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Celebration of the dedication of the renovated Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist will take place over three days, Feb. 8, 9, 10, 2002, and include the formal dedication liturgy, prayer services, Sunday Masses and tours of the interior space, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced today. The Cathedral is located at 802 N. Jackson Street in Milwaukee. Plans for the Cathedral Project were announced in August 2000 and the Cathedral closed to the public on May 20, 2001.
On Feb. 8, priests, the Saint Francis Seminary community and deacons of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will gather for evening prayer, or vespers. Bishop Richard Sklba will be the presider and homilist. On Feb. 9, the dedication liturgy will begin at 10:30 a.m. Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B., will be the principal celebrant and homilist. Because of space limitations, tickets have been issued for this celebration. All parishes in the Archdiocese received tickets for representatives of their parish to attend.
Masses for Sunday, Feb. 10, will be celebrated at 5:15 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 9, and at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon on Sunday, Feb. 10. On Sunday, Feb. 10, public tours of the Cathedral interior will be available from 1 to 4 p.m.
Closing the festive weekend will be evening prayer on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 5:15 p.m. This prayer service is open to the public.
At the Friday evening prayer service, two significant liturgical furnishings – the baptistry and the ambo (pulpit) will be blessed. The ambo was a gift from the priests of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
At the Saturday, Feb. 9 dedication, a representative from each parish in the archdiocese will participate in an opening procession, ritualizing the gathering of the entire Church of southeastern Wisconsin.
Contrary to dedication of a secular or civic building, two things are dedicated inside the Cathedral, neither being the building itself, but rather the altar and the walls. Before a new altar is used in celebration of the Mass (or Eucharist), it must be consecrated. The altar is anointed as the symbol of Christ in our midst. The walls are anointed with the oil of Chrism because it (the building) signifies that it is given over entirely to Christian worship. It is anointed 12 times in honor of the 12 apostles.
Chrism is a mixture of oil and perfume, blessed by the archbishop during Holy Week, and also used in administering the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and ordination. It has a distinct fragrance and is a visible sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because of that symbolism, it is used for the consecration of churches and altars – the only time it is not used on human beings.
In addition, during the dedication, the relics of two saints – St. John Vianney, the patron saint of diocesan priests, and St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missionaries – will be placed in a reliquary beneath the altar. As a sign of reverence, all those in attendance (nearly 1,000) will be invited to come forward to kiss the altar.
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