Saint Mary's Cathedral is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

parish of the Catholic Diocese of Austin located in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973, as St. Mary's Cathedral.

History

The origins of this church date to the 1850s when the largely Irish Catholic community in Austin, (originally called "Waterloo"), built a small stone church named St. Patrick's on the corner of 9th and Brazos Streets. It was built of locally quarried limeston

The parish continued to grow, due in no small part to the increase in German Catholics. In 1866, the parish decided they needed a new church and could afford masonry construction. While the Irish preferred that the church retain the name of St. Patrick, the German residents hoped the new church would be dedicated to a patron saint who reflected their heritage. Both sides compromised and agreed that the new church be named in honor of Mary. In 1872, after Austin was made the permanent capital of the state, the parish laid the cornerstone for a new church choosing a location one block north of the original building."History", Saint Mary Cathedral
/ref> At the time, Austin was part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Diocese of Galveston. St. Mary's was finished in 1874 and dedicated in 1884. St. Patrick's was demolished around 1874. When the Diocese of Austin was created in 1948, St. Mary's became the cathedral of the newly formed diocese. In recognition of St. Mary's Irish roots, the Celtic Cultural Center of Texas holds an annual Christmas concert at the cathedral, highlighting traditional Irish and Scottish music played by noted artists. The show has sold out every year.

Architecture

The new church was designed by Irish-born architect

Nicholas J. Clayton Nicholas Joseph Clayton (November 1, 1840 in Cloyne, County Cork – December 9, 1916) was a prominent Victorian era architect in Galveston, Texas. Clayton constructed many grand religious and public buildings in Galveston including the Firs ...

in a Victorian design. It was his first independent commission. In 1872, he was in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

working as supervising architect for the construction of the First Presbyterian Church, designed by the Memphis, Tennessee, architects

Jones Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones * Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...

and Baldwin. It may have been through the Holy Cross fathers that the bishop connected Nicholas Clayton with St. Mary's Austin. The neo-Gothic revival towers and spires were completed in 1907. The original finials were removed in the 1950s, perhaps after being struck by lightning.Castillo, Juan. "St. Mary Cathedral gets a face-lift", ''American-Statesman'', February 2, 2013
/ref> Additional stained-glass work was added in the 1890s. The cathedral's design evokes nature. The tree-like columns have their foliage-carved capitals; the murals contain tracery of vines and leaves. The pointed arches on doors and windows and the spires evoke the mountains. The ceiling and the blue dome spangled with stars reflect the sky and the heavens. The cathedral's bell, donated by the family of Michael Butler, is one of the largest in the State of Texas. In 1948, when the church was remodeled, many of its

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

decorations were removed, the neo-Gothic altars and altar rail were replaced with 20th-century marble and the baldachino with its

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

and bluebonnets, evocative of

central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...

. The cathedral underwent extensive restoration in 2013, due to some safety concerns. This included, among other work, cleaning the exterior, the replacing of some blocks and mortar, and the restoration of the large

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

in the front facade. The window's central design of the

quincunx A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (dep ...

, in which four parts spin out of one, can be interpreted a geometric representation of the four evangelists carrying the Word to the four corners of the world. The building was listed in the

on April 2, 1973.

Cathedral school

The Cathedral School of Saint Mary was established in 1866,"History", Cathedral School of Saint Mary
/ref> and holds the distinction of being Austin's oldest school in continuous operation.

Gallery

Image:Saint Mary's Cathedral Austin Texas Altar.jpg, High altar Image:Saint Mary's Cathedral Austin Texas Front Entrance.jpg, Entrance detail Image:Saint Mary's Cathedral Austin Texas Nave.jpg, Nave Image:Saint Mary's cathedral in Austin - statue.jpg, Statue the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

on the façade

References

External links

Official Cathedral SiteRoman Catholic Diocese of Austin Official SiteCathedral School of St. Mary
– affiliated K-8 school
postcard of St. Mary's Church c.1915
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral Of Saint Mary In Austin Roman Catholic churches completed in 1884 Churches in Austin, Texas City of Austin Historic Landmarks Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston–Houston

Mary Austin Mary Austin may refer to: * Mary Hunter Austin (1868–1934), American writer of fiction and non-fiction * Mary V. Austin (1900–1986), Australian community worker and political activist * Mary Brown Austin (1768–1824), mother of Texan pioneer S ...