Those believers who traditionally go through the religious ritual of Ash Wednesday at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Brownsville were surprised to have themselves steered away from the massive doors and led to the gym at the school across Jefferson Street when they showed up Wednesday morning.
"Apparently, the roof on the cathedral is in bad shape and they're afraid it might collapse on the people," said a person who attended early mass Wednesday. "I hear it
's going to be closed for at least a couple of months."A Brownsville Catholic Diocese receptionist told a caller that the roof repairs were a "major project" that could take the better part of two or three months.
The cathedral was built in 1856 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as Immaculate Conception Church.
According to a Wikipedia post, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate were the first priests to celebrate Mass in the area of Brownsville in 1849. The present Gothic Revival style building was designed by Peter Yves Keralum. The Oblates operated a seminary in the rectory, which also was a haven for priests who fled the revolutions in Mexico.
The first Catholic bishop to reside at Immaculate Conception was Dominic Manucy who was the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville. The Vicariate became the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1912.On July 10, 1965 Pope Paul VI established the Diocese of Brownsville from Corpus Christ and Immaculate Conception became the cathedral for the new diocese.
The UTB list of historical landmarks states that the church's "original altar was wooden, ornately carved and trimmed in gold leaf. In 1960, in accordance with Church liturgical reforms, it was replaced with a simple flat marble table. The original pulpit was designed by the church's architect, and was replaced with a simple podium, also in 1960. The hand-pulled bells in the belfry are original; they were taken from a steamship in the late 1800's. Seven of the nine original crystal and bronze chandeliers remain. They were imported from Paris when the church was built."
The UTB study states that "in 1963 restoration of the exterior of the Cathedral was carried out. In 1965 the interior was restored to compare favorably with the original beauty. This included total replacement of the canvas ceiling, and painting and decoration of ceiling, walls and columns. A new roof was put on the building. This was the first complete restoration done on the church."
"It's old alright," said one of those attending mass Wednesday. "We just never knew the roof was in that bad a shape."
1 comment:
If they were suprised, it is because they haven't been going to mass on Sunday or didn't pay attention when they went to mass. This situation has been announced at all city churches for two weeks; with a list of scheduled masses at St. Thomas and Sacred Heart to fill the gap while the Cathedral is closed. The word was clearly put out and distributed at masses....guess those who only go to mass once a year failed to get the word. Ignorance is no excuse.
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