StPaulsTour


Welcome to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the principal Church of the Diocese of Worcester and the Church which enshrines the cathedra: the chair from which the Bishop of Worcester presides over the local Church. The vestibule of the Church contains several records of the rich history of this Cathedral Church.

MEMORIAL TO OUR FOUNDING PASTOR A memorial to Father John Power, founding pastor of St. Paul's Parish is located on the outside wall of the upper church vestibule a few feet to the right of the main entrance. Father Power was ordained in Aix, France in 1856 and was assigned to serve as pastor of St. Anne's Parish, Worcester that same year. The plaque commemorates his important ministry:

	In loving and prayerful memory of Very Rev. John Joseph Power, D.D., V.G. Born at Charlestown, Mass, August 23, 1828 Graduated from the College of the Holy Cross July 24, 1851 Ordained to the Priesthood at Aix France, May 17, 1856 Appointed Pastor of Saint Anne’s Church Worcester, August 6, 1856 Founder and Pastor of Saint Paul’s Church, Worcester, July 4, 1869 Vicar general of the Diocese of Springfield, January 24, 1894 Honored by his Alma Mater with Degree of Doctor of Divinity, June 25, 1894 Died at the Parochial Residence January 27, 1902 Buried in Saint Anne’s Cemetery, Shrewsbury Esteemed when living – Honored when dead Requiescat in Pace
In 1866, the same year that Archbishop John J. Williams became the fourth Archbishop of Boston, he directed Father Power to purchase land on the corner of Chatham and Main streets to construct a new church to serve the needs of the growing Catholic population in the city. At the time only St. Anne's and St. John's were in existence. The property cost $15,000. The anti-Catholic climate of city residents of the time, however, discouraged the building of a Catholic Church on Main Street. Wishing to avoid controversy, Father Power exchanged lots with the owner of the adjacent pear orchard on the corner of Chatham and High Streets, the present location of St. Paul's Cathedral. Ground was broken in the Spring of 1868 and the basement was completed in 1869. The first Mass was celebrated in the lower church on July 4, 1869. At this solemn ceremony, Archbishop Williams laid the cornerstone. The homily was presented by Father James Fitton, the first active priest in Worcester County. In 1874 the upper church, except for the tower, was completed and a solemn dedication ceremony was celebrated by Bishop Patrick T. O’Reilly, the first Bishop of Springfield on July 16 of that year. The granite tower was completed in 1889. In 1895, the parishioners completed payments on the church mortgage. Further to right of the vestibule are found three plaques commemorating those parishioners who died in service to their country in the course of the first and second World Wars.

MEMORIAL TO THE CREATION OF THE DIOCESE To the left of the main entrance is a marble memorial tablet commemorating the establishment of the Diocese of Worcester by Pope Pius XII in 1950 and the act by which Bishop John J. Wright took possession of this Cathedral Church as the first Bishop of Worcester on March 7, 1950. The Latin inscription reads:
	Exercising his Apostolic Authority, Pope Pius XII, Supreme Pontiff, after having created the Diocese of Worcester on January 14, 1950, dully raised to the Dignity of a Cathedral this church dedicated to the honor of St. Paul. And so, on the seventh day of March, in 1950, the jubilee year, the Most Reverend John J. Wright, first Bishop of Worcester, solemnly took ceremonial possession of this see in the presence of the Most Reverend Richard James Cushing, Archbishop of Boston and Metropolitan of New England as well as animpressive gathering of clergy, Catholic people and their fellow citizens. Wherefore, to preserve forever the memory of the event, the Reverend Monsignor Michael Patrick Kavanagh rector of the church at the time, erected this tablet.

OAK PLAQUE ADDRESSED TO PILGRIMS Diagonally opposite the marble tablet is an oaken plaque which asks prayers for the bishop and people of the diocese. The inscription on the plaque, authored by Bishop Wright, was suggested by a much briefer inscription on the porch of the medieval cathedral church in Worcester, England.
	Whosoever thou art that entereth this Cathedral leave it not without first offering humble prayer to God for the Bishop of this Diocese for its priests, religious and people for all the member of Christ’s Church the living and the dead and for those noy yet of His folk for whom Christ died and for whom we pray.


THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER AND THE POPE On either side of the main entrance doors to the inner Church are images of Pope Benedict XVI and Bishop Robert J. McManus. Bishop McManus was installed as the fifth Bishop of Worcester on May 14, 2004 in this Cathedral Church.

