Essay On St Helena Cathedral

The Cathedral of Saint Helena

If you are to ever travel to Helena, Montana. You will want to visit St. Helena's Cathedral. It is one of the sites that your trip wouldn't be complete without. Saint Helena's Cathedral was a an amazing feat of the time. It is a truly beautiful and astonishing sight to see from the breathtaking stained glass windows that uphold the tradition of telling biblical stories. To the majestic twin spires that reach nearly 230 feet in the air. This cathedral is a true marvel still at this day and age.
One of the most eye-catching architectural feats in the town of Helena, Montana is St. Helena’s Cathedral. A cathedral is a church where people gather to pray and worship under the leadership of a bishop(“Montanakids”). The word cathedral in actuality means chair. So a cathedral is simply the church where a bishop presides because it holds within it the bishops special

chair. The land where the cathedral was to be, was chosen by Helena’s bishop, Bishop John Carroll. The land was finally purchased in 1905. Which would not have been possible without such a large and generous donation of a quarter million dollars made by Thomas Cruse. However, Mr. Cruse sadly never was able to see the cathedral finished. He died on December 20, 1914 at the age of 80 from myocarditis. His funeral was held on December 26, 1914. His funeral was the first ever held within the church that he had helped so much to be built.
In the April of 1908 bets were made on the construction of the cathedral.

The Columbia Construction Company of New York was awarded the contract for the both the cathedral and for the St. Helena school which stands adjacent(“Montanakids”). Mr. A. O. Von Herbulis; a resident of Washington, D.C. was commissioned to be the architect(“Cathedral of St. Helena”). He was a man who had trained abroad and due to his vast knowledge of the cathedrals of Europe was chosen to design the Cathedral of Saint Helena. When it was time to submit his sketches he had two designs. One was in a romanesque style and the other in a more gothic form. The sketches were then presented to the Building Committee and Advisory Board. The gothic design for the cathedral was chosen and approved unanimously. Some accounts may state that the Cathedral of Saint Helena is modeled after the cathedral in Cologne, Germany. But in all actuality Mr. Von Herbulis modeled the Cathedral of Saint Helena after the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria. The Votivkirche was under construction when was studying abroad in the

city.
Bishop John Carroll had envisioned a Cathedral that would be a fitting monument and a tribute to the Diocese and the city of Helena(“Montanakids”). To the first bishop in Helena, Bishop Brondel. The project had been dear to his heart. Construction of St. Helena's Cathedral was started in 1908, with the cornerstone being laid on October 4th of that year. The foundation or cornerstone comes from the the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. The cornerstone is quite important since all of the other stones will be set in locations relevant to the cornerstone(“Dictionary.com”). On November 8, 1914 the Catholic community of Helena gathered to celebrate the Eucharist for the first time in the new church(“Cathedral of Saint Helena”). The first actual mass was celebrated December 25, 1914. The Cathedral was formally consecrated on June 24, 1924. The completion of the Cathedral didn’t come until 1924 when the German-crafted stained glass windows and finishing ornamentation were completed and installed(“City-Data”).