Mary Mother of Jesus
The BASILICA OF Saint MARY of Minneapolis up to 1932 PART 2
 The BASILICA OF Saint Mary of Minneapolis up to 1932 PART 1
The
BASILICA OF ST. MARY
Of
Minneapolis
A Historical and Descriptive Sketch
by
Reverend James M. Reardon

With a Foreword by
Reverend Peter Guilday, Ph. D., J. U. D.
Catholic University of America

Father Reardon's Pastorate

     In the meantime a change of pastors had taken place. In August 1921, Father Cullen, who had served the parish with distinction for nineteen years, was named President of the College of St. Thomas, and the Reverend James M. Reardon, pastor of the Church of St. Mary, St. Paul, and Editor-in-Chief of The Catholic Bulletin, was placed in charge by the Most Reverend Archbishop Dowling.
     There was still much to be done before the Pro-Cathedral, as it was then called, crystallized the artist's idea of a temple worthy of the Most High.  It lacked the full vesture of architectural beauty and splendor to which it was born, and with which its sponsors vowed to enrich it.  The stately grandeur of its imposing exterior postulated an interior loveliness unsurpassed by anything in the land.  "The beauty of the King's daughter is from within"; and beauteous, indeed, must be the adornment of sanctuary and nave to realize the ideal suggested by the entrancing sweep of granite wall and high flung cross outlined against the sky to tell to worshipping throngs the sublime purpose of its being.
      The church itself rises from the centre of a plat of ground 300 by 400 feet in dimensions, fronts on the chief thoroughfare of the city and lifts wall and tower and dome high above its surroundings, so as to be seen from afar as one approaches or leaves the business district.

     Like a queen the noble edifice sits enthroned on the one site in Minneapolis carved out by nature, as it were, for a glorious tabernacle to enshrine the Savior of mankind-a city block extensive enough to provide grassy swards from areaway to sidewalk and to give assurance that, in days to come, no building will encroach upon it and mar its matchless setting.


Completing the Interior

   Many who saw its foundation stone laid deep and secure in the bosom of mother earth did not live to gaze upon its heaven-pointing cross. {Page 65}
.
 
      Many who were enraptured with its external grandeur closed their eyes to things of earth without seeing the beauty of the completed structure.  Much had been done, it is true, but much remained to be done.  Several years were to elapse after the dedication before the task of completing the interior was undertaken.  Work was not resumed until the World War {I} had passed into history.
   Towards the close of the year 1922, the time was deemed opportune to inaugurate the work of finishing the interior in such a way as to duplicate, if not improve upon, the imposing grandeur of the exterior.  The task was not an easy one.  There was a diversity of opinion about the details of material and ornamentation.  Some declared marble the only sheathing worthy of nave and transept: others preferred stone.  Some would have the interior rich in gold, mosaic, elaborate carving and artistic decoration: others maintained that its beauty should be found in solidity, strength and symmetry.

The Soul of the Church {August 3, 1924, the first Mass}
    The major problem was, of course, the main altar.  On its solution everything else depended; for the altar would give meaning and tone to all the rest.  It must be massive enough not to be dwarfed by the surroundings, artistic enough to dominate the setting.  For that the finest marble that money could procure must be available, and the most skillful sculptors commissioned to chisel it into life.  It must uprise from the centre of the sanctuary and lift its graceful dome high in air to attract the attention of worshipper and visitor before they would note any other feature.  In other words, the altar must be one of the finest in America in material, design and workmanship.
  Many plans were submitted before a decision was reached. On March is, 1923, a design was finally approved and the contract awarded early in May for forty thousand dollars, exclusive of furnishings.  The work of erecting the altar began early in the New Year and on Sunday, August 3, 1924, the first Mass was celebrated by Father Reardon under it’s massive and artistic baldachin.
   The altar is the gift, not of any society or group, but of the parishioners whose names are sealed in a bronze reliquary {Page 66} embedded beneath the sepulcher containing the relics.  The steel tabernacle with bronze doors is the gift of the pupils of the parish school; the statue of Our Lady of Grace
  The first Pontifical Mass on the new altar was celebrated by the Most Reverend Austin, Dowling on Christmas day, 1924, and every year thereafter, when his health permitted, he said his three Masses at this altar.
   With the erection of the main altar the first step towards completing the interior of the church was successfully taken and the people were encouraged to continue the work.  A final decision regarding the kind of material to be used in facing wall and pier had already been made.  A native stone from the quarries of Mankato was the choice, and plans were made to undertake the work even before the altar was unveiled for use. was donated by the Rosary Society; the crucifix, candlesticks, etc., were given by members of the congregation.

Sanctuary Completed
      In the month of February 1924, a contract for the facing of the walls of pier and transept was entered into for the sum of one hundred twenty-four thousand, eight hundred dollars.  It called for a substantial covering, at least four inches thick, of Mankato stone of varying hues from buff to grey, giving color and warmth to the interior and blending harmoniously with the decorations of the ceiling and with the marble and wrought iron works of art which adorn the sanctuary.  The walls are capped with massive cornices of solid stone securely anchored to the masonry, and relieving the severity of the ashlar work.  So expeditiously was the work carried on that it was completed before the end of the year.

A Historic Pulpit {1858-1916}
     The new pulpit was occupied for the first time during the Holy Hour on Thursday, November 13, 1924; and the one in use for a decade of years was presented to the chapel of the College of St. Thomas on March 19 of the following year.  That venerable pulpit has a unique history.  It was built for the Cathedral of St. Paul which stood on the corner of Sixth and St. Peter Streets from 1858 till 1913, and was occupied by Bishop Grace, Archbishop Ireland and many other distinguished preachers. {Page 67} From it Archbishop Ireland made many of his most important pronouncements on civic and religious topics.
     The scaffolding for the decorating of the dome ceiling and the installing of the stained glass windows was erected in September, 1924, and the work completed before the end of the year.  The crucifixion group and the marble sanctuary rail were set in place during January, 1925.  In the meantime a four-manual organ had been contracted for; and the foundations for choir stalls and organ chambers were laid in apse and ambulatory during Easter week of the year 1925.
Nave Finished and Furnished {1924-26}
   In February of that year it was decided to continue the work of finishing the interior and contracts were let for covering the nave walls and incasing the piers with Mankato stone at a cost of one hundred ninety-nine thousand, eight hundred forty dollars; and, early in March, for the remainder of the stained glass windows.  In the following May a contract for the chapel altars, confessionals, baptismal font and Stations of the Cross, all of marble, was signed for twenty-four thousand, six hundred ninety dollars, exclusive of millwork, bronze and hardware.  In the autumn the ceiling of the nave was decorated to harmonize with the work done in the sanctuary dome.  Before the end of the year the superb marble and wrought iron grille surrounding the sanctuary and forming a pedestal for the statues of the Apostles was installed and added much to the beauty of the setting for the main altar.  About the same time the stained glass windows in the apse and in the transepts were put in place and further accentuated the beauty of the altar and its adjuncts.  The remaining windows were installed the following year and gave an added charm and glory to the entire church. Early in the new year workmen came to erect the altars of the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, St. Anne, and St. Anthony, the Stations of the Cross, confessionals and baptismal font.  The confessionals were ready for occupancy during Holy Week; and soon thereafter the magnificent chandeliers of bronze and {Page 68} aurine glass were hung in the side aisles, vestibule and portico.
     The baptismal font was used for the first time on Sunday, June 6, 1926, the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi. As soon as St. Anthony's statue was transferred to the completed chapel, the wooden shrine which it had occupied for many years was given to the College of St. Thomas as a shrine for its patron, St. Thomas Aquinas; and the wooden altars and confessionals were donated to churches in the Twin Cities and elsewhere.

Sacristy and Residence {1927-28}
     While the final touches were being put on the interior of the Basilica, plans were in preparation for completing the parish plant by the addition of two new units -- a sacristy and a residence for the clergy.  In the summer of 1926, preliminary sketches were prepared for these new structures, and on August 8, official announcement was made that building operations would begin the following spring.  During the winter the architectural details were completed, and in the week of June 20, 1927, the contract was awarded for approximately one hundred forty thousand dollars, exclusive of furnishings. The buildings were to be erected as a unit-the residence facing Seventeenth Street, North, and the sacristy between it and the Basilica, all three connected by a corridor leading from the front entrance through the sacristy into the church.  Ground was broken in July, and the buildings were ready for occupancy the following May.  The new units harmonize as far as possible with the Basilica in design and material.
     The cornerstone of the sacristy was laid on September 12, 1927, by Father Reardon with simple ceremony.  A sealed copper box containing records of the parish and other documents-many of which were taken from the boxes in the cornerstones of the Immaculate Conception Church and school-was placed within it.
     On Sunday, April 29, 1928, the new sacristy and residence were blessed by the pastor, and on Friday, May 11, the clergy moved from the old home to the new.  The buildings were inspected by the parishioners and their friends on the afternoon and evening of May 28, and the following evening was set apart especially for the members of the Knights of Columbus, and of the Minneapolis League of Catholic Women. {Page 69} On both occasions there was a musical program with organ and orchestral accompaniment.
Requiem for Marshal Foch
     
Among recent events in the history of the Basilica may be mentioned the memorial service for Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Generalissimo of the allied forces in the World War I.  It was held on Tuesday, March 26, 1929, the very day on which his obsequies took place in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated by the pastor, Father Reardon, assisted by Father Cullen of St. Stephen's parish, as deacon, Father Dunphy of the Ascension parish, as subdeacon, and Father Brand of the Basilica parish, as master of ceremonies.  The sermon was preached by Father Reardon.
     The Mass was attended by Governor Christianson, Mayor Leach, Colonel Sweeny of Fort Snelling, and their respective staffs; representatives of the American Legion Posts; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Red Cross Nurses; Boy Scouts; Knights of Columbus (of which Marshal Foch was an honorary member) and a congregation conservatively estimated at more than three thousand persons.  Hundreds were unable to obtain admission. The responses of the Mass were sung by the Basilica Choir under the direction of Father Missia, with Professor Beck at the organ.
     The church was appropriately draped for the occasion.  Above the main altar the Stars and Stripes and the Tricolors of France were displayed and on the nave piers the flags of the allied nations.  The lenten purple on crucifix and statue added a solemn note to the function. At the head of the center aisle a catafalque was erected covered with a French flag on which rested a draped saber and a French helmet.  In front of the catafalque a picture of Marshal Foch, taken sixty days after the signing of the Armistice, was displayed on an easel.  A guard of honor from the Third Infantry stood at attention beside the catafalque during the Mass and presented arms at the Consecration.  In {
Page 70} front of the sanctuary the flags of the American Legion Posts were  prominently displayed. Before the Mass the organ played the Marseillaise.
   
As far as we are aware this celebrated in the United States was the only Memorial Mass for the repose of the soul of this great Catholic and patriot on the very day on which his remains were laid to rest in the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. near the tomb of the great Napoleon.
    A souvenir booklet bound in leather, artistically tooled, containing photographs and a description of the ceremonies, was sent to Paris and presented to the widow of Marshal Foch by General Pershing.

Father Hennepin Memorial
     
The year 1930 was the 250th anniversary of the discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony by Father Louis Hennepin, a Belgian missionary and explorer.  In commemoration of the event the Knights of Columbus of Minnesota dedicated a monument, consisting of a heroic copper statue of the discoverer holding aloft a crucifix and resting on a granite pedestal of artistic design. This memorial, erected on a site donated by the Basilica Corporation, was unveiled on Sunday, October 12, "Columbus Day."
     The ceremony began with Pontifical Mass in the Basilica at 10 o'clock.  In the absence of Archbishop Dowling of St. Paul, who was ill - he died six weeks later - the Most Reverend Francis C. Kelley, Bishop of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, was the celebrant and the sermon was preached by Father Reardon. The Most Reverend Archbishop Sinnott of Winnipeg, Monsignors Cleary of Minneapolis, Byrne of St. Paul, Peschges of Winona, and a score of priests were seated in the sanctuary.  The church was literally packed with people and thousands waited outside during the Mass and sermon brought to them by loud speakers. Among the distinguished laymen at the Mass were Count Lantsheere of the Belgian Embassy in Washington, representing His Majesty the King of the Belgians; Governor Christianson and his staff; Mayors Kunze of Minneapolis and Bundlie of St. Paul; Mr. Safford, the Belgian Consul; representatives of the Civic and Commerce Association;
{Page 71} state and local officers of the Knights of Columbus; Fourth Degree members of the Order in regalia, and men prominent in the commercial and professional life of the city and state.
     After the Mass the Fourth Degree Knights formed in line and led the procession to the monument, where the statue was unveiled by Reverend Cyrinus Schneider, 0.F.M., pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart, St. Paul, and a member of the religious order to which Father Hennepin belonged. The memorial was blessed by Archbishop Sinnott, after which the dignitaries of church and state assembled on a platform decorated with American, French, Belgian and Papal flags, where an address was delivered by the Honorable Thomas D. O'Brien of St. Paul, first State Deputy of the Knights of Columbus in Minnesota. He was introduced by Father Reardon, Chairman of the Executive Committee, who presided.  After the ceremony the prelates and other distinguished guests were entertained at luncheon in the Basilica residence.
    As a sequel to the celebration, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, by Royal Decree of December 8, 1930, conferred the decoration of "Officer of the Order of Leopold II" on Father Reardon and Mr. Edward C. Gale, chairman of the civic group sponsoring a public meeting in the municipal auditorium on the afternoon of the day on which the memorial was dedicated.  The decorations were conferred, in the name of King Albert, by Mr. Orren E. Safford, Belgian Consul for Minnesota, at a meeting held in the Elks' Club on March 9, 1931, under the auspices of Hennepin-Minneapolis Council, Knights of Columbus, and presided over by J. Earle Lawler, State Deputy of the Order in Minnesota.

