Evening star., 1932-08-14


stretches of this home continent are
constantly yielding their stores to enrich
and dignity the Cathedral of SITS.
Peter and Paul being built on Mount
Albans in this city Stone from the
quarres used by King Solomon for his temples
has come into the building of the edifice be-
side the brown, satin-smooth wooden paneling
from the American forests Artisans and
masons have been turning their deft hands for
years to materialZe the dream OF the EplSco-
palians to make here house of worship so
beautiful within and without that all people
who stand beneath its Gothic arches will lift
up their hearts to their Maker. The most
precious gifts of the artist, the sculptor, the
stone carver and worker in stained glass have
been poured into the tabernacle to make a
gorgeous setting for important religious cere-
monials as well as to provide gernlike small
chapels in odd corners for the simple gathering
of prayerful company.
But the finishing touches that set off the
gray stone and dark woods, that diffuse into
static warmth the colors brought in by the
sunbeams through the tall windows the
soft-toned altar hangings in crimson and blue,
the handmade vestmentS with invisible stitches
and the matched chalice veil and burse sets
Light with gold embroidery on colors to marx
he passing of the The stoles of min
Isterial celebrants incrusted with symbol
] ical forms wrought by needle and colored
silks Real lace and the daintieSt of fair linen
cloths are on the altars. All of these and many
other pieces make up the Cathedral collection
of church embroidery used in its services and
the structure grows it also becomes greater
until it is now regarded as of the country's
best
And back of this is an interesting and moving
story of young woman who turned from the
noisy keys of the typewriter in the diocesan
office of the first Bishop of Washington to the
needle as her life works. years ago. She is
Miss Lucy Vaughan Mackrille, who lives at IL
West Kirke street. Chevy Chase, Md, where the
studio through which so much of the Cathedral
fntar ham ba{Jo ccod iS
40 years ago when only five houses stood in
1.-THE immediate community. Miss Mackrile
moved into her home. She is responsible more
Gehan any other single individual for the very
= fine standards held to workmanship, tex
ture and symbolism in the Cathedral equip
ment the most elaborate of which was done by
her fingers Those pieces which were not &C
tually worked out by her own hands, were done
under her tutelage by church associates or in her
workrooms in England and Washington. She
has become of the few lay authorities in
the United States on the intricate and tradi-
tional points embraced in this feature OF the
church ritual. Last year she published the
first of series of handbooks for the guidance
of altar guilds and similar groups.
"A /HEN the Rev. Henry Ya,es Satterlee be-
w came the first Bishop of Washington in
1895, he found condition existing at St.
Marks Church which stands at Third and A
streets southeast that made 1t advisable for him
his diocesan secretary slender young
woman with blue eyes and determined chin,
who could the typewriter profciently The
church linens and hangings at st. Marks were
in such a deplorable condition that the bishop
felt he must have new ones. especially as that
charge must be his cathedral until he could get
a real one He naturally asked the secretary,
who had taken SO many other duties off his
busy shoulders, to help him with the problem.
She demonstrated that she knew nothing what
qhN matt nd q
begin at once to master this eldest medium OF
womans expression cf her love Of the beauti-
full
Miss Mackrille decided to follow the bishops
advice and, putting the cover on her typewriter
permanently left soon for Baltimore to study
with the Sisterhood of All Saints, which was
about the only place available for instruction
since ecclesiastical embroidery was usually done
by these sisterhoods, which organizations
within the church body After month there,
the student told she would have to leave
she had acquired all they were willing to
have her get since they were dependent upon
their handiwork for income. She had been
an apt pupil because she had the best possible
foundation in the lessons in water color and oil
painting she had taken for years during her
teen age. What just proper accomplish
ment for all young ladies of that period was
being turned to good account by her knowl-
edge of line structure and color harmonies
Upon her return to Washington, Miss Mack
rille and small group of women in the church
worked out the stitches the former secretary
had mastered and gave the bishop the wanted
linens for St Marks Church BY this time
she had become interested in the creation of
these beautiful things for the church more
than in anything she had ever done. so she
went to England for further education and
enrolled with the Paddington Sisters Of the
Church of England. Whenever she can she
visits schools in that country for more in
struction, the oldest of which is st. Mary's, in
Vantage which was the first school for church
embroidery founded after the Reformation.
From the day she went to Baltimore to the
present time, Miss Mackrille has concentrated