Chapel Renovation Project

Dear Friends

In 1940, with war clouds gathering and with what seemed an almost in-surmountable debt, the Rector of the Cathedral, Monsignor T. James MacNamara, decided to have the crypt beneath the upper Church turned into a Chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He did so, he said, “as a tangible prayer seeking Mary’s aid in the multiple problems,  financial and otherwise, which confront the church’s rector by reason of the magnificence and grandeur of the Cathedral structure.”
Our structure is indeed magnificent, and the renovation of the lower Church will give our parish a gathering space worthy of and in keeping with the extraordinary beauty of our historic Cathedral Basilica. I hope you enjoy the design concepts contained in this brochure and are as excited as I am by the parish hall that awaits us. O beauty ever ancient, ever new!

While we do not need a formal capital campaign to complete the renovation, I would like to offer every member of our parish family the opportunity to be a part of this significant project. Like the generations before us who built, rebuilt and restored this building, we will be leaving something extraordinary for many parish families to come.

As a loyal son of the Cathedral parish, and as one who reveres the legacy of Monsignor MacNamara, I insist that we continue to honor our Blessed Mother for her aid and intercession. To that end, upon completion of the renovation (tentatively set for December 2021), the space will be named Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) Hall, which is the title inscribed over the decorative entrance on Harris Street.

I thank you for your generosity as stewards and benefactors of our Cathedral Basilica.

Regina Coeli – Queen of Heaven – pray for us. Thank you and God bless you.

Rev. J. Gerard Schreck Rector