What Is the Cathedral of St. Paul?
This is a consecrated shrine to St. Paul and the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis!
What Makes It Historical?
When Archbishop John Ireland was done resettling 4,000 Catholic families from East Coast slums onto Minnesota farmland (taken from the Dakota in 1862), he set to giving their religion a North Star State headquarters. He selected architect, Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, whose work at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition had impressed him a lot, to design a cathedral in honor of St. Paul! Drawing inspiration from St. Peter’s Basilica, Mr. Masqueray designed a cathedral that was neoclassical with Baroque ornamentation on the outside and full of Renaissance splendor within! Construction began on June 2, 1907 and outlasted both Bishop Ireland and Mr. Masqueray, finally wrapping up in 1953 with a capacity to house 3-4,000 worshippers!
The process of consecrating the new cathedral took five hours! The ceremony, led by Archbishop William O. Brady, elevated the Cathedral of St. Paul to a special level within the church. But there was an even more remarkable status in store for this “Great Temple on the Prairie!” In 2009, this became the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul, and, in 2012, received a stone from the original tomb of St. Paul! This established a “bond of spiritual affinity” between this cathedral and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome and meant that a pilgrimage to this spot had the same spiritual merit as trekking all the way across the world to the saint’s tomb!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer at the Cathedral of St. Paul!
- Donate to the Cathedral of St. Paul!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
239 Selby Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
There is a weekday Mass at 7:30 AM, a Saturday Mass at 5:15 PM, and Sunday Masses at 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 5:00 PM!
More Photos
