Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

parish church of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis located in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the

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 territori ...

. It was built on the east bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

in today's Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood; it is the oldest continuously used church building in the city and is part of the

St. Anthony Falls Historic District The following are all the contributing resources to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thus these proper ...

History

The oldest church building in Minneapolis, Our Lady of Lourdes has been in continuous use since the mid-19th century. The First Universalist Society of St. Anthony erected the building in

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

style as a meeting hall between 1854 and 1857 as the First Universalist Church where they worshipped until 1877. A congregation of Catholic French Canadians acquired the church in 1877 and named it in honor of the

Blessed 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 Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

who had recently appeared to

Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, ...

. One of many churches throughout the world named for the appearances in Lourdes, Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis was the first in the U.S. with this name. The Catholic parish made significant additions to the building between 1880 and 1883, adding a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

and front bell tower with three steeples; a front vestibule was added in 1914. Near the birthplace of Minneapolis, the church stands near the

Pillsbury "A" Mill The Pillsbury A-Mill is a former flour mill located on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the world's largest flour mill for 40 years. and Completed in 1881, it was owned by the Pillsbury Company and o ...

and the only natural

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

on the

. The building is not listed as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

but it is the subject of

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS) drawings and photographs created in 1934. The parish school spoke French until about 1917 when the congregation dwindled and by 1945 the priests gave sermons only in English. The church survived extinction when the Minneapolis City Council persuaded bishops of the diocese to stop plans to close and board it up in 1968. Our Lady of Lourdes is now one of 85

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

of the

which is 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 ...

Architecture

The architecture is an unusual combination of

architectural styles An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

. The

Universalists Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching th ...

constructed the original building of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarried at nearby Nicollet Island in

style based on a

Greek temple Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, s ...

(shown below at left). Their design was and built at a cost of $15,000. In the 1880s, the Catholic congregation added a V-frame beam

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

, the

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

, the

, bell tower, sacristy and vestibule in French Provincial and Gothic Revival style. The design for the circular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

comes from the Chapel Royale at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

Today

The church teaches

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

beliefs, the

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

and model for conduct taught by

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, the sacraments and

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

. Members believe in caring for the ill and those who are physically unable to attend services. The parish offers classes called ''faith formation'' for all ages.Faith Formation
, and To support the continuing restoration of their church, the congregation produces and sells French Canadian

tourtière Tourtière (, ) is a French Canadian meat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec, usually made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes. Wild game is sometimes used. It is a traditional part of the Christmas ''réveillon'' and New ...

s, a savory meat pie.Information
, and Parishioners have protected the stained glass, building exterior, and the Blessed Virgin's grotto above the front entrance, and have restored the interior, renovated the rectory and added carillon bells. Guided tours are offered by appointment. The address was at one time Prince Street and is now called Lourdes Place.

Gallery

MinneapolisLourdesRC.jpg, The inside of the church in 2015 Our Lady of Lourdes Church-capture.png, Drawing made for the 1934 HABS

Notes

External links

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1857 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches in Minneapolis French-Canadian culture in Minnesota Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Historic district contributing properties in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis 1877 establishments in Minnesota