 

Through the courtesy of a dear friend, the late Canon Paul Halflants of Brussels, we learn that the Order of Leopold II was instituted on August 24, 1900, by decree of Leopold II of Belgium, as sovereign of the independent state of the Congo, to reward disintersted service in connection therewith.  Prior to 1908 the Congo was the personal property of King Leopold.  In that year it became a Belgian colony; and it was decreed that the Order of Leopold II should become a national decoration ranking next to the Order of Leopold I.  The decoration is now conferred for meritorious service rendered the Belgian nation.  The soldiers who died from wounds received in battle are granted the posthumous title of Knights of the Order of Leopold II.

Nominations for the Order are made by royal decree; and the administration of it is in the hands of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Order comprises six classes or grades: Grand Cross; Grand Officer; Commander; Officer; Knight; Medalist. The decoration consists of a bifurcated Maltese Cross with eight rounded points, the arms of which are joined together by a garland of palm leaves. In the center is shown the Belgian lion rampant on a field of black enamel surrounded by a circle of blue enamel bearing the national device:  "L'Union Fait La Force", ("In Union There Is Strength"), and on the reverse L. L. (Leopold) interlaced and supporting a small crown. The Cross is surmounted by the Royal Crown, to which it is hinged, and this, in turn, is suspended from a dark blue ribbon with a black central stripe and an attached rosette of the same color.

The decoration is of gold for the first four classes and of silver for the fifth.  A Medal is substituted for the Cross for the sixth grade.


Priestly Sons of the Parish
    It was to be expected that Father McGolrick, who "allured to brighter worlds and led the way," would inspire many of the boys of the parish with the desire to follow in his footsteps.  Such, indeed, was the case.  From the beginning of his pastorate he devoted special attention to the boys who showed signs of a vocation to the priesthood.  He selected them for service at the altar, gave them special lessons in Latin and {Page 72} encouraged them to persevere in their laudable ambition to serve God in the sanctuary.
   In the early days two of his most promising boys -- Patrick J. Danehy and James C. Byrne -- entered the seminary and reached the goal of the priesthood.  These first fruits of his ministry were followed by others, the most noteworthy being Timothy Corbett and James A. Duffy, both of whom became members of the hierarchy.  The former is the well known Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, and the latter was Bishop of Grand Island, Nebraska, until his recent retirement on account of ill health.  Bishop Duffy is also the first alumnus of the St. Paul Seminary to be elevated to the episcopal dignity.
    The following is a list of the prelates and priests whom the parish of the Immaculate Conception and its successor, the Basilica of St. Mary, may rightfully claim as spiritual sons, together with the dates of ordination and death, in the case of those who have passed away:
                                NAME                                    Date  of  Ordination                Date  of  Death
     Reverend Patrick J. Danehy,       December 16,   1881, March    5, 1904.
      Right Reverend James C. Byrne,    February 17,   1883,
      Most Reverend Timothy Corbett,     June    12,   1886,
      Reverend Thomas F. Gleeson,        June    14,   1888, March    3,1929.

      Reverend J. H. Prendergast,        May     30,   1896,

      Most Reverend James A. Duffy,      May     27,   1899,

      Reverend William A. Dobbin, -      May     27,   1899, January  6,1929.

      Reverend Marshall J. Lesage, C.M., July     9,   1899,

      Reverend Daniel Joseph Byrne, -    August   31,  1900, March   25,1903.
      Reverend John J. Cullinan,    -    June     7,   1912,
      Reverend Leo Gleason,      -       June     10,  1913,

      Reverend William G. Coughlin,      June     12,  1917, December 8, 1925.

      Reverend W. Joseph Gibbs, -        June     1,   1919,

      Reverend Edmond M. Coughlin,       June     6,   1920,

      Reverend J. Harold Brennan, -      June     19,  1921,

      Reverend R. Emmet Cogwin, -        June     10,  1922,
      Reverend Thomas H. Diehl,          June      9,  1930,

   All of these, with two exceptions, were ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and labored, or are laboring, within it in one capacity or another.  The Reverend Daniel Joseph Byrne, Younger brother of Monsignor Byrne, V. G., was ordained for the Diocese of Fargo and ministered there until his {Page 73}untimely death in 1903.

     The Reverend Marshall J. Lesage, Pastor-of St. Vincent de Paul's Church, Chicago, Illinois, is a member of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Fathers).
     It would be interesting to have a roster of other members of the parish who embraced the religious life and, as Sisters or Brothers, helped to make the world better by teaching and example.  Unfortunately, no such list is available.

Visit of Most Reverend Archbishop Murray
     On Sunday, January 31, 1932 - the Sunday following his installation as Archbishop of St. Paul - the Most Reverend John Gregory Murray, D. D., celebrated Pontifical Mass in the Basilica at 11 o'clock in presence of a congregation which taxed every foot of available space in the auditorium and ambulatories of the sacred edifice.  Nearly all the priests of Minneapolis and the Christian Brothers of De, La Salle High School occupied seats in the sanctuary, and representatives of several Sisterhoods were present in the church. The responses of the Mass were sung by the Basilica choir under the direction of Father Missia, with Professor Beck at the organ.
     The Most Reverend Archbishop was assisted at the throne by Father Reardon, as archpriest, and Fathers Cullen and Dunphy, as deacons of honor.  Fathers Jennings, Brand and Hauer of the Basilica staff, were deacon and subdeacon of the Mass and master of ceremonies, respectively.
     After the last gospel His Excellency was welcomed by Father Reardon on behalf of the priests and people of the parish, and by the Right Reverend Monsignor Cleary, Pastor of the Church of the Incarnation, in the name of the clergy of Minneapolis.
     His Excellency replied in a felicitous address in which he expressed his pleasure at meeting the clergy and laity of Minneapolis, congratulated the parishioners on their magnificent church, stressed the necessity and value of cooperation in parochial and diocesan affairs, and exhorted all to cultivate the things of the spirit as the most appropriate expression of loyalty to God and Holy Church. {Page 74}
     The pastors of the parishes in Minneapolis met the Most Reverend Archbishop informally at dinner in the Basilica residence after the Mass.  His Excellency took advantage of the occasion to speak to them in the most paternal manner, assuring them of his desire to be helpful to them in every way, and asking their prayers and cooperation in promoting the welfare of the Church in the Archdiocese and throughout the country.

Monsignor Reardon writes, "At the end of the first World War, the people of the parish gave of their gold ornaments and precious stones to be incorporated into the 'Liberty Chalice' as a thanksgiving offering on December 21, 1932, it was enriched by the addition of two diamonds from earrings donated by Mrs. Mary McLaughlin, matron of the cafeteria for many years." The chalice today is known as the War Memorial Chalice. – Photo, Michael Jensen

Consecration of the Basilica
     In all probability the next noteworthy event in the history of the parish will be the solemn consecration of the Basilica to the worship of God; a ceremony of rather infrequent occurrence in this country, but one which evokes all the stateliness and beauty of the ritual and puts the seal on the simpler blessing imparted to a church before the first Mass is celebrated within its sanctuary.
    
The act of consecration dedicates a church to the service of God so irrevocably that, thereafter, it cannot be used for any profane purpose.  "That which has once been dedicated to God must not be transferred to common use." As a prerequisite for consecration, the church must be of stone, brick or other material of a permanent character and, above all, it must be free from debt.  Were it not for this latter requirement, the Basilica and its altars would have been consecrated long ago.  How soon this important event will occur depends on the generosity of the people of the parish.  When it does take place, and then only, will their zeal for God's honor and the welfare of religion reach its glorious culmination: then, and then only, will the Basilica of St. Mary proclaim to the generations yet to come the love of its sponsors for the beauty of God's house and the place where His glory dwelleth.

Parish Boundaries and Population
  The Basilica parish includes the greater part of the business district of Minneapolis.  In fact, the Basilica is the only down-town Catholic church easily reached from all sections of the city.  Naturally, it is the mecca of tourists and other visitors who would assist at Mass on Sundays and Holydays. The parish is bounded on the South by West Lake Street; {Page 75}
on the East by Grand, Franklin and La Salle Avenues, Grant Street, Second Avenue and the Mississippi river; on the North by Twelfth Avenue; and on the West by the city limits (France, Chestnut and Xerxes Avenues).  It comprises a territory about three miles square and encloses half a dozen lakes and parks, some of them quite large. It has a Catholic population of, approximately, six thousand souls, besides "the strangers within our gates" and others who come to the Basilica of St. Mary to fulfill their religious obligations.

Trustees of the Parish

  Before bringing to a close this brief history of the parish it is fitting that we add a word of grateful appreciation for the distinguished services tendered by the lay members of the corporation - Mr.  Edmund A. Prendergast, Secretary, and Mr. Arthur J. Leahy, Treasurer, - who for more than a decade of years have assisted the present pastor in the administration of the temporalities of the parish, especially in beautifying the interior of the Basilica and erecting the adjoining structures.  Their wise counsel, loyal support and unwavering cooperation are largely responsible for the success of the work done during that period. They gave generously of their time, ability and substance in order that the building program of the parish might be crowned with success, and by their unselfish devotion they have merited the undying gratitude of the congregation. 'The following is a list of the trustees from the beginning of the corporate existence of the parish and the length of service of each one.


TREASURER                         ELECTED
            Anthony Kelly              February         24,           1890
            John J. Regan                October        24,            1899
            James E. Shaughnessy November       19,            1902
            Arthur J. Leahy               July                2,            1919
SECRETARY                        ELECTED
            William McMullen          February         24,            1890
            Thomas J. Keating           October         10,            1894
            Edmund A. Prendergast  November      19,            1902
{Page-76}




The Parish Schools
      On the occasion of a visit to St. Anthony Falls in 1853, Bishop Cretin requested the pastor, Father Ledon, to establish a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph and open a school for the children of the parish.  During the preceding year Father Ledon had purchased from Pierre Bottineau for two thousand dollars a piece of land in the vicinity of the church as a site for a convent and academy.  On November 5, 1853, the Sisters arrived and took possession of their temporary convent, an old frame house that had been used as a store by fur traders.  They were Sister Philomene Vilaine, the Superior, Sister Ursula Murphy, and Miss B. Maloney from Dubuque, a postulant. Sister Philomene was one of six Sisters who left France for St. Louis, Mo., in 1836, and one of the four pioneer Sisters who came to St. Paul in November, 1851, at the request of Bishop Cretin. The first floor of a rented house on Ninth Avenue and Marshall (then, First) Street was fitted up as a school with two rooms - one for the boys, taught by Sister Ursula, and the other for the girls in charge of Miss Maloney.  Such the humble beginning of the first Catholic School in Minneapolis for admission to the congregation.
Pioneer Convent and School
      In 1854, the Sisters moved into the new convent, a two and-a-half story frame building with ten rooms, and five on each floor.  On the first floor were two class rooms, a music room, a parlor and a kitchen; and on the second floor the living quarters of the Sisters.  The "Female Academy" was blessed by Father Ledon and named St. Mary's Convent.  It occupied the site of the present St. Anthony Convent on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Second Street, Northeast. The convent was little more than a shell with unfinished interior, rough walls and floors and primitive furnishings. {Page 81}
    As a matter of fact, the four common chairs, bureau and centre table in the community room were the property of a neighbor who loaned them for a few months while he and his family were on a claim.  On his return to the village he took back the furniture, and the Sisters had to do without chairs until the pastor sent half a dozen from his scantily-furnished rooms.
   Each school room had four long desks with corresponding benches.  Three of the desks were ranged against the walls and the fourth placed in the middle of the floor, leaving the space near the door for the teacher's desk and chair.
   At the beginning of the school year the pupils were transferred to the convent.  The receipts for the first year were as meager as the furnishings-one hundred ninety-seven dollars and fifty-eight cents, while the expenses amounted to two hundred and three dollars and seventy-seven cents.  The people were poor, and even fifty cents a month tuition was more than many could afford.  For several years the deficits had to be made up by St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Paul out of its very limited resources.
     During the summer of 1854, Sister Scholastica Vasques succeeded Mother Philomene as Superior, Sister Euphemia Murray replaced Sister Ursula as teacher of the boys and Sister Gregory Lemay took charge of the domestic affairs of the convent.  Miss Maloney continued to teach the girls until June 1855, when she returned to Dubuque, and her place was taken by Sister Ignatius Loyola Cox.  About the same  time Sister Pauline Lemay, a cousin of Sister Gregory, came  to the convent to recuperate from illness.
     In the fall of 1855, Sister Euphemia was appointed Superior and Sister Scholastica and Sister Gregory returned to St. Paul.  A year later Sister Scholastica came back to St. Anthony to complete her term as Superior; and on February 7, 1858, she gave place to Mother Xavier Husey, who improved the building and beautified the grounds.  Sister Cyril was Directress of the school for a few months, and on her departure, December 15, 1858, Sister Celestine Howard was appointed her successor.  From motives of economy one class room was closed in 1859, and the boys {Page 82}and girls came under the supervision of Sister Celestine.

