Today the Diocese of Lansing celebrates the 112th anniversary of the consecration of Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing, the mother church of the diocese. Happy feast day!
The construction of Saint Mary began in 1911 under the guidance of the renowned Lansing architect, Edwyn A. Bowd. The parish church was built using wagon loads of local field stone hauled to the construction site by farm families and faced with Indiana limestone. It replaced a prior parish church situated several blocks to the north.
The new church was finally completed two years later in 1913 and consecrated upon the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the sacred building is dedicated. The overall cost was $135,000.
Upon the establishment of the new Diocese of Lansing in 1937, Saint Mary Church became Saint Mary Cathedral housing, as it did, the new bishop’s chair or "cathedra" in Latin.
Features of artistic note include a marble carving of the Last Supper originally part of the 1913 high altar; vibrant, stained-glass windows from Germany; and painted Stations of the Cross from Czechoslovakia added in the 1920's.
While the church exterior has remained largely unchanged since its consecration, the cathedral interior saw the evolutionary embellishments of the early 20th century give way to a more revolutionary renovation in 1968 under the guidance of Bishop Alexander Zaleski. It was again remodeled in 1987 under Bishop Kenneth Povish.
Two years ago, a committee of parishioners was convened to explore the possibility of a new 21st century renovation of the church.
