Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Charlotte
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church
in Charlotte, North Carolina
, United States of America. It is the mother church
of the Diocese of Charlotte and is the seat of its prelate
bishop
.
was built. It was to be the first Catholic church in Western North Carolina
. On St. Patrick's Day,1852, the cornerstone was laid for the city of Charlotte's first Catholic church, St. Peter Church. Work was completed in 1893.
St. Peter Church was under the care of the Benedictine
monks from Belmont Abbey
. A neighboring convent of the Sisters of Mercy
, also in Belmont
had operated a school in Charlotte known originally as St. Mary's Seminary. The name was later changed to the O'Donoghue School, and in September 1930 it was moved to the Dilworth
neighborhood. It was not until the 1930's that an additional church was needed to accommodate the growing Catholic population of the region.
John Henry Phelan
of Beaumont, Texas
donated the funds to build St. Patrick Church, in loving memory of his parents, Patrick and Margaret Adele Phelan. Construction of the church began on St. Patrick's Day, 1938.
A Catholic grade school was built on the property in 1930. A rectory
and convent
were completed in 1941, and in 1943, the school was expanded to include high school
grades.
, known for remodeling Old World
churches, designed and supervised construction of the church, with its gray stucco
face, 400-seat nave
, balcony and 77-foot (23.7m) tall tower.
Picture of Cathedral Facade
The altar
contains relics of St. Jucundius
and St. Justina, and two side chapels were crafted as shrines honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
. Stained glass
windows, designed in Syracuse, New York
, depicted the Annunciation
, St. Patrick, St. Joseph's deathbed scene, King David with his lyre, St. Cecilia, and some events in the life of Jesus
.
Eugene J. McGuinness
of Raleigh
consecrated the church under the patronage of St. Patrick. It became the first church in North Carolina
to be consecrated immediately upon completion and in 1942 became a parish
, with Goldsboro
-native Monsignor
Arthur R. Freeman as pastor
.
On January 12, 1972, Pope Paul VI
established the Diocese of Charlotte, and St. Patrick Church was designated the cathedral church. Msgr. Richard Allen, pastor at the time, was appointed the first rector.
was replaced with a new one, designed and manufactured by W. Zimmer and Sons of Fort Mill
,and installed in the balcony.
The cathedral remained closed for six months. On June 10, 1979, Bishop Michael J. Begley
of Charlotte presided over the celebration of the church's reopening.
The majority of renovative efforts to restore St. Patrick Cathedral to its original condition was completed by Easter
of 1996, yet periodic work has continued. The altar, baptismal font
, statues and ambo
were given new prominence, and a hardwood floor was installed. The dark oak wainscoting from the 1979 renovation was removed to brighten up the cathedral and make it appear as it did in 1939.
Most recently, Stations of the Cross
brought in from Maggie Valley, NC and a Celtic cross
were added outside. A permanent copper roof was installed and completed on December 7, 2000.
On March 28, 2007, a 700 pound bell was raised in the bell tower. The bell was a gift from Herb and Louise Bowers and family. It was originally cast in 1875 in St. Louis, MO. The bell was blessed after the 5:30 PM Mass on Saturday, March 31, 2007.
Father Paul Q. Gary served as rector
of St. Patrick Cathedral from July 1996 until July 2008.
Very Reverend Christopher A. Roux is currently the Rector of St. Patrick Cathedral.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, United States of America. It is the mother church
Mother Church
In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...
of the Diocese of Charlotte and is the seat of its prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
.
History
In 1843, St. Joseph Church in Mt. HollyMount Holly, North Carolina
Mount Holly is a small suburban city in northeastern Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. The city is situated on the western bank of the Catawba River in the Southern Piedmont area of North Carolina, north of Interstate 85, south of North Carolina State Highway 16, and west of Charlotte....
was built. It was to be the first Catholic church in Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It is sometimes included with upstate South Carolina as the "Western Carolinas", which is also counted as a single media market...
. On St. Patrick's Day,1852, the cornerstone was laid for the city of Charlotte's first Catholic church, St. Peter Church. Work was completed in 1893.
St. Peter Church was under the care of the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks from Belmont Abbey
Belmont Abbey, North Carolina
Mary Help of Christians Abbey, better known as Belmont Abbey, is a small community of Benedictine monks in the town of Belmont, North Carolina, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States. Founded by Bishop Leo Haid in 1876, it is the daughter abbey to St. Vincent's Abbey in Latrobe,...
