
$4,000 to pay for one of the chapels
in the crypt.
A few days later Mrs Johanna
White of Newport. Ky, secretary of
| the Ladies of St. John, visited the
shrine and said her organization in
tends to donate one of the chapels.
With these two gifts seven of the
fifteen chapels have been given. In
Quiries also have been made concern
ing the chapels by the Catholic
Daughters of America, and it is ex
, pected that all Is will have been
given very soon.
For each of these chapels already
three sets of altar linens of the
finest quality have been donated. a
beautiful sanctuary lamp has been
given and another benefactress ex-
poets to present a large organ of
the nneSt make.
X X X x
THE greatest glory of the crypt.
l. however, is it's series of 81 mar
| BILE columns, gathered from all parts
of the world. OF almost every known
variety of marble, they contrast in
i their blacks, reds, browns and yell
lows, yet harmonize into soft yet
striking symphony. Spain. SwitZer-
! land, Italy, France Germany. Eng
| land. Belgium and other lands have
contributed to this remarkable sym
postum. Alaska has sent its best in
| a beautiful light gray, with graceful
| cross-veins of darker hue. South
America is represented and many OF
| the States of our country. Perhaps
| the most notable is sheer column
! of Mexican onyx. rarely seen in such
! large specimen. Its delicate white.
| here translucent. there creamy is
| crossed by a rich tracery of red veins,
Eight granite columns. weighing
| 10 tons each, help to support the
| broad vault. Their capitals weigh
| three tons each and the plinths one