Exploring St Patrick’s Cathedral

Exploring St Patrick’s Cathedral

I have been to New York City many times over the years and every single time I stop and visit St Patrick’s Cathedral one of the most well-known churches in the US today let’s talk a little bit about one of America’s grandest Cathedrals St Patrick’s is the largest Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral in the US taking up an entire city block its spires stretched 330 ft above street level and it was once the tallest building in New York though of course it has since been rather dwarfed by the many skyscrapers surrounding it conceived by John Hughes New York’s Archbishop at the time it was initially ridiculed as hughes’s Folly given his desire to build the cathedral in a location that was considered too far outside the city but Hughes insisted on building in that location because he believed it would one day be the heart of the city named for St Patrick the patron saint of Ireland due to the rise in Irish immigration the church has an extensive history begun in 1858 construction was halted only 2 years later due to the Civil War and would not recommend until 1865 the church was almost destroyed by mobs during the Civil War practically before the real work began and we’d likely have never seen this church completed but thankfully authorities sent patrols to protect the city’s places of worship from Mob destruction including the unfinished St Patrick’s the interior of the cathedral has 35 columns and seats about 2400 people the gallery orgon has 7,885 pipes there are 21 altars two of which were designed signed by the Tiffany Company and it includes 19 Bells the bells each have names and are named for different Saints St Patric of course St Joseph St Michael St an St Elizabeth St Augustine of Hippo St Anthony of Padua St Agnes St John the Evangelist St Bridget St Francis Xavier St Peter St Cecilia St Helena St alfonsus lagori St Thomas aquinus St Godfrey and the Blessed Virgin there is also one final Bell that is called Holy Name donated by the holy name society there are 2800 panels of stained glass the stained glass windows were actually not part of the original church and were added later this was because there was no electricity at the time and they required the sunlight to help illuminate the massive interior of the Cathedral New stained glass was added in 1954 depicting 12 male and 12 female saints many of the windows were made in chart France renowned for stained glass ever since the Middle Ages but other windows were made in Birmingham England Boston and of course New York the founders window depicts Arch Bishop John Hughes James renck and Cardinal John McClosky each holding architectural renderings of the cathedral one other little fun fact about the stained glass in St Patrick’s there is actually a hidden window in the cathedral reportedly behind the organ it is not meant to be seen this hearkens back to a Gothic Cathedral tradition That Glory is given to God who sees all things in secret which we cannot not every year the fire department does an inspection of the spires five of those firemen were killed on 9/11 and the scribblings from the inspectors remain to this day even surviving a massive restoration completed in 2015 during which it was decided that the inspection scribbles would be preserved to honor those five Fallen firemen and speaking of 9/11 and fire in the days immediately following the 911 attacks there were so many prayer candles lit in St Patrick’s that the heat from the Flames actually started shattering the glass candle holders a set of massive bronze doors weighing nine tons open up to the church’s main entrance the doors feature statues of its Catholic immigrant forebears including St Isaac Jes the first priest of New York St Francis Cabrini mother of the Immigrant and Mother Elizabeth Satan daughter of New York Each corner of the church contains inlaid plaques of the four gospel writers Matthew Mark Luke and John there is also an inlaid Pelican which is the only bird that can feed it young with her own blood the church uses the Pelican as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and the Holy Eucharist there are also other animals that can be found throughout the cathedral including Dolphins dragons cats and mice the cathedral has its own P which is a depiction of Mary holding her son Christ just after his removal from the cross this p is of course not a replica of the famous piece by Michelangelo and is roughly three times bigger the Crypt beneath the church located right under the high altar is the final resting place for for all the Archbishop Bishops who have served New York as well as one single non- clergyman a Haitian Catholic by the name of Pierre tucon currently being considered for sainthood there is a little known mystery surrounding the building of the cathedral involving the Cornerstone the Cornerstone was laid by Archbishop Hughes on August 15th 1858 a stone heun by an Irish immigrant and left open for two years so that New Yorkers could leave offerings on it the stone contained a litany in Latin as well as a news report of the day it was sealed exactly 2 years later in 1860 then suddenly it went missing to this day no one knows where the Cornerstone is thank you for listening and don’t forget if you like this video be sure to subscribe to our Channel and check out some of our other work we’ve got lots more on the way

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City is easily one of America’s most famous churches. Join me as I talk about some of the tales and intricacies of this incredible Gothic cathedral in the heart of Manhattan!

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