. A neighboring convent of the Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
, also in Belmont
Belmont, North Carolina
Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about west of uptown Charlotte, North Carolina and east of Gastonia. The population was 8,705 at the 2000 census. Once known as Garibaldi, the city named in honor of August Belmont, a prominent New York banker...
had operated a school in Charlotte known originally as St. Mary's Seminary. The name was later changed to the O'Donoghue School, and in September 1930 it was moved to the Dilworth
Dilworth (neighborhood)
Dilworth is a neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA found south of Uptown. The neighborhood was Charlotte's first streetcar suburb and was established by Edward Dilworth Latta in the 1890s on 250 acres southwest of the original city limits. It included the Joseph Forsyth Johnson designed...
neighborhood. It was not until the 1930's that an additional church was needed to accommodate the growing Catholic population of the region.
Construction
St. Patrick Church was built adjacent to the O'Donoghue School, in the Dilworth neighborhood.John Henry Phelan
John Henry Phelan
John Henry “Harry” Phelan , was a businessman and philanthropist. He was made a Knight of St. Gregory in January 1933 by Pope Pius XI ....
of Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
donated the funds to build St. Patrick Church, in loving memory of his parents, Patrick and Margaret Adele Phelan. Construction of the church began on St. Patrick's Day, 1938.
A Catholic grade school was built on the property in 1930. A rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
and convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
were completed in 1941, and in 1943, the school was expanded to include high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
grades.
Architectural features
Frank Frimmer, architect and native of AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, known for remodeling Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
churches, designed and supervised construction of the church, with its gray stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
face, 400-seat nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, balcony and 77-foot (23.7m) tall tower.
Picture of Cathedral Facade
The altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
contains relics of St. Jucundius
Jucundus
Jucundus, or Saint Jucundus , is a name of several different Christian figures:*Saint Jucundus was killed with Saint Nicasius at Rheims in the fifth century....
and St. Justina, and two side chapels were crafted as shrines honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
. Stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows, designed in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, depicted the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
, St. Patrick, St. Joseph's deathbed scene, King David with his lyre, St. Cecilia, and some events in the life of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
Consecration
On September 4, 1939, BishopBishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Eugene J. McGuinness
Eugene J. McGuinness
Eugene Joseph McGuinness was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Raleigh and Bishop of Oklahoma City-Tulsa .-Biography:...
of Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
consecrated the church under the patronage of St. Patrick. It became the first church in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to be consecrated immediately upon completion and in 1942 became a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, with Goldsboro
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...
-native Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
Arthur R. Freeman as pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
.
Establishment of new diocese
During the next few decades, the influx of Catholics added to the need for ministerial presence in Charlotte, and three parishes grew from St. Patrick: St. Ann, St. Gabriel and St. Vincent de Paul.On January 12, 1972, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
established the Diocese of Charlotte, and St. Patrick Church was designated the cathedral church. Msgr. Richard Allen, pastor at the time, was appointed the first rector.
Renovation
The cathedral experienced a period of major renovation beginning in 1979. The original character of the building, including memorials and windows, were preserved while the church was modernized to current liturgical standards. A new altar was constructed from the marble of the original High Altar. Artwork of local and religious significance were added during this period, as well. Additionally, the original Moller pipe organPipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
was replaced with a new one, designed and manufactured by W. Zimmer and Sons of Fort Mill
Fort Mill, South Carolina
Fort Mill is a fast-growing suburban town in both York and Lancaster counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, and a suburb of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rock Hill...
,and installed in the balcony.
The cathedral remained closed for six months. On June 10, 1979, Bishop Michael J. Begley
Michael Joseph Begley
Michael Joseph Begley was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina from 1972 until 1984.-Biography:...
of Charlotte presided over the celebration of the church's reopening.
The majority of renovative efforts to restore St. Patrick Cathedral to its original condition was completed by Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
of 1996, yet periodic work has continued. The altar, baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
, statues and ambo
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
were given new prominence, and a hardwood floor was installed. The dark oak wainscoting from the 1979 renovation was removed to brighten up the cathedral and make it appear as it did in 1939.
Most recently, Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
brought in from Maggie Valley, NC and a Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
were added outside. A permanent copper roof was installed and completed on December 7, 2000.
On March 28, 2007, a 700 pound bell was raised in the bell tower. The bell was a gift from Herb and Louise Bowers and family. It was originally cast in 1875 in St. Louis, MO. The bell was blessed after the 5:30 PM Mass on Saturday, March 31, 2007.
Father Paul Q. Gary served as rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of St. Patrick Cathedral from July 1996 until July 2008.
Very Reverend Christopher A. Roux is currently the Rector of St. Patrick Cathedral.
External links
- http://www.stpatricks.org/public_html/HTML/OurParish/OurParish.htm The Cathedral of St. Patrick's website