     The hard times continued throughout the year; and on January 16, 1860, the school was closed and Mother Xavier, Sisters Celestine and Pauline returned to St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Paul.  Illness had forced Sister Ignatius to leave in 1856.
     At the urgent solicitation of Father McDermott, who became pastor of the parish in May 1860, the Sisters consented to return, and in September the school was reopened in an old store which had been bought and hauled to the block on which the new church was located, and two rooms made ready for occupancy.  Sister Celestine was named Directress, and when the increased number of pupils made larger accommodations imperative the old frame church, which had been replaced by a stone edifice in 1861, was moved to a new site and remodeled for school purposes.

Historic Monuments
     When St. Mary's Convent was built no provision was made for a chapel for the Sisters.  They had to assist at Mass and other devotions in the parish church.  In 1871, an addition, about one-half the size of -the convent, was erected, the upper floor of which was used as a chapel and the lower as a class room.
     This residence served the needs of the community until Thanksgiving Day, 1888, when the Sisters took possession of the present St. Anthony Convent.  The original portion of the old building was sold to John McGowan who moved it to the corner of Tenth Avenue and Main Street, Northeast, and remodeled it into an apartment house which has since been stuccoed.  The addition was sold separately and removed to another location.
     It is interesting to note that the original chapel of St. Anthony is still in existence.  It served as a school for St. Anthony parish until 1886, when it was sold to the newly-organized Polish congregation of the Holy Cross, by whom it was occupied as a church until the brick edifice on the corner of Fourth Street and Seventeenth Avenue, Northeast, was opened for divine worship in 1902.  {Page 83}
     In the meantime the building had been made more church-like by the addition of a square tower, with tapering spire, in the center of the facade. Following the dedication of the new Church of the Holy Cross the old building was used as a parish school until 1906, when the present brick school was opened, after which it was destined to serve once more as a temporary church for a new parish.  It was bought by congregation and removed to a site on Third Street near Twenty-second Avenue, Northeast.  It was beautified by the addition of stained glass windows-five in each side and two in front-and occupied as a house of worship until 1927, when the present brick St. John the Baptist Ruthenian (Uniate) Church of St. John the Baptist was dedicated.  Since then the old church has again reverted to use as a parochial school in charge of a lay teacher.
     Despite the vicissitudes of fourscore years this venerable building is in a remarkably good state of preservation.  It is a link, and almost the only one, that binds the present to the pioneer days when what is now the City of Minneapolis was represented by a straggling village above St. Anthony Falls-a precious monument of a Catholic past that should be preserved for future generations.

First Catholic School in Minneapolis
    It was during the pastorate of Father Tissot, who succeeded Father McDermott in 1866, that a school was opened in the settlement west of the river to accommodate the children living in that locality who had been attending St. Anthony's.  This school, a "tasty, two-storied structure", was begun by Father McDermott and almost completed before he left the parish. Father Tissot finished and furnished it and opened it for the admission of pupils on December 10, 1866, when it was placed in charge of Sister Celestine who had for companion Sister Ignatius.  In less than two months there was an enrollment of one hundred and twenty-nine pupils, and a third teacher, Sister Cecelia Delaney, was added to the staff.  A visitor to the school, none other than the Editor of the recently-founded Northwestern Chronicle {Page 84} of St. Paul, was "very favorably impressed with the appearance and general deportment of the children.
    "This was the pioneer school of what was destined to be the parish of the Immaculate Conception.  It also served as a temporary church until the arrival of Father McGolrick, who enlarged it to accommodate the increased congregation. It was attended exclusively by girls after the opening of a school for boys of all ages, about 1870, and continued to be so used until the "shed church" was remodeled (after the dedication of the stone church) by the addition of a second story, to provide four class rooms-two on each floor. 

Every vestige of the original school building has disappeared, and no picture of it seems to have escaped the ravages of time. The Sisters who taught in it resided at St. Mary's Convent on the cast side and made the trip across the river every day.  Sister Celestine continued in charge until 1875, when she was made Directress of St. Joseph's Academy and Sister St. John Ireland was appointed to succeed her.

School for Boys
    The school for boys, above mentioned, was opened by Father McGolrick in a vacant store-on First Street, between Bridge Square and First Avenue, South, and placed under the direction of Peter McCormick.  He was succeeded by Owen J. McCartney, who was also the leader of the choir and who met a tragic death in the railroad yards on October 8, 1878. Early in its career the school was transferred to a better location on Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue, South, where it was conducted until the rebuilt frame school was ready for use, when the boys and their teacher migrated to the new building.  The girls, taught by Sisters, occupied the upper class rooms, and the rooms on the ground floor were reserved for the boys-one for those under twelve, in charge of a Sister, and the other for the older boys under the supervision of a male teacher.
     In the meantime Mr. McCartney had been succeeded by John Woods, John Dineen and P. J. Butler who was in charge when the frame school was burned on January 3, 1879.  {Page 85}
     Teacher and pupils then returned to the old school on Ninth Street, where work was carried on until the brick school was ready for occupancy early in 1880.  Thereafter boys and girls were taught under the same roof, the older boys by a male teacher.  In the autumn of 1880, Mr. Butler was succeeded by Peter Hilary who, in turn, gave place to Mr. Hickey, James McDonnell and Mons Baker until 1889, when the Christian Brothers opened a school for boys in the old orphanage on Sixth Avenue, North.  When this school was closed in 1891, boys and girls were taught by the Sisters in the parish school.
     In 1877, Sister Mary James Mernaugh succeeded Sister St. John as Directress of the parochial school and the teachers thenceforth resided in the recently-opened "Holy Angels." The following year Sister St. James Doyle was placed in charge; and it was during her tenure of office that the brick school was erected to replace the frame building destroyed by fire.

The Brick School
     The plans, prepared by Haglin and Corser, called for a building 84x43 feet in dimensions, two stories in height with full basement.  The foundation was of cut stone and the superstructure of colored brick with ornamental stone trim.  The basement was divided into two large meeting halls; the school occupied the first story, and the upper floor was one large hall suitable for fairs, society reunions, etc.  The building cost about fifteen thousand dollars.
   Ground was broken for the foundation in August 1879, and the cornerstone was blessed and placed in position on Sunday afternoon, September 28, by Bishop Ireland, who preached a sermon on the Church as the Teacher of Truth.  The cornerstone bore the inscription, "Catholic Association Hall", indicative of the fact that the building was to serve not only as a school but as a meeting-place for parish organizations.  In the cornerstone was placed a sealed tin box containing copies of the local daily papers, of current Catholic publications and fragments of stone from the Grotto of Lourdes, the seven churches of Glendalough and the Rock of Cashel.
  The Father Mathew Society and the Crusaders in full regalia formed a bodyguard for the Bishop and his  assistants, and the ceremony was witnessed by a large concourse of people.
  Some years after the new school was opened the Total Abstinence Crusaders built an addition to the rear of it for a gymnasium and equipped it with all that was necessary for athletics.  For a while the gymnasium was well patronized; but dissensions arose in the ranks of its sponsors and many allowed their membership to lapse.  Athletic activities waned through lack of interest, and Father Byrne closed the gymnasium and remodeled it for school purposes.
  This school served the needs of the parish until 1913, when the more modern school on Laurel Avenue and Sixteenth Street in the rear of the Basilica, was ready for occupancy.  A detailed description of the Basilica School is given elsewhere in this booklet.
Christian Brothers School
      When the orphans were transferred to their suburban home in the spring of 1887, the orphanage on Third Street and Sixth Avenue, three blocks north of the church, was secured by the parish for a boys school to be taught by the Christian Brothers.  At the urgent request of Father McGolrick the Christian Brothers of St. Louis agreed to come on condition that, at the end of two years after their arrival, a new school erected by the congregation, would take the place of the old orphanage which was poorly adapted to that purpose. Accordingly, in September 1889, Brother Lewis, Director, and Brother Gideon opened the school.  On December 27, of that year Father McGolrick was consecrated first Bishop of Duluth, and after his departure the parish was subdivided and two new parishes established before his successor, Father Byrne, took charge.  Under these circumstances the congregation felt that it was not in a position to comply with its part of the original agreement and, at the close of the school year in June 1891, the Brothers withdrew.  The class register showed a list of 108 pupils, among whom were many {Page 87} destined to hold important positions in the business and professional life of the city.

     Repeated efforts were made in succeeding years to prevail on the Brothers to return and open a select school for boys, but without avail until 1899, when a site was bought for a high school on Nicollet Island and a building erected near the King mansion which was purchased as a residence for the Brothers.  This new development was made possible by a bequest of ten thousand dollars, left by Anthony Kelly for that purpose, supplemented by a contribution of fifteen thousand dollars from the parishes of Minneapolis.  The Christian Brothers opened De La Salle High School in October, 1900.  {Page 88}
      The need of a local residence for the Sisters teaching in the parish school was felt for many years before a Table for that purpose.  The North convent was available for that for that purpose. The Northwestern Chronicle of January 13, 1877, announced that the Sisters of St. Joseph had recently established themselves in West Minneapolis, and added that "the Immaculate Conception parish, so numerous and so wealthy, will soon commence building a residence for the good Sisters"-a prophecy never fulfilled.
      Towards the end of 1876, the Sisters of St. Joseph rented the Merritt house on Third Street, North, directly opposite the church.  It. was known as the "White Convent" and was placed in charge of Mother St. John Ireland, Directress of the parish school.  On January 29 of the following year it was named the "Holy Angels," and thereafter served as a residence for the Sisters in charge of the parochial school who followed it in its migrations.  In 1878, the Ankeny home, or "Brown Convent," was bought, and a one-story addition made to it for a study hall.  It was from this institution that the first graduation from Holy Angels' Academy took place in 1880.  Shortly afterwards the Sisters moved to the Skyles house, north of the present West Hotel, where they built a frame school with three class rooms on the lower floor and a study hall on the upper.  When they acquired the Bassett property on Fourth Street, North, and Seventh Avenue, in 1882, they hauled this building to the new location, and used it until the Holy Angels' Academy was abandoned in 1928.  Here the Sisters who taught in the Immaculate Conception school resided until 1913, when they took up their abode at St. Margaret's Academy.  The name and purpose of this pioneer school for girls are perpetuated in the new Academy of the Holy Angels on Nicollet Avenue at Sixty-sixth Street, opened for the admission of pupils in September, 1931. {Page 89}
The Parochial Residence
    
When Father McGolrick was appointed to the pastoral charge of Minneapolis
{1868}, he was confronted with the task of organizing the parish and erecting the necessary buildings to carry on the works of religion in a new locality.  A small frame school was the sole equipment of the parish.  He set to work to build a temporary church, and later on had the happiness of dedicating a more pretentious structure that served the needs of the congregation for two score years.
      Not until he attained that goal did he think of a permanent residence for himself and his successors.  At that time he was living in rented quarters inadequate to the requirements of a growing parish.  After his appointment as pastor of Minneapolis in 1868, he "resided with Father Tissot for a time, while getting acquainted with the Catholics of the west side".  When he moved across the river, he rented a house on Fourth Avenue, North, at Second Street; later on he took up his residence on Itaska Street (Third Avenue, North) where the National Biscuit Company is now located, whence he moved to the home of Anthony Kelly on Second Street, between Second and Third Avenues, South, where he lived until March, 1872.  He then rented a dwelling at 252 Second Avenue, North, though he continued to dine at Anthony Kelly's.
     In 1874, an opportunity presented itself to purchase a lot adjacent to the school and, on October 16, he bought it from John F. Duhren for five thousand dollars.  On the premises there was a substantial dwelling which became the official residence of the Immaculate Conception parish.  Father McGolrick enlarged the house by the addition of a dining room and kitchen on the lower floor, and a bedroom above, and veneered the whole structure with brick.  This was the parish rectory until June, 1914, when the clergy moved to a new house on Laurel Avenue, in the rear of the then Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary. {
Page 90}
The old house was razed with the church and school in 1922.
    
