Most people have someplace special they want to see when
visiting a place for the first time. It might be a zoo, shopping
mall, museum or perhaps a park. I like to visit cathedrals.
”
Cathedral
”
is from the Greek word
”
kathedra,
”
meaning throne. Literally, a cathedral is the main church of a
diocese where a bishop (Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox, Lutheran)
has his official chair for performing liturgical duties.
Most people have someplace special they want to see when visiting a place for the first time. It might be a zoo, shopping mall, museum or perhaps a park. I like to visit cathedrals.
“Cathedral” is from the Greek word “kathedra,” meaning throne. Literally, a cathedral is the main church of a diocese where a bishop (Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox, Lutheran) has his official chair for performing liturgical duties.
Cathedrals are usually huge, imposing buildings with elaborate decoration and furnishings. Their size and expense are symbolic of God’s grandeur and of the awe and reverence of worshipers.
While on vacation last summer I visited several cathedrals; three were especially noteworthy in their expression of the timeless worship of the Christian God.
The Australian seaside resort city of Cairns has a remarkable church: St. Monica’s War Memorial Cathedral is part of a Roman Catholic complex located just blocks from the busy beach esplanade.
Built in 1968, the church has an austere, modern, boxy appearance from outside, especially during daylight hours when its remarkable stained glass windows don’t show up. These windows, situated high on the church’s perimeter walls, tell the whole story of creation symbolically in magnificent color. Twenty-four panels begin with darkness (formless void) and continue with the plants, flora and fauna, and geographical features of surrounding Queensland.
The cathedral was built as a memorial to the 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea. Its Peace Windows break from the creation theme to present images of war (ships, submarines, guns, planes) and peace (wrecks which have become home to sea life, the word “peace” in 29 languages).
Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, is the home of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, begun in 1870 and completed in 1997. It is a gothic-style Roman Catholic church with a spire reaching 345 feet into the sky.
Aborigines, the native people of Australia, used message sticks to communicate with other tribes. These wooden sticks were painted with symbols which contained meaning. St. Patrick’s houses a message stick (six inches in diameter, three feet long) which was created for a National Liturgical Convention in 1993. During the Mass it was carried in procession along with the Gospel book, representing the coming together of people of both cultures worshiping God.
In the fashionable Parnell neighborhood of Auckland, on New Zealand’s north island, stands the Anglican (Episcopal) Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. This building is notable for its successful combination of contrasting elements:
• A stone, dark, gothic-style chancel (area around the altar) dates from the 1950s; the cathedral’s light, airy nave (seating area) was dedicated in 1990.
• The chancel has a traditional stained-glass, rose-shaped window symbolic of the British colonial tradition; the nave is built to resemble a South Pacific Meeting House with windows picturing indigenous food, plants and animals.
• The building is used for Anglican religious services; partly funded by many community groups, it also is used by other denominations and the public for ceremonies, concerts and cultural presentations.
