Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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UA. OA! C'..fAe.!...f The activities of the French inhabitants of early St. Louis were centered mainly around the Roman Catholic Church. A tent, which served as a church, was one of the most impor- tant places in that small fur trading settlement on the Mississippi River. At intervals Father Meurin crossed the broad Father of the Waters from Cahokia to administer the sacraments and baptism to the fun-loving but devout Frenchmen. In his absence, however, the warden of the church held services and baptised. It is noteworthy that St. Louis had a church before it had a resident priest. The Hrst log church was built by the prominent families of St. Louis in 1770, and two years later, in 1772, Father Valentine became the first resident priest of St. Louis. Work on the new log church at Second and Walnut Streets continued until 1776 when St. Louis ceased to be known as a missionary field and became a regularly constituted parish. The front door of the church was used for proclamations of various kinds. In 1818 Bishop Rosati came to St. Louis to live and the log church became a cathedral. The small tumbling building was not worthy of the title of the Cathedral of the fine growing town, so work on a new brick church was begun. Christmas of 1819 was a joyous occasion for the first services were held in the new cathedral on that day. The church, now standing on Second and Walnut Streets, known as the Old Cathedral, was the fourth church to be built on that site. It is the oldest cathedral in the West and was built in 1834. Within the church there are three altars above which hang paintings by famous artists of past days. Through Bishop Rosati, builder of this cathedral, and the Pope, the church was given indulgences which no other church in the world has except the Basilicas in Rome. By special privilege these favors may be granted to anyone visiting the three altars at the Old Cathedral in St. Louis or the Roman Basilicas. In the early days the whole square was used for church purposes. Here were celebrated the church festivals. Many candles burned on festival days, especially on Christmas Eve. Here, too, took place the marriages, baptisms, and funeral rites. In the cemetery, which surrounded the church in the early days, were buried the early pioneers. The Old Cathedral has served the people of St. Louis for over a hundred years and though its white stone exterior is dirty and begrimed and its interior has been shorn of its beautiful candelabra, mahogany pews, and other treasures, the pictures, gifts of royalty of Europe, the magnificent organ presented long years ago by the Baroness Le Candele de Ghyseghern, the lovely altars and statues and that interesting and historic old bell are all safely harbored in the Old Cathedral today. Yes, every stone tells a story of the spiritual life of those who came to pray under its roof. Today it raises its steeple'proudly above the destruction of the riverfront. DOROTHY LINDECKER 15

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