Parish Visit

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We attended New Year Eve’s Sunday morning Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In use since 1864 this cathedral has many fascinating features and is well worth a visit. The Cathedral Basilica is the largest brownstone structure in Philadelphia. It is built in Neo-Classical design with a distinctive variation: window placement. When inside you will notice that the windows are only found at the clerestory level. This design is attributed to the city’s history of anti-Catholic violence.

When construction began on the Cathedral Basilica there had been many outbreaks of anti-Catholic violence where numerous homes and buildings were vandalized with some being burned to the ground. Design and construction of the Cathedral took into consideration the need to have an architectural response to the extreme prejudice that Catholics were experiencing in Philadelphia. An excerpt from their website describes the window placement:

”local legend – several versions, actually – told about the high placement of the windows. The essential story is that someone connected with the building of the Cathedral (in one version, it was the Bishop himself) had pulled aside the strongest workman he could find and had him throw stones as high as he could, and it was ordered that just above that point was where the windows were to be placed.”

There is a great deal of interesting history about this Cathedral and the general anti-Catholic violence the was common in America during the 18302s-1840s. See Anti-Catholicism in Jacksonian Philadelphia, and Burning of the Charlestown Convent, and When America Hated Catholics, and The Forgotten Hatred: Anti-Catholicism in Modern America.

It is the only Roman-Corinthian style church in America and upon entering you will see it is reminiscent of beautiful European cathedrals. The breathtaking architecture includes numerous tall columns and elevated ceilings encased by walls decorated with beautiful stained glass windows. There is a central domed alter with marble columns and decorated with elaborate floral motifs. The painted dome is an artistic highlight of your visit to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The frescoes high above were done by artist Constantino Brumidi, who is most famous for his work on the Capitol dome in Washington, DC. In addition to the dome there are countless pieces of artwork to view. As you continue exploring you will see there are 8 side altars within the Cathedral. They are as follows: Blessed Virgin Mary, Purgatorial (Holy Souls), Baptistry, Saint John Neumann, Venerable Cornelia Connelly and the Holy Child shrine, St. Joseph, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Archbishop Patrick John Ryan, and the St. Katharine Drexel shrine. As you walk on either side of the main aisle there are several confessionals that are draped in a dark red velvet.

One significant feature to note is that the sacred remains of Saint Katharine Drexel are entombed in the Cathedral Basilica. (She was canonized October 1, 2000.) The shrine of St. Katharine Drexel was dedicated in 2009 and completed when her sacred remains were entombed here in 2018. The Drexel family were avid Catholics and very much active members in Philadelphia. According to their website describing the Saint Katharine Drexel shrine and the significance of the original altar it “was donated in the 19^th century by Saint Katharine herself, along with her sisters Elizabeth and Louise, as a memorial to their deceased parents, Francis and Emma Drexel. “ There it remained as part of the Drexel family altar until it was included as part of the shrine. Saint Katharine Drexel had no idea that she would become a saint her path to sainthood is fascinating. You can read about her background here.