Holy Rosary Cathedral at 13th Avenue and Garnet Street in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, is the cathedral church of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina () is a Roman Catholic archdiocese comprising the southern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, as far north as the 30th township, or about 51°30' lat. The metropolitan province includes the suff ...

History

Construction began in 1912 and the cornerstone was blessed by the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to Canada, Archbishop Peregrin-François Stagni, O.S.M. on June 30, 1913 before an assembly of approximately 2,000 people. The building was completed in 1917. It was designed in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style by the firm of Joseph Fortin of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, who also designed the Roman Catholic cathedrals of St. Paul's in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and

Our Lady of Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan Gravelbourg () is a small multicultural town in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located just west of the Wood River at the junction of provincial Highway 43 and Highway 58, approximately 125 kilometres from Moose Jaw, Swift Cur ...

. Modelled after churches in northern France, it is faced in yellow brick with limestone accents. Smith Brothers & Wilson oversaw construction and the final cost was $135,000.

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères () is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855� ...

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie r ...

, constructed and installed the gallery organ in 1930, to replace a large reed organ. It underwent extensive repairs after the 1976 fire and was renovated again in 1992–1993, after which it was named ''The McGuigan Organ'' in honour of Sister Marion McGuigan, a much-loved local humanitarian and educator. Since its construction, the interior of the church has been extensively redecorated five times; in 1928, 1951, 1968, 1976, and 1992. Renovations in 1951 saw the installation of 43 stained glass windows by André Rault, while work in 1968 saw fundamental renovations for the church to conform with the directives of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. This included the dismantling of the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

at the east end of the choir, and a nave altar being installed at the crossing. The choir was converted into a chapel. A disastrous fire occurred on April 12, 1976, forcing renovations in the months following the fire. The Cathedral was unusable and

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

es were held in the neighbouring Westminster United Church. The cathedral's pipe organ, built by

, and installed in the cathedral gallery in 1930, was damaged during the fire. It underwent extensive repairs after the 1976 fire and was renovated again in 1992–1993, after which it was named ''The McGuigan Organ'' in honour of Sister Marion McGuigan, a much-loved local humanitarian and educator. Other renovations in 1992 saw the opaque screen separating the nave from the choir removed, and the main altar restored to a position in the choir closer to the site of the original high altar in the former sanctuary. The light and airy interior of the cathedral is decorated sparingly in keeping with Canadian aesthetic sensibilities. The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

Sacred Heart Academy

Immediately to the west of the Cathedral, across the closed Garnet Street, is the building that formerly housed Sacred Heart Academy, a girls' high school operated by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, who also conducted music tuition for music students from across the city. The Sisters, whose numbers were waning, closed the school in 1969. The building has now been converted to

strata title Strata title is a form of ownership and housing tenure devised for multi-level apartment blocks and horizontal subdivisions with shared areas. The word "strata" refers to apartments on different levels. Strata title was first introduced in 19 ...

and sold as townhouses, but the Archdiocese has retained a portion of the east basement, once the piano studios, for offices.

Notes

External links

* *{{Catholic Encyclopedia, wstitle=Diocese of Regina Churches in Regina, Saskatchewan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1917 Burned buildings and structures in Canada Roman Catholic cathedrals in Saskatchewan 1917 establishments in Saskatchewan 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada

History

Sacred Heart Academy

See also

Notes

External links