THE GREAT CATHEDRAL CHURCH As one enters the body of the great Cathedral church through the vestibule doors, the first impression is one of spaciousness. Gothic arches soar to a height of 96 feet. The church is 91 feet wide. The main aisle is 168 feet. The church is of Victorian Gothic design. The architect was Elbridge Boyden of Boston who also designed the historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester and the First Congregational Church in Spencer. Because of its unique design and noted designer, St. Paul's Cathedral was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

SAINT PAUL IN STONE AND GLASS The Cathedral is dedicated to the patronage of Saint Paul. Thus on the right side of the sanctuary we find a ten foot marble statue of the Apostle to the Gentiles, holding a sword, the instrument of his martyrdom and a book of his Epistles. On the left of the sanctuary is a matching statue of Saint Peter, holding a book and the keys presented to him by Christ.
	Perhaps the most striking feature of the Cathedral is the result of the inspiration of Bishop Wright, who commissioned new windows for almost the entire great Church in the 1950’s.^¹ With the clear intention of enabling the windows to teach, the first Bishop of our Diocese commissioned Clare Leighton, a graphic artist to design monumental glass which “might teach as the windows of the great European cathedrals once taught, noting that “our generation of Catholics needs the inspiration of Saint Paul’s example and that our moment in history and human culture needs his theological and intellectual influence.” The windows were crafted by the O’Duggan Glass Studio in Boston.
1 Some of the original windows may still be seen in the choir loft. Here angels urge us to raise our thoughts of heaven against a rich blue background and surmounted by the coat-of-arms of the Diocese of Worcester.

The Right Transept Window (on the Baptismal Font Side) is dominated by a massive image of the Lord Jesus atop its middle lancet (column). The windows are read from bottom to top and from left to right. The figure of Saint Paul is consistently colored in red garments throughout all the windows. Beginning with the left lancet we see Saul as a young man learning the art of tent-making and, above, sitting at the feet of the great scholar Gamaliel. Next begins the story of the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, who stands on trial before the Sanhedrin. This leads to the bottom of the second lancet (“the persecution window”) where Saul stands, arms dispassionately crossed, as the first saint is stoned to death. Additional scenes of Christian persecution are then surmounted by the Conversion of Saint Paul, knocked from his horse and blinded as the Lord Jesus demands of him: “Saul, why do you persecute me?” At the bottom of the right lancet (The humiliation window) the blind and bent Paul is led into Damascus where, next, Ananias prays over and heals him, baptizing him in the name of the Lord Jesus. Above, the Apostle withdraws into the desert, and upon his return to Damascus, is forced to escape over the city wall in a basket for fear of those who resent his new preaching. The lancet concludes with the rejection of Saint Paul by even his fellow disciples of Jesus.

The Left Transept Window (on the Tabernacle Side), begins on the lower left with the meeting of Peter and Paul at the intercession of Barnabas. Above is the next chapter in Paul’s life as he returns to a cave in his native Tarsus to discern God’s will. With Barnabas at his side, the two then set out on horseback for the first missionary journey to Antioch. Then, in a little boat, the two disciples are joined by John Mark in missions to Seleucia, Cyprus, and Salamis. The encounter on Cyprus with the evil sorcerer Elymas is then depicted, as Paul preaches to him and the magician covers his face in shame. Finally, at the top of the lancet, we see Paul and Barnabas riding by starlight into the rugged country of Pisidia. The middle lancet begins with Paul healing a man unable to walk in Lystra, where immediately above the people declare the Apostle and his companion to be Gods to the accompaniment of music makers and a sacred bull. When then the Apostles protest this idolatry, the people take up stones to kill Paul and Barnabas. Thinking Paul was dead (see the birds of prey and dogs around his body) they dragged his body outside the city. Next is the conversion of Lydia the dyer of Phillipi who is shown being blessed by Saint Paul after her baptism in a stream. This is followed by an entirely different encounter as a fortune teller is exorcised by Paul and Barnabas, her hands flailing. Upset by this disruption, the locals throw Apostle and his disciple into prison. However, the Lord dramatically shatters the prison with an earthquake, and the two emerge, chains broken and hands raised to heaven. This lancet is surmounted by an enormous figure of Saint Paul, which breaks the narrative. It is the Apostle to the Gentiles, with book and sword in hand, having gained the merited prize which awaited him. This artist explains that the depiction of the Saint in glory is designed simply to compliment the monumental image of the Lord Jesus on the opposite wall of the transept. The right lancet opens on the preaching of Saint Paul at the Aereopagas in Athens, surmounted by the controversial pagan idol of Dianne of the Ephesians which caused the Apostle such trouble in his second visit to that town. The window skips to the shipwreck of Saint Paul in Malta, a violent affair in which enormous waves, three broken anchors, and a tattered sail seem not to concern the Apostle in the stern. Following small symbolic references to some of the journeys along the way, the window concludes on the Appian Way, where Paul is greeted by some of the Roman believers. The last two years of Paul’s life are contained in the final scenes as, under the guard of a Roman Centurion, he raises his chained hands to heaven in prayer. At the top of the right lancet, we see that Saint Paul has been decapitated and the haloed head lies across the glass of the window. The Chapel of Tre Fontana is seen in the background, marking the place where the Saint’s head struck the ground three times and immediately three miraculous fountains arose.

