Holy Name Now Has A Date

There's finally an official date for members of Holy Name Cathedral Parish to look forward to: Friday, July 31, 2009.

That's the date that the first mass will be held in the newly repaired cathedral.  Father Dan Mayall made the announcement at masses over the weekend.

You'll remember that two Februaries in a row, Holy Name's building was hit by misfortune.

In February, 2008 a chunk of wood from the decorative ceiling fell to the floor.  No one was hurt, but the cathedral was shut down until the autumn while repairs and inspections were done.

Then in February, 2009 fire broke out in the space between the roof and the decorative ceiling.  That incident was much more serious, as water damaged the ceilings, the columns, the pews, the basement, the books, and pretty much everything else the fire didn't touch.

We hear the ceiling is complete, and has never looked so good.  The scaffolding inside the cathedral is starting to come down and the focus of the work will now be the floor and the furniture.  The pews are said to be "on vacation" at a woodworking shop in Wisconsin.

Father Dan is encouraging everyone to visit Holy Name that first weekend, July 31 to August second because it will be a rare chance to see the cathedral at its best, since it will have just been completely redone inside.  It should be at its most beautiful.