CATHEDRAL MARKS SESQUICENTENNIAL

Thousands jammed into the church to witness the six-hour-long ceremony, which included a 90-minute sermon. Such lengths were common in the days before radio and television, when people would willingly sit still if enraptured by spell-binding speakers.

This weekend, the 150th anniversary of that occasion will be marked at the Cathedral with several events, including a Mass, a lecture and musical performances. To mark the occasion, The Evangelist includes a 12-page center-section (pages 13-24) that delves into the past and present of the Cathedral, examining it both as a parish and as the diocesan church.

An unfinished quality connects today's Cathedral to the one that opened a century-and-a-half ago. In 1852, the church was dedicated despite its not being completed; for example, the altar had not yet arrived from Europe and one tower rose short of its full height. Today, the building is undergoing an extensive renovation to preserve and restore it as one of the most outstanding examples of neo-Gothic architecture in the world.

But something far more significant than architecture drives the restoration: the recognition that the Cathedral's history must be preserved because it is the place where countless thousands of Catholics have come to witness the elevations and funerals of bishops...the Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations and marriages of parishioners...and annual diocesan-wide events, like the Chrism Mass, Pentecost celebration and Marriage Jubilee. Many readers recall that it was in the Cathedral, just five years ago, that the Albany Diocese opened and closed its own sesquicentennial celebration.

In a sense, the Cathedral will never be finished. The stone and mortar will finally be put away, but the ongoing spiritual work of the church can never end as long as there are babies to baptize, priests to ordain, bishops to install and Catholics who want to celebrate their unity as members of a Diocese.

(11-14-02)