THE SANCTUARY AND NAVE WINDOWS There are ten fifteen foot windows in the sanctuary and nave which narrate various events in the life of Saint Paul.

1. The first window (nearest the Baptismal font) is set atop a high mountain, as Saint Paul heads with determination into the rugged country of Pisidia. The young disciple John Mark, having decided to return from a journey which is becoming too much for him, is consoled by his cousin Barnabas. John Mark will return home, while Barnabas and Paul will continue on. 2. The women’s window (to the right of the monumental transept window) depicts friends and helpers of the Apostle to the Gentiles, including (from the bottom) Phoebe taking Paul’s letter to the Romans, the convert Lydia “the dyer of purple,” Priscilla, who with her husband Aquila came to know Paul in Corinth and then became his disciple; and Thecla, who received the faith from the Apostle in I conium and is said to have been rescued from the flames of her persecutors by a miraculous rain. 3. The next window, described by the artist as “a gentle domestic window,” depicts the young Saint Timothy reading a book with his mother Eunice (spinning) and grandmother Lois (preparing vegetables) At the top Timothy hurries to join Saint Paul with the cloak, books, and parchments he requests in his first letter to the young Saint. 4. To the right, a window depicts the burning of books of magic by certain Ephesians who had tried to imitate Paul’s power over the devil with their own incantations. When the demons overpowered the self-made exorcists they renounced their heresy and publicly burnt their books of incantations. 5. The next glass is a cautionary tale against long sermons, this window depicts an incident in Troas when, during a particularly lengthy homily, the young Eutychus fell out the window. At the bottom of the window Saint Paul brings him back to life (and then presumably finished his sermon). 6. The fifteen foot window closest to the tabernacle is located in Malta (symbolized by the locally grown prickly pears) where after his shipwreck the Saint gathers wood for the fire. A viper emerges from the heat and bit him, a traditional omen that he was a murderer. When, however, he did not suffer from the usually fatal bite the amazed people (above) declared Saint Paul a God. At the top of the window, the Apostle hold the father of the governor Publius, whom he healed. 7. To the left (on the other side of the large transept window), the disciples of Tyre pleaded with Paul to remain with them, but he sails off to Jerusalem nonetheless and they remain behind, tending their children and mending their nets. 8. This window of miracles, the next window to the left, shows two women touching an old man with the cloak of the Saint in hope of his healing. Similarly, in the scene above, a possessed youth is exorcised by being touched with the apron of Paul’s cloak. 9. To the left, an additional scene from the imprisonment of Paul and Silas when they were freed from their bonds by an earthquake. Here the converted jailor tends to Paul’s wounds, while two jailhouse keys hang from his belt. The prison is filled with rats, spiders, and instruments of torture. 10. The last nave window in the body of the Church depicts Paul sitting by a stream, while Timothy sits in a tree, passing fruit to Silas for the refreshment of the Apostle. 11. The window of the martyrdom of Saint Paul, temporarily obscured by recent construction, depicts his death on the road to Ostia where he was executed near a pine tree by the sword.

THE CLERESTORY WINDOWS Fourteen windows of six feet in height tower more than fifty feet above your head in the clerestory of the building. As you face the sanctuary, the high window to your right is the Lamb of God, a symbol of John the Baptist, while to your left is the dalmatic, palm and censor, symbols of the first martyr, Saint Stephen. Beginning from the right of the window of Saint John the Baptist are the windows representing the Twelve Apostles: Saint James (shells and traveling bag), Peter (crowing rooster and keys), John (Eagle and chalice with snake), Andrew (fish and anchor), Bartholomew (Sword and three knives), (cross, dragon and fish). After the choir loft, the clerestory windows continue with Saints Thomas (square, arrows, spears), Simon (book, fish, and battle axe), James the lesser (saw, tower and stones), and Philip (open book, battle axe and sword).


THE SANCTUARY In 1952 the sanctuary was framed by a white Botticino marble wainscoting. The 1996 renovation provided a field of green marble for the floor. At the center of the sanctuary stands the Altar, upon which is offered the sacrifice by which we are saved and from which we receive the Bread of Life and the Chalice of Eternal Salvation. Installed in 1996, the altar is made of green and white marble and is fronted by a white bas relief of the Last Supper, taken from the altar erected here in 1904. The reredos is carved of oak in a Gothic style. At the center of the reredos is the Cathedra of the Bishop of Worcester, surmounted by the coat-of-arms of the diocese and the bishop. The "cathedra" or bishop's chair, located at the center of the sanctuary, symbolizes the bishop's three-fold ministry of priest, teacher and shepherd. As priest, he leads the diocesan family in worship of God. As teacher, he guides the Church of Worcester in living the Gospel. As shepherd, he gathers the diocesan church together as one fold in God's love. The term "cathedral" means "house for the cathedra." Because St. Paul's Church houses the cathedra, it becomes a cathedral, serving as the bishop's spiritual home, the liturgical center of the diocese and the principal church of the diocese.

