St. Andrew's Cathedral is the

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 ...

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 denominations ...

for the diocese of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. Built in the

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Promo ...

style, St. Andrew's was Victoria's third cathedral to be built.

History

The cathedral is the third building to be used by the parish. The first building was used from 1858 to 1884 (presently used as the Chapel of St. Ann's Academy on Humboldt Street). The second building was used from 1884 to 1892 (situated behind the current building now occupied by the St. Andrew's Square office building), after which the parish moved into the present cathedral. Work on the new cathedral began in 1890. At 8:00 a.m. on October 30, 1892, Bishop

Jean-Nicolas Lemmens Jean-Nicolas Lemmens (also Joannes Nicolaas Lemmens or Joannes Nicolaus Lemmens) (3 June 1850, in Schimmert – 10 August 1897, in Cobán (Guatemala)) was a Dutch Catholic priest and Bishop of Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. He was a strong sup ...

blessed the building before celebrating a Pontifical High Mass at 10:00 a.m. The cathedral has been a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

since 1990.

Design

The present cathedral was designed by architects Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard. The total cost of the building was C$81,052 Based on the plans for a church built in

Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Perrault and Mesnard borrowed much from the

medieval architecture Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages, and includes religious, civil, and military buildings. Styles include pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. While most of the surviving medieval architecture is to be seen in ...

of European churches. The double

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

towers are typical of Quebec churches and a characteristic of the High Victorian Gothic style. This was an attempt to follow the "unfinished" look that made fourteenth and fifteenth century churches popular. The main tower boasts a spire that was designed to hold a clock and a set of bells.

The nave is , with a rose window. The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at St Andrew's Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral houses 21 large Portland-style stained glass windows and two large rose windows with a smaller one above the gallery. An altar was commissioned for use on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishop Remi Joseph De Roo's episcopal ordination. Carved by Charles W. Elliott, the first Native American to graduate from St. Louis College, the altar consists of two

bentwood Bentwood objects are those made by wetting wood (either by soaking or by steaming), then bending it and letting it harden into curved shapes and patterns. In furniture making this method is often used in the production of rocking chairs, cafe ...

boxes. The boxes can be rotated to show four separate designs for the different

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

seasons. The top of the altar or is carved from yellow cedar (

Nootka Cypress ''Callitropsis nootkatensis'', formerly known as ''Cupressus nootkatensis'' (syn. ''Xanthocyparis nootkatensis'') is a species of trees in the cypress family native to the coastal regions of northwestern North America. This species goes by many ...

) and weighs approximately four hundred pounds. The cathedral also displays a carved

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

by artist

Roy Henry Vickers Roy Henry Vickers, (born June 1946 in Laxgalts'ap (now known as Greenville), British Columbia) is a Grammy Award nominated Canadian First Nations artist. He owns and operates a gallery in Tofino, British Columbia. Biography Vickers was born ...

. It depicts a black and red image of

Christ 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 relig ...

, representing the crucified Christ and the risen Christ.

Crypt

The cathedral houses a

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

, where three of Victoria's former Bishops are interred: * Bishop

Modeste Demers Modeste Demers (11 October 1809 – 28 July 1871) was a Roman Catholic Bishop and missionary in the Oregon Country. A native of Quebec, he traveled overland to the Pacific Northwest and preached in the Willamette Valley and later in what would beco ...

, the first Bishop of Victoria. *

Charles John Seghers Charles John Seghers (also written as ''Charles-Jean Seghers''; 26 December 1839 – 28 November 1886) was a Belgian clergyman and missionary bishop. He is considered to be the founder of the Alaska Mission. Biography Early years and formation S ...

, the second and fourth Bishop, murdered in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. * Rt. Rev. John J. Jonckau, a former Vicar General of the Diocese of Victoria who was named as Bishop but died before being

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different gro ...

Notes

References

External links