The new property-comprising lots 5 and 6 of Block 34, Wilson, Bell and Wagner's Addition-was purchased from Joseph M. Regan on May 6, 1911, for twenty-one thousand dollars.  Two houses-one brick and the other frame-occupied the site and were used as a pastoral residence for fourteen years.  When the transfer was made to the present building on Seventeenth Street, the old houses were demolished and the site merged in the school yard, which was further enlarged by extending the terrace on Sixteenth Street to the rear wall of the church, and the whole was leveled and covered with crushed stone.  Two sets of modern playground equipment were installed, -one for the boys and one for the girls, and the yard enclosed by an ornamental iron fence which enhances the beauty of the property, making it one of the most up-to-date playgrounds in the city.
     A description of the present parochial house is found elsewhere in this volume. {
91}
The Basilica of St. Mary
The Basilica of St. Mary of Minneapolis, Minnesota, enjoys the distinction of being the first church in the United States to be raised to the dignity of a Minor Basilica by the Holy See.  The honor was conferred by Pontifical Brief dated February 1, 1926, and signed by Cardinal, Gasparri, Secretary of State to His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, now gloriously reigning.  The original occupies a prominent place in the sacristy of the church, and a translation is herewith appended.
PIUS XI, POPE AND BISHOP
FOR LASTING REMEMBRANCE OF THF EVENT:
     Conspicuous in the City of Minneapolis, within the territory of the Archdiocese of St. Paul, stands the church dedicated to St. Mary, right noble in its structure and specimens of art, the building whereof, as well as of a Catholic school for boys and girls erected at considerable expense, was undertaken and completed by the late lamented John Ireland, Archbishop of St. Paul, a prelate most worthy of remembrance and renown.  This Church of St. Mary is rightly and deservedly reckoned among the leading churches of the Archdiocese of St. Paul.
     Whereas, Our Beloved Son, James M. Reardon, its present Rector, has made humble request of Us that 'We vouchsafe to raise the sacred edifice in question to the dignity of a Minor Basilica, thereby superseding its present title of Pro-Cathedral, We, of Our full knowledge that the aforesaid church is wholly worthy of this distinction, both by reason of the piety of its worshippers as well as by the splendor of its ritual and the richness of its adornment, have deemed it well to accede to the wishes expressed in this regard.  And We are further moved thereto by the crowning approval and high recommendation of Our Venerable Brother, Austin Dowling, Archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as of Our Beloved Son, Donatus Sbarretti, Cardinal Priest of the Holy Roman Church.
     Wherefore, having given the matter most careful and serious consideration along with Our Venerable Brother, Anthony Cardinal Vico, Bishop of Porto and San Rufina and Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, We, of Our own proper motion, after sure knowledge and mature deliberation and from the fullness of Our Apostolic power do, by tenor of these presents, raise to the singular title and dignity of a Minor Basilica St. Mary's Church in the City of Minneapolis and Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota, hereby superseding the title of Pro-Cathedral hitherto in current use; and We grant unto it all the privileges and tokens of honor which pertain to Minor Basilicas as of right.{Page 92}



     This, then, is Our behest and decree, that these presents be and continue to be always sound, valid and effective; that they obtain and maintain their effect whole and entire; that they be, both now and hereafter, ample authorization for those whom they concern or shall concern; that thus it must be duly judged and defined; and that if aught else over and above these presents should happen to be attempted by any person or by any authority whatsoever, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the same shall be null and void everything to the contrary notwithstanding.
     Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, under the Fisherman's Seal, on the first day of February in the year 1926, being the fourth of Our Pontificate.
P. Cardinal Gasparri,
Secretary of State.

Origin and Development of Basilicas
     The name, Basilica, applied to a church is new in America and it may not be uninteresting to explain its significance, trace its history, and specify the privileges it connotes.
     In pre-Christian times buildings erected in the form of pillared halls were used for public assemblies and for the administration of justice.  They were called Basilicas, or "kingly" halls.  The usual plan was an oblong rectangle with a broad central nave separated from side aisles, or ambulatories, by rows of columns.  The walls of the nave rested on these columns and were carried up above the roofs of the side aisles to form a clerestory pierced with windows to admit light to the building.  At one end of the structure was the entrance consisting, usually, of several doors under a portico, and at the other a semi-circular vaulted niche, or apse, separated from the main building by a screen of columns or a low balustrade, and occupied by the tribune of the judge, and an altar for sacrifice to be offered before the transaction of business.
     Many buildings of this architectural type graced the Roman Forum in the second century before Christ; and when the religious persecutions of the first three centuries ceased under the Emperor Constantine, they were either transformed into {Page 95} Christian churches or served as models for such edifices.
They were not unsuited to that purpose.  The semi-circular niche was readily converted into a sanctuary, and the high altar, usually covered with a baldachin, occupied the place of the raised platform of the judge.  Transepts were often added between the apse and the nave for practical purposes and on account of their symbolism, giving the whole a cruciform appearance.  Under the altar was the confession or shrine, of the titular saint or martyr.
      The dedication of these Basilicas to the worship of the true God present in the tabernacle gave them a new significance as the audience-chamber of the King of Kings, and the use of the word, Basilica, as a name for a Christian Church became quite general.  It was natural that in time these kingly churches should take on rich ornamentation, usually in mosaic and gold.  While the exterior of the Basilica was extremely plain, the interior was resplendent with glass mosaic on a blue or golden background.  Especially rich were the half-dome of the apse and the wall space surrounding its arch and called the triumphal arch.  Next in decorative importance came the broad band of wall beneath the clerestory windows.  In the fifth century square towers came into vogue and modifications of the general plan added to the number of naves.
      From the time of Constantine the name, Basilica, was used in the writings of the Fathers of the Church and in official documents to signify the Christian Church.  "Once," says St. Isidore, "they called the Basilica the dwelling-place of the kings, but now the churches of the Lord are so named, because therein to the King of Kings, to God Himself, are offered up adoration and sacrifice." The exterior of a Basilica is usually without special architectural ornamentation.  The monotony of the walls is broken by simple cornices, entablatures and mural offsets; and a low gable roof of tile or metal covers the main structure.
Major and Minor Basilicas
     Scarcely anything remains of the Basilicas adapted to Christian worship in the early centuries; and but few remnants are {Page 96} to be found of the numerous Basilicas erected under Constantine.
The most important ones-the Vatican Basilica, enshrining the remains of St. Peter; the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, erected over the body of the Apostle of the Gentiles; the Basilicas of St. Lawrence and St. Agnes in Rome; the Basilicas of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, of the Nativity in Bethlehem and of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople are no longer the original churches.  There are many Basilicas in Rome and elsewhere dating from the fifth and, sixth centuries, modified and restored from time to time during the intervening years.
     In the liturgical sense a Basilica is a church upon which, on account of its importance, special distinction has been bestowed.  These Basilicas are distinguished as Major and Minor, not because of their size but because of their dignity.  To the Major Basilicas belong the four Patriarchal churches of Rome: St. John Lateran; St.  Peter's; St. Paul Outside the Walls; and St. Mary Major.  All others are known as Minor Basilicas, of which there are nine in Rome, and a large number throughout the world.  To this class belongs the Basilica of St. Mary of Minneapolis.
     No church may arrogate to itself the title of Basilica.  The distinction is bestowed only by Apostolic Letter, bearing the Seal of the Fisherman, and carries with it certain rights and privileges.  The granting of such a title is without reference to the architectural style, size, or antiquity of the church.  It signifies that the church so honored is worthy of special veneration, either because of its origin and historical association or, as in the present instance, in virtue of an exercise of apostolic power by the Sovereign Pontiff.
Rights and Privileges of Basilicas
     Churches so honored enjoy certain rights and privileges. in the rescript elevating St. Mary's Church of Minneapolis to the dignity of a Minor Basilica we read, "We grant unto it all the privileges and tokens of honor which pertain to Minor Basilicas as of right." What are these "privileges and tokens of honor?" {Page 97}
     For centuries there was question of the real meaning of this phrase.  The official interpretation was given by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on August 27, 1836; when it declared that the privileges belonging to Minor Basilicas from time immemorial comprise preeminence of rank, the use of the pavilion and bell and the wearing of the Cappa Magna by the Canons.  By time-honored custom a Basilica also has the right to a coat-of-arms and a corporate seal.
     The preeminence of a Minor Basilica has reference to the ranking of its corporate clergy in public functions, processions, etc.  In their own diocese the basilical clergy are entitled to precedence over all the other clergy of the diocese, except those of the Cathedral; and, in a diocese not their own, they outrank all others except the Cathedral clergy of that diocese and, if such there be, the clergy of a Basilica older than their own.
     The origin of the privilege granting a Basilica the use of two distinctive insignia, namely, the pavilion and the bell, is lost in the twilight of history.  The pavilion or canopy is a large umbrella so constructed that it cannot open more than half way.  It is made of twelve alternate stripes of red and yellow silk with pendants braided and fringed in yellow and so arranged that to each stripe is attached a pendant of the opposite color-the whole supported by ribs fastened to a wooden handle topped with a ball and cross of gilded metal.  Originally the pavilion was held over the head of the Supreme Pontiff to shield him from rain or sun, whenever he visited a Basilica.  It was borne by the clergy when they went in procession to meet the Pontiff at the door, and the bearer held it half open and ready for instant use.  In the course of time the custom fell into desuetude; but the pavilion has been retained as a symbol of honor distinctive of Basilicas.
     The origin of the other mark of dignity is traceable to the custom of ringing a bell to announce the starting of the clerical procession to meet the Pope at the entrance of the Basilica.  The bell is not more than six inches in diameter at its lowest part and is mounted on an elaborate framework, or belfry, of metal or carved wood designed according to the architecture of the church and fixed on top of a banner pole. {Page 98}
     The pavilion and bell are carried in procession, not by the clergy, but by prominent members of the congregation-the bell immediately behind the processional cross and the pavilion following it.  When not in use they are Prominently displayed in the sanctuary.  The right to use them, being a pontifical concession, cannot be curtailed, much less abolished, by diocesan custom or ordinance. The Basilica of St. Mary is not yet provided with these insignia.
     The Cappa Magna is a choir-vestment of purple with an ermine cape and folded train worn by the Canons of the Basilica during the recitation of the Divine Office.  This privilege is in abeyance in the United States since there are no Canons connected with our churches.
     The other insignia of a Basilica are, by immemorial custom, a coat-of-arms and a corporate seal.  A coat-of-arms differs from a seal, although the latter may, and usually does, embody the former as one of its main features.  The seal with the name of the church engraved on it is used to authenticate written documents and to attach waxen seals.  In the coat-of-arms of a Basilica the distinctive heraldic device is the pavilion or umbrella so placed that the pole or handle is behind the shield on which are emblazoned the armorial bearings of the church, its patron, the city in which it is located and the diocese to which it belongs.
     The coat-of-arms of the Basilica of St. Mary is a striking example of ecclesiastical heraldry, simple yet expressive in design and in the best tradition.  The lower half of the shield symbolizes Minneapolis, "the City by the Waterfall," the alternate, horizontal, wavy stripes of blue and silver representing the waters of the Mississippi and St. Anthony Falls.  Above these is a broad silver band typifying the indented battlements of a city.  The upper half of the shield is blue with a silver crescent moon in the center of the field-the heraldic device of the Immaculate Conception, the original name of the church.  Blue and white are the characteristic colors of the Blessed Virgin Mary, its patroness.
     The bell is not a part of basilical heraldry, but is purely a processional ornament. {Page 99}
     We may, therefore, interpret this coat-of-arms as that of a Basilica dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, in a city by the waterfall.  The wavy lines of blue and silver constitute part of the coat-of-arms of the Archdiocese of  St. Paul in which the Basilica is located.
     The coat-of-arms is usually sculptured on the front of the church, parochial residence, other parish buildings and their furnishings; engraved on the sacred vessels of the altar, silverware, etc.; embroidered on vestments and banners; and engraved on the official stationary and documents.
Spiritual Privileges
     By virtue of its elevation to basilical rank a church is not necessarily dowered with spiritual privileges above the ordinary.  That it may be so enriched a petition for such favors, approved by the Ordinary of the diocese, must be sent to those who have faculties to grant them.
The Basilica of St. Mary is one of the most highly indulgenced churches in the United States.
     By virtue of a Pontifical Brief, dated March 5, 1927, and signed by Cardinal Gasparri, Secretary of State to His Holiness, Pope Plus XI - a translation of which is hereto appended - the faithful who visit the Basilica of St. Mary can gain a Plenary Indulgence on the first Sunday of every month in perpetuity on the usual conditions of Confession and Communion and prayers for the intention of the Holy Father.
PIUS XI, POPE AND BISHOP
IN PERPETUAI, REMEMBRANCE OF THE EVENT:
     The Reverend Pastor of the Parish Church of St. Mary, in the City of Minneapolis, in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota, humbly petitioned Us to grant said Church the privilege of a Plenary Indulgence in perpetuity.  We have looked with favor upon this request, inspired by charity, because by this means the faith of the Christian people will be strengthened, and the salvation of souls promoted, by applying to them graces ever abundantly at the disposal of the Church. We, having taken counsel with the Major Penitentiary, a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and trusting {Page 100}
in the mercy of God, and relying upon the authority of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, grant and concede a Plenary Indulgence, on the first Sunday of every month, to all the faithful who receive the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion, visit in a spirit of devotion the parish church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and pray for peace and harmony among Christian rulers, the extirpation of heresy, the conversion of sinners, the exaltation of Holy Mother Church. We decree that this document shall remain in force, have its effect, and retain its value in perpetuity, and that it applies now and shall apply in the future in its entirety to said Church of the Blessed Virgin in Minneapolis.  This decree shall be understood and interpreted in the sense that anything shall be null and void, now and in perpetuity, that may be attempted otherwise than here decreed, by any one, no matter by what authority, knowingly or unknowingly everything to the contrary notwithstanding.  This shall remain in force for all future times. Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, under the Seal of the Fisherman, the fifth day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, the sixth year of Our Pontificate.
P. Cardinal Gasparri,
Secretary of State.