COAT OF ARMS Above the bishop's chair is the insignia of the Diocese of Worcester. The shield is divided into two parts. The left side contains the Coat of Arms of the Diocese of Worcester. The right side contains the coat of arms of the Bishop of Worcester. The coat of arms of the diocese includes the following elements:

Four red discs - borrowed from the coat of arms of Bishop Giffard (1268-1302), of the Diocese of Worcester, England. Red, gold, silver & blue - colors borrowed from Bishop Giffard's coat of Arms. Gold cross - borrowed from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Boston, where the spiritual beginnings of the Diocese of Worcester have their roots. It also symbolizes Holy Cross Cathedral of Boston. The cross, an early symbol of the papacy symbolizes the unity between the Diocese of Worcester and the Church at Rome. Fleur-de-lis - these French designs on the four ends of the gold cross are reminders of our first spiritual leader, the first Bishop of Boston, Jean Lefebvre de Cheverus. The elements on the right side of the insignia representing the Coat-of-Arms of Bishop Robert McManus, the present Bishop of Worcester.

OTHER ELEMENTS OF THE SANCTUARY The ambo or pulpit is the table of God's Word. From here, God’s word is “broken open” for the nourishment of his holy people. It is constructed from the same marble as the altar in order to symbolize the unity between the Word of God proclaimed and the Sacrifice of the Altar. A large crucifix hangs from the ceiling over the main altar. The corpus was carved in Bavaria, the cross in Worcester. The crucifix was first displayed at the Diocesan Congress of Catholic Women in May 1953 after which it was mounted to the vestibule wall of the cathedral. The crucifix was moved to its present position in 1996.

THE BAPTISTRY To the right of the sanctuary is the Baptistery. Here, in a marble font, children and adults received the Sacrament of Baptism, by which they are freed from original sin and joined to Christ and his Church. The font is usually filled with water which has been blessed for Baptism. Catholics regularly bless themselves with this “holy water” (also found in small fonts at the entrance to the Church) as a reminder of their Baptism and as a prayer for God’s protection. Immediately behind the Baptismal Font is a cabinet containing three large containers of Holy Oil. Because this is the Cathedral Church, the Bishop of Worcester gathers here with all his priests just before Easter each year to celebrate the Mass of Holy Chrism. At that Mass he blesses the three oils you sees before you: Holy Chrism is used as a sign of the Holy Spirit to seal the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, to anoint newly ordained Priests and Bishops, and to consecrate new altars. Holy Chrism is covered with a white veil symbolic of the joy that accompanies its use. It is scented with a sweet-smelling perfume. The Oil of Catechumens is used for anointing adults who are preparing for initiation into the church. The anointings are accompanied with prayers for strength and conversion. It is covered with a purple veil symbolic of conversion of heart. The Oil of the Sick is used by priests to anoint persons who are seriously ill. The anointings are accompanied by prayers for healing of body and soul. It is covered with a green veil symbolic of new life. This oil is scented with balsam.

THE EUCHARISTIC SHRINE In every Catholic Church the Eucharist is reserved in a place of honor for the communion of the sick and in order that the faithful might come before the Lord present in the bread which has become his body for prayer and reflection. The tabernacle containing the consecrated bread is found to the left of the sanctuary in a shrine dating from 1996. Catholic customarily reverence the reserved Eucharist with a genuflection.

OTHER SHRINES Catholics honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, asking for their prayers and meditating on the mysteries of their lives. Thus, in the front of the Church are found marbles statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her husband, Saint Joseph, before which people pray throughout the day. In the back of the Church is a second image of the Blessed Virgin, here under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, commemorating the appearance of the Mother of God in Mexico to a poor native man and the miraculous appearance of her image upon his cloak. On the opposite side, beside the confessional, is the image of Divine Mercy, commemorating the appearance of Christ Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowlska and reminding all of our ultimate dependence upon the mercy of God.

LOWER CHURCH In the lower church may be found “the Cenacle,” a hall constructed in 1996 by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly to accommodate a wide range of diocesan and parochial events. Behind the Cenacle is the Chapel of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, formed from the former lower Church in 1996. To the right of the sanctuary is a painting of Mater Purissima (the Most Pure Mother), acquired for the Cathedral Church by its first Bishop, John Wright, at the foundation of the Diocese of Worcester in 1950. This lovely oil painting was painted by Domenico Morelli (1816-1891).