/Dfl ILLINOIS I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/diocesandiamondjOOcath 282.77356 & C286d 1^5 l-(e£_ miss HisiORiGAi. son 1853 1928 Ijigtyteen anh ^Nineteen anft (B#tlpfrr&l P*Mtattim OMofrej: 14, 15, ttf, 1928 HIS HOLINESS, POPE PIOUS XI, GLORIOUSLY REIGNING HIS EMINENCE GEORGE W. CARDINAL MUNDELEIN, D. D. HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REVEREND PIETRO FUMASONI BIONDI, D. D. APOSTOLIC DELEGATE RIGHT REVEREND JAMES A. GRIFFIN, D. D. THE CATHEDRAL BUILDER The Dedicatory Service of our new Cathedral is the fruition of the hopes and aspirations of clergy and laity during the past seventy'five years. In those days our people were poor in material things and they could scarcely foresee the prosperity that would come to our beloved America and to their children. Our priests were few, poor and overwhelmed with the manifold duties incidental not only to keeping alive the spark of faith in their people, but also the urgent necessity of providing churches, schools and institutions. Our Diocesan History reveals the fact that quite frequently when a pastor had completed his material labors, death claimed him, and another enjoyed the fruits of his priestly endeavors for God and for His Church. The Catholic Church throughout the ages has been the Mother of the Arts and Sciences. Many of the greatest achievements in music, poetry, painting, architecture, literature and sculpture have received their in' spiration from, and their exemplification in, the great Cathedrals and Churches of the past. Genius is never satisfied with the mere ability to create, but craves and demands the opportunity, and a field, for the exhibition of its talents. We today are heirs to a wonderful past. We have received a rich inheritance from those who have gone before us. It is therefore fitting and proper that we should call on this rich treasury of things artistic, which is the tradition of the Catholic Church. Today we would not discharge our obligations to our Catholic people by merely housing our activities, for the time has come, here and now, for us to embellish not only the temples of God, but the institutions of educa' tion, culture and charity. Our new Cathedral represents our effort to build a temple worthy of Christ, our King, and fit to emulate the beautiful structures fostered and sponsored by the great Commonwealth of Illinois. The style of Architecture is new for the Catholic Church, but the following reasons determined the style for us : Abraham Lincoln, the Court House, early American mansions and civic buildings, and a desire to make every dollar donated by priests and people show and go the full length of each one hundred cents. The material for the building was our first problem as many kinds of marble and stone were considered. ^ It was a happy thought that led us to journey to Minnesota and finally make our selection. The choice has met with universal approbation, and according to chemical reports from various Universities, it will weather the heat and cold and the storms of the ages. We desire to stress not merely the individual appointments of the interior, but of the composite whole—the building in its entirety—the ever varying contrasts—the outstanding emphasis placed on the center of all our devotions—the High Altar, throne of Our Eucharistic King. The tympanum over the portico as you enter the church represents the Coat of Arms of the Bishop in carved stone. On the left in carved stone is a consecration service memorializing our consecration as Bishop in Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois, on February 24, 1924. The Coat of Arms of the Holy Father panelled over the Sacred Heart altar, the Great Seal of the United States of America on the south end of the west ambulatory, the Coat of Arms of the Bishop depicted over Saint Joseph's altar, and finally the State Seal of Illinois on the west end of the north ambulatory, recognizes the Spiritual and the Civil authorities. This recognition proclaims the fact that in our beloved America, Church and Country travel along parallel lines, ever more onward and upward. May this happy condition be the inheritance of our children as it has been the inspiration of the past and the joy of the present. On the right is represented our enthronement in Springfield which took place three days after our consecration. It represents the Archbishop of Chicago leading the new Bishop of Springfield to his throne. It also represents the Officers who took part in that service. This two-fold representation has, as far as we know, never been featured in carved stone in any Cathedral in America. In the windows, the selection of our artist and the selection of sub' jects, represent an effort to recognize American prowess in Artglass pro- duction, and to memorialize Catholic factors in the discovery, exploration and development of our Republic. As far as we know this represents a pioneer effort. In acknowledgement of our indebtedness to the pioneer priests, and especially of the valuable contribution of the late Monsignor Timothy Hickey, permission has been secured from both ecclesiastical and civil authorities, to inter his remains in one of the crypts in the Sanctuary of our New Cathedral. Surely the people of Springfield, no matter what their 8 race, color or creed, will acknowledge the happy thought crystalized in this move. The Dedication of the new Cathedral is the fruition of four active and very happy years in the City and Diocese of Springfield. The work has been cast on a large scale, and we leave to the present and future generations the privilege of evaluating the results. This short period of time, with its achievements, is to be credited to the vision, devotion and zeal of the clergy, as well as to the strong faith and generous impulses on the part of the laity. Whatever merit might be given to me I would ask in a very special way that my remains might rest in your midst in peace in front of the High Altar in presence of the Blessed Sacrament and might evoke an occasional prayer for me and for those of my co-workers who have spent themselves for God's honor and the Glory of His Church. We have tried to make the temple beautiful, and we pray that you will leave the tomb simple and unadorned. JAMES A. GRIFFIN Bishop of Springfield in Illinois. SECTION I A LEAF STOLEN FROM BISHOP GRIFFIN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE HISTORY JUST PUBLISHED We feel this Souvenir Book would be incomplete without a page from a very valuable book just published by Right Reverend James A. Griffin, D. D., the Diamond Jubilee History of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Therefore, we have taken the liberty to steal a page out of that History and we here insert that page. The stolen page is from the Chapter entitled: "Pen Picture of Bishop Griffin." In that Chapter there appears a Sub-Head called: "Bishop Griffin's Crowning Work." Well, here goes the stolen page: Kind reader please recall the words quoted by me at the beginning of this sketch. It was to this effect: One of the Bishop's Assistants in St. Mary's Church, Joliet, 111. Rev. E. O. Leiser, while conversing with us at the breakfast table in St. Mary's Rectory said: "Mark what I tell you. Your Bishop will not jump into the work of building a new Cathedral for two or three years at least. I know him and I understand his methods. He will first look after the material, moral, in* tellectual and spiritual welfare of his diocese both as a whole and in partic- ular parts." I have oft since then reflected on Father Leiser 's words as I gazed in admiration on the unfolding of our Bishop's plans. We watched him tour the diocese from end to end, from center to circumference. We saw him advising, counselling, and correcting; we beheld him laboring for the welfare of the fatherless, homeless waifs; we saw him providing care, com- fort and consolation for the aged poor; we saw him making provisions for the greater care of the sick; we saw him building up grade and high schools so that the youth of his diocese might have the best in the land ; we heard him champion a strong Catholic Press and ring out his eloquent words in denunciation of an evil press; we saw him build churches, schools and halls, like so many fortresses all over his diocese in defense of God, home and country; we saw him industriously providing for the comfort, joy and pleasure of the Boy Scouts; we saw him make provisions for those un- 10 fortunate children who are deprived of the blessings of a Catholic educa- tion; we saw him organise Social Workers who would go out into the high' ways and by-ways of his diocese and furnish aid, comfort and consolation to the poor, the unfortunate—the down-and-outs. Finally we saw him lead a pilgrimage of his clergy and laity to Rome, to the Vatican, to the feet of Christ's Vicar and there tie—yes, knot the heart-strings of his diocese with the heart-strings of Christ's Vicar. What will be his next work? In the first Book of Maccabees we read that after Judas Maccabees, leader of God's people, and his valiant men had defeated the enemies of God and of his country, he said to his followers: "Behold our enemies are discomfited; let us go up now to cleanse the holy places and to repair them.