Affiliation With St. Mary Major
The Basilica of St. Mary was the first church in the United States-and the only one, as far as we are aware,- to become affiliated with St. Mary Major in Rome.  The following is a translation of the official decree.
THE CHAPTER AND CANONS
OF THE SACRED PATRIARCHAL LIBERIAN BASILICA
OF THE ETERNAL CITY
To Our Beloved, The Pastor Of The Basilica Of St.  Mary, Minneapolis-
Everlasting Greetings In The Lord.

 The filial and striking devotion which you cherish towards the Sacred Image of the Virgin Mother of God, painted by the hand of St. Luke, the Evangelist, which has been enshrined for many centuries in Our Liberian Basilica, and becomes more resplendent every day by reason of the miracles which God deigned to work through it at all times even to the present, fittingly merits that We grant you the favors conceded to Us by apostolic dispensation.
     Wherefore, you have petitioned us that, because of the singular devotion you profess towards the Mother of God and Our Liberian Basilica, specially dedicated to her, We deign to unite, affiliate and incorporate the Basilica of St. Mary of Minneapolis, in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota, with the sacred Basilica of St. Mary Major, {Page 101}
by which the aforesaid church may participate and share in the favors, indulgences, privileges and apostolic indults conceded to Us and to the said Liberian Basilica by the Supreme Pontiffs.
Desirous of acceding to your pious request, as far as 'We are able in-the Lord, by virtue of Our ordinary faculties which We enjoy by the tenor of the aforesaid apostolic indults, and especially by reason of the faculties graciously granted by Pope Clement XII, of blessed memory, under the Seal of the Fisherman in the Apostolic Brief of June 8, 1736, We grant you the desired affiliation, so that all the faithful of both sexes who visit the said church, with proper dispositions, may gain, share in and enjoy all the indulgences, spiritual privileges and favors, according to the mind of the Church, described in the above-mentioned rescripts of Clement XII. These indulgences, spiritual privileges and favors are summarized as follows:
PLENARY INDULGENCES on the feasts of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), Nativity (September 8), Annunciation (March 25), and Assumption (August 15), of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
PARTIAL INDULGENCES of twenty-five years and as many quarantines (forty days) on the feast of the Purification (February 2); five years and five quarantines on the feast of the Visitation (July 2); four years and four quarantines on the feast of the Presentation    (November 21); three years and three quarantines on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross September 14); two years and two quarantines on the feast of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel (September 29).
STATIONAL INDULGENCES: First Sunday in Advent; Vigil of Christmas; the Nativity; Second Sunday in Lent; 'Wednesday of Holy Week; Easter Sunday; Rogation Monday; Feast of the Dedication of Our Lady of the Snow (August 5); Wednesday of Ember Weeks. (A "station" is a church to which the clergy and laity of Rome go in procession on stated days to say special prayers).
     In testimony whereof, We have ordered this document to be signed by Our Reverend Secretary and attested by the Grand Seal of the Chapter.
     Given in the Office of Our Chapter at St. Mary Major on the ninth day of January, in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-seven.
Vincentius Cardinal Vannutelli,
                  Archpriest of the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica
                                 Marcus Canon Martini,
   
                                    Secretary of the Chapter.
                   To the Reverend James M. Reardon,
               Pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
                         Seen and approved, May 21, 1927.

                               
Augustinus Dowling,
                                        Archbishop of St. Paul.

{Page l02}
Affiliation with St. John Lateran
     Only a few churches in this country are affiliated with St. John Lateran, the Mother and Head of all the churches in Rome and in the world.  That honor can be claimed by the Basilica of St. Mary, as evidenced by the following translation of the official rescript.
THE CHAPTER AND CANONS
OF THE HOLY LATERAN CHURCH
To OUR BELOVED IN CHRIST, THE REVEREND JAMES MICHAEL REARDON, PASTOP, OF THE BASILICA OF ST.  MARY, IN THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, AND THF, ARCHDIOCESE OF ST.  PAUL, Minnesota
-EVERLASTING GREETINGS IN THE LORD
     The singular devotion which you have manifested towards Our Holy Lateran Basilica merits adequate recognition on Our part, and induces Us to grant you those spiritual favors which are permitted by the Apostolic See, especially as they will promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
     The request you have made to Us is a manifest indication that you cherish a deep devotion for Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, as well as for Our Lateran Basilica, dedicated to them.  Inspired by this devotion you desire that the Parish and Basilica of St. Mary of Minneapolis, in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, be aggregated, affiliated, united and incorporated with Our Lateran Basilica, to the end that We may grant and Communicate to your Basilica all the indulgences and spiritual privileges accorded to Our Basilica by Papal concession.
     We have decreed to look with favor on your request, as We are convinced that it is now, and, in future, will be, highly conducive to the salvation of souls.  We, therefore, in union with His Eminence Basil Pompili, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Vicar of His Holiness Pius XI in the City of Rome, by the mercy of God, Bishop of Veliterno, and Archpriest of Our Holy Lateran Basilica, in chapter assembled, in accordance with the regulations of Our Roman Papal Lateran Patriarchate, by Our ordinary powers, which We enjoy by Apostolic Indults and Privileges, and now administer, and particularly by virtue of the faculties conferred on Us by Pope Benedict XIV, of happy memory, on the fourth day of May, 1751, beginning with the words, "Assidux Solicitudinis," grant and permit, in the fullest measure possible, the aforesaid aggregation, affiliation, union and incorporation of the Basilica of St. Mary in the City of Minneapolis, in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota.
     We, likewise, declare the aforesaid Basilica of St. Mary an associate of Our Holy Lateran Basilica according to the faculties granted Us by the Roman Pontiffs and the decrees of the Council of Trent, and by virtue of the constitutions of the Sovereign Pontiffs, in such  {Page 103} manner that the faithful of both sexes, visiting the aforesaid Basilica of St. Mary, rightly disposed, may enjoy, receive and participate in all the above-mentioned indulgences, privileges and spiritual favors, in the same measure as if they personally visited Our Lateran Basilica.
     The following is a summary of the indulgences and spiritual favors they may obtain in the Lord:

PLENARY INDULGENCES may be gained by all who, truly penitent and after confession, visit the Basilica of St. Mary on the feast days of the Ascension of Our Lord; of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24); of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) ; of St. John the Evangelist (December 27); of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (November 9), between the first vespers and sunset of the feast day itself, and pray for the exaltation of Holy Mother Church and for peace among Christian rulers.

     An indulgence of seven years and as many quarantines (forty days) may be gained by all who, truly penitent and after confession, visit the aforesaid church on the feast days of the other Apostles St. Andrew (November 30); St. James the Greater (July 25); St. Thomas (December 21); Sts. Philip and James (May 1); St. Bartholomew (August 24); St. Matthew (September 21); Sts. Simon and Jude (October 29); St. Mathias (February 24), under the same conditions.

     An indulgence of four years and as many quarantines is granted to all who visit the said Basilica on any day between the first Sunday of Advent and Christmas, and between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, being truly penitent and having the intention of receiving the Sacraments before the expiration of these periods.  On other days of the year an indulgence of one hundred days may be gained.

     The same STATIONAL INDULGENCES may be gained by all who visit the Basilica, that are granted in connection with the Station days of the Lateran Church, as set forth in the Roman Missal, namely, the first Sunday of Lent; Palm Sunday; Holy Thursday; Holy Saturday; Tuesday of Rogation Week; Saturday within the Octave of Easter; and the Vigil of Pentecost, provided they are truly penitent and intend to go to confession.
    
By virtue of the foregoing faculties We grant and communicate the indulgences and privileges enjoyed by the Lateran Basilica to the Basilica of St. Mary of Minneapolis, Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota, with the consent of the local Ordinary.  Similar privileges will not be granted to any other church in that city.

     Moreover, We declare that all these indulgences are applicable to the souls in Purgatory, in accordance with the Rescript of Pope Pius VI.
    
We decree that, for the future, every fifteen years, computed from the date of this letter, you or your successors shall renew this request and thus obtain from Us the confirmation of this aggregation, union, association and affiliation; otherwise, at the end of this period, if the renewal or confirmation of the above-mentioned
{Page 104} letter be not asked and granted, the Basilica of St. Mary will cease to enjoy the aforesaid spiritual favors and after that this letter shall be null and void.
     In testimony of these, one and all, We have had this letter signed by the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Chamberlains and the Reverend Secretary of the Canons, and fortified by the Grand Seal of Our Chapter, as prescribed in such cases.
     Given at the Lateran, February twenty-seven, in the nineteen hundred and twenty-seventh year after the Birth of Our Lord, the sixth year of the Pontificate of Our Holy Father in Christ, Pius XI, by Divine Providence, Pope.
    Joseph Quadrini, Canon.
  Pius Paschini, Canon.
               V. Misuraca, Canon, Secretary.
Germanus Straniero,
                          Dean of Canons of the Lateran Basilica
Seen and approved, May 5, 1927,
Augustinus Dowling,
Archbishop of St. Paul.
     The Basilica of St. Mary is, likewise, affiliated with the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land; but the spiritual privileges thereto annexed are in abeyance until a Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel is officially established in the parish, and the Pious Union under the title of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus is canonically erected and aggregated to the Primary Union under the direction of the Carmelite Order. {105}
DESCRIPTIVE
The Basilica of St. Mary
     The Basilica of St. Mary stands almost in the centre of the large block of ground fronting on Hennepin Avenue between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets and extending back to Laurel Avenue.  In the foreground, one block distant, is Loring Park with its grassy undulations, shaded walks, rustic bridges and recreational areas.  Not far to the south is the broad, level sward of the Parade with its ample facilities for games and amusements; and beyond it lies the sweeping slope of Lowry Hill with its fine residences, art galleries and splendid churches. : Future improvements will undoubtedly dismantle the buildings which lie between the Basilica and these open spaces and transform the locality into a civic centre of which the city may be justly proud.  The graceful curve of the avenue in front of the Basilica adds to the attractiveness of its location, and affords travellers approaching the down-town section a charming view of the church as they converge. towards it by way of Hennepin, Lyndale, and Superior Avenues.
     This was the one site in Minneapolis destined, it would seem, by nature herself, to be the setting for a magnificent temple dedicated to the Most High.  It is not so elevated as to make the church seem remote from the people whose spiritual welfare it is intended to promote, nor so low as to cause it to lose its identity and individuality in the midst of the surroundings in which it lifts its glittering cross to proclaim its mission.  Fortunate, indeed, it was that those in charge of the project had vision to foresee the possibilities dormant in the location.
     Upon this site a great Basilica has arisen as a result of the combined efforts of priests and people a Basilica which compares very favorably, in architectural design and symbolism, with the most renowned churches of the Old World, and  {p109}challenges the noblest edifices which religion has called into being in the New.
Modern Renaissance Architecture
     The Basilica of St. Mary is a striking example of Modern Renaissance architecture, a development of the neoclassic of the fifteenth century.  One of the manifestations of the revival of classic learning and art in Europe following the Middle Ages was a new type of architecture produced by a fusion of medieval and antique forms.  It was evidenced by a break in the orderly evolution of architecture along the lines of Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine, and for centuries the Renaissance idea dominated the architectural world.  The new style was based on the classical Roman, but columns, pilasters, entablatures and other details were applied in a novel and pleasing form.  It was "characterized by finely wrought arabesques, strings and cornices of classic profile, delicate pilasters and pediments and a great profusion of surface color and ornamentation".
    
Florence was the cradle of the art, but-from the sixteenth century Rome became the centre; and in St. Peter's the Renaissance style reached its culmination.  It is the outstanding monument of this structural mode.
      The Renaissance architects followed the Byzantine treatment of the dome, but increased its importance by lifting it bodily from its sub-structure and placing it on a drum pierced by windows, thus making it a dominant external characteristic.  It is worthy of note that a massive, lantern-crowned dome is one of the striking features of the Basilica of St. Mary.

