UNITED STATES OF MARS (MARY MAGDALENE AND THE HOLY GRAIL) - DESENMASCARANDO LAS FALSAS DOCTRINAS

Cathedral of the Madeleine

The Mormans…yes, when you think of Utah and religion, you think of the Mormans.

Salt Lake City may be the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (LDS), but a couple of blocks away from the infamous Temple Square, there are Catholics.

Leave it to me to find a beautiful Cathedral in Utah…The Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Lawrence Scanlan, an Irish Catholic missionary priest, took on the task of running St. Mary Magdalene church in the Utah Territory in 1873. It was the only church and Catholic institution in the territory and served approximately 800 members from the region’s mining camps. Traveling by horseback, stagecoach or rail, he made monthly visits to say mass in various areas.

After being appointed Vicar Apostolic of Utah and Titular Bishop of Lavanden by Pope Leo XIII, he received his episcopal consecration in 1887. Finally being named as the first Bishop of Salt Lake, he took to the task of initiating construction of the Cathedral in 1900.

Situated on its second site within the city, it lies only a couple of blocks from the monumental complex of the Latter Day Saints and fills the skyline with its twin towers. Before entering, make sure to take a walk around the church and try to spot all of the gargoyles!

Though I was awe-struck at the ornate interior when I entered, I learned that originally the church was not this way upon its completion. In 1909, the church was mostly unadorned with plain green walls and white columns, yet was fitted with exquisite stained glass windows from Germany. Additionally, plans for the exterior called for a plain sandstone building however, the exterior was built in the Neo-Romanesque style. Eventually, after the dedication, renovations commenced to modify the interior, resulting in a Neo-Gothic style with a Spanish influence. Colorful murals, including the Stations of the Cross, interior panels, statues of carved wood and ceiling frescoes were added along with ornate shrines.

Over the years, many renovations have been completed, including the addition of a new altar, movement of the bishop’s chair, the addition of a separate chapel for the Blessed Sacrament and a more ample baptismal font. Though the baptismal font was dry, I was able to visit the new chapel in which the casket of the Lawrence Scanlan, was placed, as per his request. On top of the casket is a reliquary containing a small piece of Saint Mary Madeline making the Cathedral one of only two in the world to contain a first class relic of the saint that the Cathedral is named for.

Masses are said in both English and Spanish many times a week and it is my understanding that tickets for the choral concerts are a hot commodity. The Cathedral, home to the only co-educational Catholic Choir School in the United States (established in 1996), has over 350 students from Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. Performing over 9,000 hours every year in the Cathedral as well as concert series, the choristers take part in tours throughout the world in addition, to singing regularly with local arts organizations, including the Utah Symphony and The Morman Tabernacle Choir.

There are many religious experiences to be had in Salt Lake City…make The Cathedral of the Madeleine one of them.

Check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe for more pictures.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine

https://www.utcotm.org/
Address: 331 E S Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Hours: 0700-2100, daily
Mass Times: Monday-Friday, 0800 and 1715. Saturday, 0800, 1700 (English anticipated), 1900 (Spanish anticipated). Sunday, 0830, 1100, 1500 (Spanish), 1800
Admission: free
Getting There:

Salt Lake Masonic Temple

04SundayNov 2018

Tags

Historic Buildings, Masonic, NRHP, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, South Temple Historic District, Temples, utah

Salt Lake Masonic Temple

The Masonic Temple is the meeting place of a fraternal organization called the Masons. The word mason refers to a person who builds with brick or stone. The Masons began as a club for builders in the Middle Ages (500 – 1,500 AD). Today, the Masons sponsor many charitable activities such as Shriners Hospital, which provides free medical care for children with special needs.

The Masonic Temple is built in an architectural style called Egyptian Revival. This style became popular for a short time after further exploration of the Egyptian pyramids and the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922.

The Masonic Temple, is a large Egyptian Revival Style structure built according to Masonic Law and tradition, The measurements of the building and the dimensions of the interior follow the exact number system laid out in Masonic ritual. Because of the importance of the numbers three, five and seven in Masonry, these numbers were used as a base for the design, Since the number seven was considered the perfect, number, seven and numbers divisible by seven were used in all spacing and measurement.
The columns on the building are fourteen feet apart (or multiples of seven) . The Temple is three stories high, to signify the three degrees of Masonry.

The Temple’s base is made of seven finished courses of ashlar of Utah granite. On the ground floor are non-ritualistic rooms for banquets, offices, etc, The exterior is of Egyptian Style architecture to allow for figures and inscriptions to appear and not give away their significance, There are three entrances, flanking the entrances is a pair of sphinx carved of Utah granite t The walls are of large brick laid in block fashion.

This building has always been the home of the Salt Lake Masons. The design of this Masonic Temple was derived from Masonic numerology and ritual.
This building was dedicated on November 20, 1927. The architect, Carl W, Scott, and the building committee went to other cities to view other Masonic Temples before the design for this one was chosen, The Salt Lake Masons decided to design their Temple according to Masonic ritual, which deals mainly with the work of the builders of King Solomon’s Temple, One of the major problems encountered by the architect was to build it according to Masonic law without giving away any Masonic secrets, Many plans for the building were abandoned entirely because there was no way to use them and conceal their meaning. The cornerstone was laid in an elaborate ceremony on the afternoon of November 5, 1926, with the Masons wearing’formal top hats and tails. The public is only allowed in certain lodge rooms, where people who are not masons will not understand what they see. Each of the three degrees of Masonry has its own meeting room.