On July 14th, the Latin Liturgy Association convention took a tour of Saint Louis area churches. One stop was the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, cathedral of the Latin Rite archdiocese.
LLA members listening to a talk on the church.
Dome over the back of the church. Surrounding the dome are mosaics showing local history.
Another view of the dome over the back of the nave. Historical figures shown here include Saint Philippine Duchesne, whose relics are entombed in nearby Saint Charles, Missouri. Centered in the dome is the Great Seal of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and the scripture: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying "Behold the dwelling of God with men and he will dwell with them and they will be His people and God Himself will be with them as their God." (Revelation 21:3)
"Behold your mother".
West transept showing the fire of Pentecost. The mosaics in the domes of the transepts are quite recent, having only been completed in 1988, and consequently are in a far different style than the rest of the church.
The main dome, centered over the transept.
The east transept. The dome contains mosaics of the Resurrected Christ. Like the other transcept dome, these mosiacs are recent and done in a modern style.
The sanctuary. The baldacchino over the altar has the same design as the basilica's main dome exterior.
The high altar. The tabernacle is not located at this altar; instead it is in its own chapel.
A small dome.
Ambulatory around the sanctuary. The red symbolizes Christ's blood: this opens to the Blessed Sacrament chapel.
Statue of Saint Vincent de Paul, one of the patrons of the Archdiocese.
I don't see a Novus Ordo altar in the main Church. Is the Mass said ad orientem (to the East and away from the people)?
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to tell from this photo, but Mass here is said versus populum. The four side-chapels have ad orientem altars, and they are used occationally for Mass.
ReplyDeleteJamais pensei que havia um templo religioso tão belo fora do Oriente Cristão.
ReplyDeleteSimplesmente maravilhoso este templo.
Do you perhaps have a close-up of the cross hanging beneath the choir loft? As I remember it is quite beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am unaware of any cross that used to hang from the choir loft. You can see the loft in the first picture here.
ReplyDeleteIt is attached to the wall and visible in your photo. I was hoping for a closer look.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your wonderful photographic work.
Ah, I didn't notice that. It is a cross botonnée, that is, has three buds on each arm, and is without a corpus. Here is a close-up of the cross from that photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msabeln/5808486770
ReplyDelete