     The material used in the construction of the Basilica of St. Mary is granite - from Minnesota quarries in the foundation, from the quarries of Vermont in the superstructure.  The foundation goes deep down into the earth, especially the four massive piers which support the square dome which rises to a height of one hundred and eighty-seven feet above the grade, and the smaller piers that bear the weight of the clerestory walls. {110}



     The dimensions of the building are: Length, exclusive of front steps, 278 feet; width, 120 feet; height from grade to nave ridge, 95 feet; dome 61 feet square outside and 48 inside; height to foot of cross, 187 feet; cross 13 feet; front towers, 133 feet high and 22 feet square; height from nave floor to ceiling 75 feet; height from sanctuary floor to dome ceiling, 138 feet; nave, inside piers, 140 x 82 x 75 feet; ambulatories in nave 155 x 10 x 20 feet; sanctuary ambulatories, 62 x 10 x 67 feet; vestibule, 84 x 10 x 20 feet.

The Main Altar
     The main altar is one of the finest in the country and cost upwards of fifty thousand dollars.  It is to the church what the soul is to the body - the centre and source of religious life, of the spiritual activity radiating from the sanctuary to all parts of the parish and to each parishioner whose soul is not impervious to grace.  It evokes the admiration of all who visit the church for devotion or sight-seeing.  Everything in the sacred edifice converges towards the sanctuary and focuses attention on the altar which, like a diamond encircled by other jewels, dominates the setting.
     The platform on which the altar stands is 24 feet square and rests on two immense walls of reinforced concrete deeply embedded in the foundation and upholding the sanctuary floor and sustaining the weight of the structure.  The altar proper, the table of sacrifice, is beautiful in its severe simplicity of outline and chaste decoration.  It is of white Italian statuary marble relieved by a few dark veins.  The mensa (table) is 11 feet, 8 inches in length, 23 inches in width and 39 inches above the predella.  On the front of the tomb-like base which supports it, a carved wreath surrounds the monogram I.H.S. in the centre of the panel and the inscription, "Tabernaculum Dei Cum Hominibus" (The Tabernacle of God with men), is a scriptural reference to the purpose which the altar serves.  The inscription on the base of the panel, "Altare Privilegiatum, Quotidianum, Perpetuum," declares that the altar is a "privileged" altar for daily Masses in perpetuity, that is to say, a plenary indulgence can be gained for the person, living or dead, for whom the Holy Sacrifice is offered. {Page 113}
      The platform on which the altar rests is of buff Botticino marble as well as the massive square pedestals from which rise the four polished monoliths of Breche opal, each 15 feet in height, which support the baldachin, or canopy, of cream Botticino with its carved entablature, adoring angels, tapering finials, engraved panels and graceful dome-all serving as a pedestal, forty feet high, to lift the nine-foot statue of Our Lady of Grace above the environing grilles of the sanctuary and bring it into bold relief against the decorated background of the apsidal ceiling.  The domed ceiling of the baldachin is brilliant with Venetian mosaic threaded with golden rays from the figure of a dove in a vault of azure illumined by electric lights concealed in a chamber above the opening which pierces the dome at the apex.  From the soffit of the baldachin a mellow light is shed on the altar to enable the celebrant to read without other artificial aids.  The predella, 14 x 6 1/2 feet, reached by five steps from the sanctuary floor, is ample enough for pontifical ceremonies of all kinds.
      The tabernacle rises majestically from the centre of the altar, its capstone divided into two parts, one of which serves as a pedestal for the bronze crucifix that crowns it and the other as a throne for the ostensorium which can be placed thereon without leaving the predella.  It encloses a steel safe, lined with cedar and silk and provided with two bronze doors, the rear for use in sick calls.  There is a seven-foot mensa behind the altar which can be used for the celebration of Mass.
     The candlesticks, twelve in number- six large and six small - rest on broad, low gradines and conform in design, material and workmanship to the crucifix which, with its chaste silver corpus, rises six feet above the summit of the tabernacle.  The large candlesticks are provided with extensions to hold the wax candles.
 
The Spacious Sanctuary
     The sanctuary is easily one of the finest in America.  It is sixty-two feet square to the outside of the dome piers and spacious enough for the most elaborate liturgical functions.  Some one has well said that it could "accommodate a canonization." {Page 114}




     There is ample room for all practical purposes between the altar and the stalls and between it and the communion rail.  The floor of the sanctuary is elevated three feet above the floor of the nave and the ceremonies can be witnessed without difficulty by the largest congregation.  The field of the floor is of rose pink Tennessee marble, richly veined, bordered with verd antique.  It is worthy of note that practically one-third of the church is behind the sanctuary rail.

The Communion Rail
      The communion rail of Botticino marble, upheld by balusters of Swiss Cipolin, is sixty-eight feet in length and separates the sanctuary from the nave of the church.  The bronze gates in the centre open on the communion platform, two and a half feet below the sanctuary level, the field of which is, likewise, of rose pink Tennessee marble.  The steps mounting to the sanctuary are of verd antique.

The Marble Screen and Grille
     The sanctuary is separated from the ambulatories by twelve monoliths of full-veined Swiss Cipolin marble supporting an entablature of Botticino marble at a height of eighteen feet, the spaces between them being filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron, highlighted, and artistic in design and finish, the nine major sections of which contain panels depicting traditional scenes in the life of our Blessed Lady after the crucifixion, done with all the delicate tracery of a steel engraving.  Beginning on the gospel side behind the front pier they are, in order,
the Return from Calvary;
the Descent of the Holy Ghost;
the Angel Announcing Her Death;
Her Last Meeting with the Apostles;
Her Death; 
Her Body Borne to the Grave;
Her Burial;
Her Assumption into Heaven;
Her Coronation in Heaven.
Entrance to the sanctuary is through gates in the middle section of the rear grille.

Statues of the Apostles
The columns supporting the entablatures form the pedestals for six-foot marble statues of the Apostles exact duplicates, {Page 117}
Except in height, of the statues of the Twelve in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome, and the only replicas ever made, as far as we can learn, of that remarkable group which attracts the attention of connoisseurs of art in the Mother Church of Christendom.  The originals of these statues were ordered by Pope Clement XII, who occupied the Papal Throne from 1700 to 1721. They were chiseled from the finest white marble by the most famous sculptors of the day, and cost about $5,000.00 each - an enormous sum for those times.  They are about twelve feet high, and occupy niches in the central nave of the Lateran Basilica between magnificent columns of rare verd antique marble from Greece. The statues in our Basilica are of cream-colored marble, and are arranged in the same order as the originals.  Beginning. behind the front pier of the sanctuary on the epistle side they are, St. Jude (Thaddeus); St. Matthew; St. Philip; St. Thomas; St. James the Greater; St. Paul; St. Peter; St. Andrew; St. John; St. James the Less; St. Bartholomew; St. Simon. Each one has his distinctive symbol.  They are life-like in appearance and posture, and give the impression of a vigor and activity befitting the first preachers of the gospel.

The Ambry for the Holy Oils
     A metal box lined with cedar and silk is set into the inner surface of the rear pier on the gospel side as a receptacle for the Holy Oils used in the administration of the Sacraments and other religious rites.  This ambry is provided with a bronze door inscribed "Olea Sancta" (Holy Oils), and is kept securely locked.

Three Sets of Inscriptions
     Each section of the entablature of the sanctuary screen has three incised inscriptions emphasized in gold leaf on its inner surface.  Those on the gospel side refer to the Blessed Sacrament: "Adoremus in Aeternum SS.  Sacramentum" (Let us forever adore the Most Blessed Sacrament) ; "Hic Est Panis Qui De Coelo Descendit" (This is the bread that came down from Heaven); "Qui Bibet Meum Sanguinem in Me Manet" (Whosoever drinketh my blood abideth in me).   {Page 118}
     The texts behind the altar refer to the Church:
"Domum Tuam Domine Decet Sanctitudo" (Holiness becometh thy house, 0 Lord);
"Sedes Tua Deus in Seculum Seculi"          (Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever);
"Domus Mea Domus Orationis Vocabitur" (My house shall be called the house of prayer). 
On the epistle side the inscriptions refer to the Blessed Mother:
"Macula Originalis Non Est in Te, Maria" (There is no stain of original sin in thee, 0 Mary);
"Beatam Me Dicent Omnes Generationes" (All generations shall call me blessed);
"Ora Pro Nobis Sancta Dei Genetrix"        (Pray for us, 0 Holy Mother of God).

Benches and Credence Table
    The sanctuary benches provide sittings for thirty-six clergymen and forty choir boys besides the ministers of the Mass. Stools are available for the servers; and acolytes.  The stalls are of black walnut artistically hand-carved, roomy and comfortable, with kneelers upholstered in brown leather and inclined arm and book rests.  The credence table is furnished with a substantial marble top and a shelf for the missal-stand, bell, altar cards, etc., when not in use.

The Episcopal Throne
A canopied throne for episcopal functions can be erected whenever necessary.  It replaces a massive throne of hand-carved oak which, because of its size and weight, was a permanent fixture in the sanctuary.  The latter was designed originally for St. Mary's Chapel in the St. Paul Seminary, but had to be removed before the work of finishing the sanctuary and installing a new marble altar was undertaken.  It was purchased by the then Pro-Cathedral in July, 1922, and used in episcopal ceremonies until September, 1928, when it was disposed of to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, where it has since served as the throne of the Most Reverend Archbishop of that See.
  {Page 119}
The Canopied Pulpit
   The pulpit, located in front of the sanctuary pier on the gospel side, is elevated six feet above the floor of the nave, and commands a full view of the auditorium, unobstructed by pillar or chandelier.  It is of pink ledge Mankato stone, artistically carved, and adorned with symbols - a dove typifying the Holy Ghost, an open Bible representing the Word of God, a hand from the clouds signifying the traditional teaching of the Church, the official sources from which the preacher draws his sermon material.  On the front of the pulpit is the inscription: "Praedicate Evangelium Omni Creaturae" (Preach the gospel to every creature), the divine commission given to the Apostles and their successors by the Savior Himself.  An artistic wrought iron rail guards the steps to the pulpit, and a canopy of stone lined with wood forms a sounding-board, and serves as a location for the principal units of the sound-amplifying apparatus installed to overcome any acoustic defects in the church.  The microphone rests on the ledge in front of the preacher.

A Striking Calvary Group
The corresponding pier on the epistle side offers an ideal background for a striking Calvary group.  The crucifix, modeled after the miraculous crucifix of Lympias in Spain, is carved from a single block of stone anchored to the masonry when the wall was built.  The statues of the Sorrowful Mother and of St. John are chiseled from the same material. Beneath is the legend: "Consummatum Est" (It is consummated). The weeping Magdalen is not represented. Her place is taken by the faithful who pray before the shrine.

The Choir and Organ
     In the apse behind the sanctuary, from which it is separated by an ambulatory enclosed by iron grilles with gates, the choir is located, The semi-circular tiers of seats rise one above another in the form of an amphitheatre, so that all the singers are under the direct supervision of the choirmaster, who stands on a platform behind the console set in a niche at {Page 120}
the centre of the apse.  There is space for a small orchestra between the director and the front circle of seats.  The console is movable and provided with a fifty-foot cable containing the electrical connections, permitting it to be wheeled into the sanctuary when occasion requires.  The organ is a four-manual instrument of excellent and pleasing tone with sufficient volume to fill the vast auditorium.  The ceiling of the apse serves as a sounding-board.  There are three organ chambers practically disposed so as to give the best sound effects.  The great and the swell organs are located in galleries on either side of the apse at the junction of the rear and side aisles, and the choir and echo sections are at the back of the apse in artistic chambers which harmonize in material and design with the surroundings.  Provision is made for seventy-five choir members.  In a room beneath the seats on the epistle side is the library of liturgical music-one of the largest and best in the country; and on the opposite side a supply room and entrance to the basement.

The Nave and Ceiling
     The nave, said to be the widest of any church in the world, is a wonderfully imposing auditorium, free from everything that could obstruct the view of sanctuary and altar from the pews.  The ceiling is one of its most impressive features.  It springs from a stone cornice forty-three feet above the floor, and rises to a height of seventy-five feet in a beautiful ellipse.  It is suspended from six immense iron girders which support the concrete roof, each weighing seventeen tons and having a span of eighty-five feet from pier to pier.
      The ceiling of nave and sanctuary is an unusually fine specimen of plastic art, that is, of the art of modeling architectural details in plaster or stucco.  This new style of decoration, peculiarly adapted to interior finishing, originated in the seventeenth century, and became an accepted medium for the delineation of Renaissance ornamentation.
      In the Basilica ceiling some of the mouldings have a depth of twelve inches.  The five broad panels extending from wall to wall are broken by richly-interlaced centerpieces and entwined symbols.  The more one studies the ceiling, the more {Page 121}
one is impressed with its wealth of detail, its richness of design and its massive proportions. The beauty of the ceilling is chaste decoration.  Painting and sculpture are the twin handmaids of religion, and the church employs them in her liturgy and in the decoration of her temples.

