On Monday, September 28th, the Cathedral will celebrate the 136th Anniversary of its dedication. In the midst of the continuing uncertainty of the pandemic, the theme chosen this year is "faithful service." This theme is interwoven with many aspects of the "Year of Saint Joseph" currently being observed in the Diocese of Scranton.
In the week leading up to the anniversary, we'll be celebrating by sharing our favorite throwback photos and historical memories. For our first photo, we chose to highlight an image of the interior of the Cathedral from the early 1890s.
The interior of the Cathedral remained largely unchanged from 1884 to 1921 and is similar architecturally to today's version. The earlier Cathedral interior was distinguished by different artwork, the presence of gallery seating (to the far left and right; essentially a "second floor"), a solid marble high altar, and a ceiling unadorned by today's frescoes of the seven sacraments.
The high altar is estimated to have cost $5,000 (the cost today would have exceeded $150,000). Above the high altar was a painting of the crucifixion and to the left and right were smaller side altars. On one side was a fresco of the Immaculate Conception and on the other of Saint Patrick.
In the present day, the Immaculate Conception is replaced by the fresco commemorating the Queenship of the Blessed Mother and Saint Patrick by the fresco depicting the Death of Saint Joseph.
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Join us on Monday, September 28 for the celebration of Mass at 12:10 p.m. commemorating the 136th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral. Monsignor Rupert, Pastor of the Cathedral will be the celebrant and homilist. Orations, psalms, and Scripture readings appropriate to the anniversary will be used.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, seating remains limited in the Cathedral. The anniversary Mass will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and made available across our social media platforms.