The Color Scheme
      To understand the color scheme in the ceiling of the Basilica and in its windows, it must be borne in mind that the church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, and her distinctive colors are employed - white, blue, gold, and red - the white of purity, the blue of truth, the gold of glory and the red of love.  The color scheme had to harmonize with the hue of the walls.  This was effected by the use of old ivory stippled with sienna and grey applied to the flat surfaces of the panels.  Gold was introduced lavishly to take care of all ornaments, not by applying it as a flat gilding, but by blending it from high-light to shadow, and giving individual attention to each scroll and leaf.  A background of blue was painted in the deep fissures of the stucco work, and red was used on the shields and cartouches.
     In the sanctuary ceiling blue, the tint of the firmament, is shown lighted by golden rays of glory.  This is supplemented by four large paintings of the Evangelists on tapestry, each eight feet in diameter, applied to the walls above the windows.
     In the ceiling of the apse the same color harmony is carried out with the one thought in mind of binding the whole structure in a glorious ensemble of religious reverence in which one part is not more conspicuous than another.  The varying tones of the stone walls and the superb coloring of the windows heighten the effect and lead the thoughts of the onlooker in worshipful homage to the Divine Tenant of the attar Whose presence is the raison d'être of the church as a whole.

Religious Symbols
The walls of nave, ambulatory and piers are faced with Mankato stone in a pleasing variety of shades. 



The piers {Page 122} supporting the clerestory wall and prolonged in pilasters to the ceiling form a series of five bays on each side of the nave, with an elliptical span eighteen and a half feet wide, above which is a window divided in halves by a stone mullion, each one seventeen and a half feet high and five and a half feet in width.  In the centre of the carved frieze beneath the sills of these windows are symbols of the Blessed Virgin: Dove, Tower of David, Pomegranate, Sun, Lily, Fleur-de-lis, Rose, Star, Three Lilies and Pierced Heart.  On the front of the balcony over the vestibule are, from left to right, Gate of Heaven, Lilies, Ark of the Covenant, Seven-branched Candlestick and Jacob's Ladder.  In the semi-circular panels above the inner doors the symbols are, a Chalice with Wheat and Grapes, a Lamb (the Son of God), a triangle and hand (the Father), a Dove (the Holy Ghost), and an open Bible.

Pews and Book Rack
      The auditorium is furnished with oaken pews, substantial and comfortable, with a seating capacity of 1600.  When occasion requires, provision can be made for more than twice that number of persons.  Near the doors are two artistic book racks filled with Catholic literature.

The Lighting System
      The lighting system is unique and effective.  A series of large reflectors, set in plaster moulds concealed in the masonry at the base of the clerestory windows, throws a flood of mellow light on the windows and ceiling, rendering the scenes depicted in the leaded glass visible from the exterior at night, and diffusing throughout the auditorium the even glow of sunlight.  The side aisles are lighted by smaller windows during the day and at night by lamps set in artistic fixtures of bronze and aurine glass, in the form of censers, suspended from the ceiling by triple chains.

The Marble Confessionals
    Into the interior stone work on each of the side walls of the church are built four confessionals and an altar. 
The {Page 125} confessionals are of polished Tavernelle marble with interior wood trim, and are equipped with reading and pilot lights, self-closing side doors, circular slides, perforated domes for ventilation and an inscription above the front door of each one.  These biblical texts are all different and so arranged that, beginning in the rear of the church, they express a consciousness of personal guilt, a sense of sorrow for sin, gradually relieved, as one approaches the altar, by a realization of God's mercy in the Sacrament of Penance.
Beginning at the rear on the gospel side, these mottoes are:
"A peccato meo munda me" (Cleanse me from my sin);
"Poenitentiam agite" (Do penance)
"Remittuntur tibi pecata" (Thy sins are forgiven thee)
"Facite fructus
poenitentiae"  (Bring forth fruits worthy of penance).
From the rear on the epistle side:
"Pater peccavi coram te" (Father, I have sinned before thee);
"Convertimini ad me" (Be converted to me);
"Confitemini peccata vestra" (Confess your sins);
"Facite vobis cor novum" (Make to yourself a new heart). The word "Pax" (Peace) is carved in bas-relief above the side doors of the confessionals, indicative of the peace of soul found within.  The top panel of each door is of leaded glass.  Those in the front doors are ornamented with the shields of eight Doctors of the Church.  On the epistle side, from the rear - St. Gregory the Great; St. Jerome; St. Bonaventure; St. Gregory Nazianzen.  On the gospel side - St.  Bernard; St. Augustine of Hippo; St. Ambrose; St. Thomas Aquinas.


Artistic Side Altars
     The marble altars above referred to are surmounted by mosaic-domed niches, sheltering statues of the Sacred Heart and of St. Joseph to whom they are dedicated.  The Sacred Heart altar is equipped with a tabernacle used as a repository on Holy Thursday.  A predella and a curved communion rail of marble complete the appointments.

The Stations of the Cross
     The Stations of the Cross, recessed in the outer walls beside the confessionals, are of cream Botticino marble with figures {Page 126} carved in bas-relief.  The incised inscriptions follow a uniform plan. 
Light is focussed on each group from a bulb concealed within a bronze cherub at the base.  The attached shield bears the number of the station; and fastened to the wall above the group is a black walnut cross, the essential feature of each station.

The Encircling Chapels
     At the sanctuary ends of the outer aisles are chapels dedicated to St. Anne (on the gospel side), and to St. Anthony of Padua (on the epistle side), with marble altars and walls and decorated plaster ceilings.  Behind the arches are concealed lights which flood the altars and chapels, and above each altar is a statue of its patron. Two other chapels are located at the rear ends of the sanctuary ambulatories - the one dedicated to the Little Flower of Jesus (with corresponding statue), and the other to St. John Baptist Vianney, Cure of Ars, patron of parish priests.  They, likewise, have marble altars and walls and Venetian mosaic ceilings with symbols-the Lamb and the Pelican - all floodlighted. The Founders' chapel, in front of the Baptistry, at the western end of the vestibule, will be equipped with an altar which, when erected, will enshrine a casket of bronze containing the names of contributors to the erection and completion of the Basilica.  Above it is a window with a majestic figure of St. John the Baptist and the inscription in gold lettering, "Laudem Eorum Nuntiet Ecclesia" (Let the Church declare their praise). At the opposite end of the vestibule is a chapel, tentatively dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, the walls and floor of which have been completed.  Neither altar nor furnishings have yet been provided.  The large window opening on the ambulatory represents Our Lady of Lourdes, crowned, and above it is the inscription, "Conceptio Immaculata Sum" (I am the Immaculate Conception). {Page 127}
The Stately Vestibule
     The walls of the vestibule are lined with pink ledge Mankato stone, hone finished, on a polished pink Kasota base.  The vaulted ceiling is richly tinted: above the doors are semicircular stone panels bearing symbols of Our Lord and of the Evangelists, and different types of crosses.  Four marble fonts at convenient points on the inner wall are supplied with holy water from a large tank in the balcony; and two fountains of polished Tavernelle marble in elaborately carved niches at either side of the main entrances provide drinking water.  Opposite them are doors opening on circular stairways leading to basement and gallery.
      The double doors between vestibule and nave are covered with Spanish leather, studded with bronze-headed nails and pierced by a circular opening filled with glass.  They can be fastened on the inner side to control traffic from the vestibule.

The Baptismal Font
The Baptistry is located at the western end of the vestibule.  The floor of polished rose Tavernelle marble blends beautifully with the soft tones of the walls.  The font, in the centre of the chapel, is of Siena marble varying in color from a rich golden hue at the base to a lighter shade at the top.  The bowl has two compartments - one for baptismal water, the other a sacrarium whence the water used in the ceremony drains to the soil.  The shaft expanding into the bowl is octagonal with engaged columns at the corners and panels between them.  Two panels in the rear are fitted with bronze doors opening into cabinets for the ritual, stole, candies, linens, etc., used in the administration of Baptism.  The cover, a single piece of hand-forged bronze, hemispherical in form, with symbols of the Evangelists in the panels and surmounted by a cross, swings easily on a pivot and is kept in position by a small lock.  In the rear wall of the chapel provision is made for a bas-relief of the baptism of the Savior in the Jordan, and the ceiling lends itself to appropriate decoration. {Page 128}
The Portico and Facade
     Five doors, to be made of bronze, give access to the church in front.  Three of them are under a magnificent pillared portico forming part of an attractive facade, the decorative feature of which is a superb rose window fifteen feet in diameter.  The portico is 49 1/2 feet in length by l7 1/2 feet in depth and 29 feet to the parapet.  The pylons are 8 feet square and rise to a height of 11 feet above the parapet. At the apex of the facade is a magnificent group representing the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven, carved after the granite was placed in position.  The entrances are flanked by square twin towers 133 feet in height.  Four additional doors - two at the farther end of the nave and two in the transepts - provide entrances and exits for the congregation.

The Stained Glass Technique
     In describing the technique used in the making of the windows of the Basilica, we must go back to the tenth century when a colony of Venetian glass workers, following their craft at Limoges, France, experimented with metallic pigments and found that, when fired in a kiln, they fused with the glass and were not affected by climate or other conditions.  This new method gradually took the place of mosaic in the manufacture of windows.  In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries - the golden age of Christianity - the art of the glass-worker flourished, but the method used was that of the craftsmen of the tenth century.  The outline of the ornament or figure is painted or traced on glass in deep black, and over it a much thinner mixture is used as a mat, covering the entire surface with a semi-transparent monochrome, evenly blended.  This mat, when dry, becomes the background of the painting.  Certain parts of the design, which show through the mat, are stippled with a stiff bristle brush which permits more light to sift through the paint.  To bring into relief the ornament or the anatomy and drapery of the figure, this is further emphasized by rubbing the paint entirely away in certain places and scratching out other high lights with a sharp-pointed stick.  The shadows, originally taken care of {Page 129} by the mat, are strengthened, wherever necessary, by the addition of more pigment; and glass and pigment are fused several times in a kiln at a high degree of temperature.  This process was used in the making of the windows for the Basilica of St. Mary.
The Sanctuary Windows
     In the dome are twelve pure grisaille windows containing symbols of the Virgin Mary in medallion form as follows: The Ark of the Covenant; the Tower of David; the Enclosed Garden; the Sealed Fountain; the Lofty Cedar; the Fleur-de-lis; the Mystical Rose; the Gate of Heaven; the City of God; the Fountain of Living Water; the Pomegranate; the Pierced Heart.
      Above the dome windows are the paintings of the Evangelists, already referred to, set in moulded plaster frames richly ornamented.
      In the apse are five windows, 17 1/4 feet high by 4 feet wide, the upper parts of which are filled with angels playing on musical instruments, , representing the heavenly choirs singing the praises of God, while the lower portions of four of them (the fifth is hidden by the organ chamber) are occupied by figures of the Evangelists (Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and of four great Doctors of the Church, namely, St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome.
      The rose windows in the transept consist of a central section, fifteen feet across, surrounded by twenty-four circular lights, sixteen inches in diameter, each of which has a cross as the chief feature of the art design.  The outer portion of the main window shows three of the nine choirs of angels Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones - representing the heavenly hosts nearest the Blessed Trinity.  They form an appropriate setting for the full-sized figure of the Immaculate Conception surrounded by adoring angels (on the gospel side), and of the Coronation of Our Blessed Lady by the Eternal Father, the Divine Son and the Holy Spirit (on the epistle side).

Directly below each of these are three windows (8 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 4 inches) with Old Testament personages {Page 130}depicted in stained glass.  Those on the epistle side are Esther and Ruth, prototypes of the Blessed Virgin, and King David of her ancestral line.  On the gospel side Gideon, Ezechiel and Daniel are represented.  A suitable biblical text in English is inscribed under each figure.


The Windows of the Nave
     Between the two events pictured in the rose windows of the transept is traced the life-story of the Blessed Virgin, the patroness of the Basilica, in the twenty scenes depicted in the clerestory windows.  Beginning on the gospel side they are: Her Marriage to St. Joseph; the Annunciation; the Visit to St. Elizabeth; the Nativity of Our Lord; the Adoration of the Magi; the Presentation in the Temple; the Flight into Egypt; the Holy Family at Nazareth; the Finding in the Temple; the Death of St. Joseph; the Marriage at Cana; the Meeting on the Way to Calvary; the Crucifixion; the Removal of Christ from the Cross; the Deposition; the Burial; the Return from Calvary; the Apparition of the Risen Lord to His Mother; the Descent of the Holy Ghost; the Death of the Blessed Virgin.
 
In most of these scenes Christ
and His Mother are shown and in all of them the Blessed Virgin is easily recognized by the distinctive shade of blue reserved for her.  The figures are life-size and the scenes readily interpreted. Surmounting these scenes is a canopy of winged angels, fully vested, upborne on fleecy clouds, each holding a religious emblem connected, for the most part, with the Passion.  Above this group in each window is an angel with a ribbon on which is inscribed in Latin an invocation from the Litany of Loretto; and crowning all , in the ten topmost circular windows, each fifty-two inches in diameter, are angels exhibiting scrolls on each of which is a verse from the Magnificat in Latin.

      The windows in the side aisles show full-sized figures of historic personages from the Old Testament and the New, together with scriptural texts in English, linking each one with the scene depicted in the clerestory window directly above.

Beginning on the gospel side they are: 

Raguel (Tobias VII- 15) {Page 131} Isaias (Isaias VII- 14) ; Anna ( 1 Kings II-1 Micheas (Micheas V-2); Balaam (Numbers XXIV-17); Malachias (Malachias III-1); Jacob (Genesis XLVI-3, 4); Moses (Exodus XX-12); St. Luke (Luke II-46); Solomon (3 Kings VIII-56); St. John (John II-5); Rachel (Matthew II-18); Amos (Amos VIII-9); Zacharias (John XIX-37) ; Jeremias (Lamentations I-12) ; Jonas (Jonas II-7); Joseph of Arimathea (John XIX-27); Abraham (Genesis XVII-1); Judith (Judith XV-10); St. Peter (1 Peter V-4).
     Over the entrances at the corners of the nave Archangels are on guard.- On the gospel side above the communion rail stands St. Michael (who is like unto God) armed with sword and shield and opposite him St. Raphael (the medicine of God) with trident and fish.  The front entrances are resided over by four
Archangels,  Jophiel  (the beauty of God), with a flaming sword in his right hand; and Uriel  (the light of God), holding the book of knowledge, at the southwest corner; Gabriel  (the strength of God), holding a staff topped with orb and cross; and Chamuel (one who sees God), with staff in the right hand and chalice in the left, at the northwest. The rose window of the front portrays the Madonna and Child enthroned and surrounded by choirs of adoring angles.
     In the rear walls of the Baptistry and of Our Lady of Lourdes chapel are four pure grisaille windows with medallions. All the windows are lightsome and glorious especially when the sun shines through them.  They admit sufficient light to enable a person to read on an ordinary bright day without artificial aid. {Page132}




The Basilica Sacristy
     The sacristy measures 28 by 37 feet, and consists of a rectangular room with a niche, 10 by 5 2/3 feet, at the front end, an elliptical ceiling of ornamental plaster and a marble and terrazzo floor.  The exterior is of Bedford stone and the interior walls of pink ledge Mankato stone, relieved by twin fluted pilasters with gilded ornamental caps.  The doorways are enriched at the top by an entablature and a broken pediment which projects somewhat from the wall, and is supported at each side of the opening by console brackets.  Circular panels, framing an electric clock on one side and an emblem (crown and cross) on the other, are set in the spandrel formed by the broken pediment and the lintel.
     The sacristy is lighted by two rose windows in the ends, four large windows in the sides, and two smaller ones in the niche of the facade, which contains a double vestment case of black walnut with tabernacle to permit of its use as an altar, if necessary.  Four additional vestment cases of similar design, richly hand-carved and provided with the latest conveniences, complete the equipment.
     Each of these cases comprises a central section containing shallow drawers for single sets of vestments in the liturgical Colors, deeper ones for altar linens and laces, and a tall cabinet at each end bordering a large window.  In the cabinets are located a sacrarium, lavabo, pier glass, receptacles for individual linens and Mass supplies, apartments for albs, cinctures, surplices, copes, etc., and shelves for missals and altar cards.
     Artistic electric light fixtures adorn the walls of the sacristy, and from the ceiling are suspended elegant chandeliers of bronze and aurine glass.  The windows duplicate the richness of coloring and design of those in the church.  The front rose window, six feet in diameter, shows Christ the King enthroned with adoring angels, and the opposite one represents the three High Priests {Page 135}-- Christ, Aaron and Melchisedec --with the insignia of their sacrificial office.
     The side windows above the vestment cases contain a crucifix and the Latin prayers said by the priest while vesting for Mass.  The other windows are dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of Mary, and the ones opening into the niche have candlesticks and lighted candles.  The radiators are recessed in the walls behind hand-forged wrought iron grilles.
      On the sides of the passage leading into the church are located a vault for the sacred vessels, relics, reliquaries, altar cards, etc.; a confessional for deaf-mutes and the hard of hearing; a room for the censer cabinet and supplies; and one for the switchboard that controls the lighting of the church and sacristy. The sacristy is connected with the residence by a passage lighted by leaded glass windows containing the coat-of-arms of the Basilica.  An automatic fire door separates it from the house, thus preventing the spread of fire from the one to the other. North of the sacristy and abutting it is a double garage of Bedford stone, plastered, steam-heated, and electric-lighted.  It is reached by a driveway from Seventeenth Street leading into a yard paved with concrete and large enough for all practical purposes.
{Page 136}
The Basilica Residence
      The parochial residence is one of the finest in the United States in arrangement and equipment.  It is a three storied building with full basement and attic.  It is built of greyish brick with Bedford stone trimmings to harmonize with the sacristy and Basilica.  It is an H-shaped structure, 108 feet long by 44 feet wide.  The main entrance motif on Seventeenth Street, North, comprises a door, with leaded glass side lights, under a balcony and balustrade of Bedford stone supported by monoliths of the same material, and a window above with Bedford stone trim, at the apex of which the coat-of-arms of the Basilica is sculptured in bas-relief. The first floor is set apart entirely for parish purposes.  It contains the executive office, 21 by 44 feet in size, with private entrance and modern equipment; seven offices for the clergy; attendant's room; reception parlor; and the library and study of the pastor connected with his apartments on the second floor by a private stairway.  The upper panel of each door contains the head of Our Lord or of a saint set in a leaded glass frame.  On the second floor are located the private apartments of the clergy of the parish each suite comprising a study, bedroom and bath a community room (with sun parlor) opening on a balcony in the rear which is used for recreational purposes. The third floor contains guest rooms; dining room and breakfast alcove; kitchen, butler's pantry, and supply room; maids dining room, sun parlor, living quarters, and bedrooms. Every bedroom is provided with shower, lavatory and clothes closet.  In the attic are located the billiard room, blower room, and ample space for recreation when the weather is inclement.  Half of the basement is set apart for a boys' sacristy-with lockers, settees and a wash room-connected with the main sacristy by a stairway between the rear entrances.  The remainder contains laundry and drying-room, {Page 137}
storage room, trunk room, boiler room, and a vault for sacramental wine with a unique arrangement for storage.  An underground tunnel connects the house; church, school and boiler room.  An electric elevator runs from the basement to-the third floor and can carry seven persons of normal dimensions. An iron stairway, with terrazzo treads, hammered iron balustrade, and wooden handrail, affords easy access to the different floors, while a stairway of similar construction runs from the rear entrance to the basement and to the attic, with ample landings on each floor. The floors of the corridors are of polished terrazzo with cove base; and all bath rooms are wainscoted in colored tile with floors of varying patterns. The woodwork throughout is of oak, richly carved in mantel and book case; and the walls of the rooms, offices and corridors are of rough plaster finish, painted in pleasing tints.  The furniture is of mahogany and oak, and the furnishings harmonize to produce a very pleasing effect.  All the lighting is indirect and the fixtures are of simple but elegant design and add a note of distinction to the ensemble.  Beside the rear entrance is the door of the dumb waiter by which supplies are taken to the basement store room and to the kitchen on the third floor. {Page 138}



Reception Parlor
The Basilica School {1913}
     The Basilica grade school is of cream-colored brick with terra cotta trim, three-storied, with full basement. Sixteen large, airy and well-lighted class rooms with spacious wardrobes, are located on the first and second stories and the, central corridors with terrazzo floors.  They are fully equipped with modern desks for teacher and pupils.  An auditorium, accommodating six hundred people and provided with stage and dressing-rooms, occupies the third story; and in the basement are located a well-equipped cafeteria, a lunch room, three large assembly rooms for meetings of parish organizations, wash rooms for boys and for girls. On each floor, likewise, there are lavatories and drinking fountains.  The stairways at the ends of the main corridors are furnished with iron balustrades and Kasota stone treads, and the whole building is fireproof.
     The school is in charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph who reside at St. Margaret's Academy a few blocks away.  As it stands, it represents an outlay of about $165,000.00.  It was opened for the admission of pupils in September, 1913, when the children attending the old Immaculate Conception school were transferred thereto. {Page141}
Central Heating Plant
The location of the central heating plant is indicated by the tapering brick chimney which rises above the western end of the school to the wall of which it is securely bonded.  This chimney and the concrete slab at its base are the only external evidence of the underground boiler room that supplies heat for the parish buildings. Three large boilers, equipped with modern appliances, generate the steam which heats the school directly and the other buildings indirectly the church by hot air propelled by motor-driven fans through openings in wall and floor; and the residence and sacristy by hot water kept in circulation by a motor in the basement of the house.  The boilers are fed by automatic stokers, insuring an (even temperature in all kinds bf weather at a minimum fuel consumption.  Large bins furnish space for hundreds of tons of coal.  The heating plant is connected with the buildings by tunnels through which run the steam pipes.  The boiler room and passages are electric-lighted and airy. {Page 142}
Bibilography
1.    Manuscript and Archival Material
Archives of the Diocese of St. Paul: Chancery Office, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph: St. Joseph Provincial House, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Archives of Christian Brothers: De La Salle High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Corporation Books.  Church of the Immaculate Conception (1890-1921);
                                 Basilica of Saint Mary (1921-1932) ; Pro-Cathedral Building Society (1904-1909).
Baptismal Registers: The Church of the Immaculate Conception; the Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary; The Basilica of St. Mary
               (1868 - 1932).

Parochial Announcement Books: (1874-1888...........1906-1932). (All in the Archives of the Basilica of St. Mary).
Corporation Book: Minneapolis Catholic Orphan Asylum (1878-1931).
Baptismal Registers: The Church of St. Anthony (1851-1866). (Archives, Church of St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
.
Cox, Sister Ignatius Loyola:  St. Anthony Falls or East Minneapolis (1853-1878). Archives, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul,
            Minnesota)
.
Gaytee, Thomas J.:  Christian Emblems, Symbols and Attributes, in 10 Vols.  (Author's Manuscript in Basilica Archives).
Abstracts of Title to Property: (Archives.  Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, Minnesota).

2. Books
Nainfa, Rev.  John A., S.S.: "Minor Basilicas", The Ecclesiastical Review, January, 1928, pp. 1-19.
Gietmann, G.: "Basilica", Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 11.  P. 325.
Jakob: "Basilica" (in architectural sense), Wetzer und Welte's Kirchen-Lexikon, 2nd Ed., Vol. 11 pp. 14-19.  Freiburg, 1883
.
Hauser:  "Basilica" (in liturgical sense), Wetzer und Welte's Kirchen-Lexikon, 2nd Ed., pp. 19 & ff.  Freiburg, 1883.

Catholic Directories: (1834-1931).
Archives, St. Paul Catholic Historical Society, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota).
Savage, Sister Mary Lucida, Ph. D.: The Congregation of St. Joseph of Carondelet: A Brief Account of Its Origin and Work in
            the United States (1650-1922).  St. Louis, Missouri, 1923.
The Diocese of St. Paul.  The Golden jubilee (1851-1901).  St. Paul, Minnesota. {Page 143}

Ireland,  Most Reverend John: A Catholic Sisterhood in the Northwest.  Cf r. The Church and Modern SocietyVol. 1 1, pp.
            279-301.  St. Paul, Minnesota, 1904.

Ireland, Most Reverend John: Fifty Years of Catholicity in the Northwest.  Cfr.  The Church and Modern Society.  Vol. 11,
            pp. 251-278.  St. Paul, Minnesota, 1904.

Ravoux, Right Reverend Augustine: Reminiscences, Memoirs and Lectures.  St. Paul, Minnesota, 1890. McNulty,
Reverend Ambrose: The Chapel of St. Paul and the Beginnings of the Catholic church in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical
             Society Collections (1900-1904), Vol.  X, Part 1, p. 233.

Stevens, John H.: Personal Recollections of Minnesota and Its People and Early History of Minneapolis.  Minneapolis, 1890.
Holcombe, Maj.  R. 1. Compendium of History and Biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota. Bingham, Wm.  H.  Chicago, 1914.
Minneapolis City Directories: (1867; 1869; 1871-72; 1873-4; 1874; 1875).
Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Hamline, A.D.F.: A Text-Book of the History of Architecture.  New Edition, Revised.  New York, 1928.
Fletcher, Sir Banister: A History of Architecture.  New York, 1924. 
Lubke, Dr. Wilhelm: Outlines of the History of Art.  Vol. 11, Edited by Russell Sturgis.  New York, 1904.
Clement, Clara Erskine: Handbook of Legendary and Mythological Art. New York, 1995.
3. Periodical Literature
Acta et Dicta, Vols. 1-5 (1908-1918). (Archives, St. Paul Catholic Historical Society, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota).
Northwestern Chronicle (1866-1900). (
Archives, St. Paul Catholic Historical Society, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota).
St. Anthony Express (1851-1861).  (Archives, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota).
Irish Standard (1885-1900). (Archives, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota).
The Catholic Bulletin (1911-1931). (Archives, Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, Minnesota).
{Page 144}    THE END