Dwelling in Beauty

How the architecture of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis invites us into the mysteries of faith.

One of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. The whole place takes your breath away and the more time you spend there, the more there is to see. I have been blessed to visit twice, though I have never had the chance to celebrate Mass there. I love this church because of how richly beautiful it is. If you've never been before, you can explore the main church virtually here. Let's take a look at some of the interesting features of this basilica.

Here's a quick overview:

Construction on the basilica was begun in 1908 but was not officially completed until 1988. It was built in a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine styles with a basilica plan suitable for a very large gathering of people and has multiple domes with high ceilings. There is a wide main aisle and a sea of pews for the faithful. Simple, but elegant stone and marble work adorn the lower parts of the walls and floor and mosaics cover the upper walls and ceiling. The basilica also has two side chapels, one for the Blessed Sacrament and one for Mary behind the main altar on either side. Each chapel has mosaics and triptychs that correspond to the chapel's dedication. For example, the chapel dedicated to Mary is decorated with scenes from her life. The baptismal font is located in the east transept and a shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the west transept. The last interesting architectural feature is the baldachin over the altar which also contains a sculpted scene of the crucifixion above the tabernacle and high altar.

Spatial Dynamics

One thing we might not think about but is extremely important when thinking about what churches have to teach us is how space is used. Once Christianity became legal, the basilica, which was a Roman gathering space meant from large groups of people, became the most popular floor plan for Christian churches. This plan put the clergy and altar at the front where the assembly could both hear and see them and provided enough space for processions in and out of the building. Today, the term basilica refers not only to this floor plan for a church but is also used as a designation for churches with aesthetic and cultural importance. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is both. Pope St. John Paul II in 1997 declared it a basilica (the honorary title) in 1997. The church is a basilica (the floor plan) because the space inside is large enough to hold a very large group of people and it has long aisles meant for liturgical processions.

Another element that adds to the sense of space is the extremely high ceilings made taller by domes. This type of vertical space invites the eye upward, which traditionally is Heaven. The effect is made more evident by the color of the backgrounds of the mosaics- blue for the sky and gold for Heaven. The space itself invites us to contemplate Heaven by drawing the eye up to God and the eternal home He has prepared for us.

So, what does this teach us? This sense of space is supposed to draw the entire community toward worship. Processions usually signal changes in the liturgical moment and engage (or reengage) our bodies in the act of worship. The vertical space, as mentioned above, is meant to remind us of Heaven and how in our worship, we are joining in the Heavenly liturgy.

Centering Focus

Every church also has a particular piece that is the central focus of the space, its heart. On entering, the lines, lighting, and decoration immediately draw the eye straight ahead to altar. The whole space is a riot of color so the white marble steps leading up to the altar and the illuminated white marble corpus on the cross above the gold altar invite the eye to rest and so draw attention to the beating heart of this building, the place where at every Mass, we remember and participate in the sacrifice of Christ. The altar even has its own special canopy called a baldachin decorated with statues of the saints and mosaics depicting angels, Heavenly glory, and the name of Jesus. The baldachin also functions to draw the eye toward the altar and mark out that space as sacred space.

So, what does this teach us? The fact that the altar is the heart of the building shows us that here, the most important part of worship in the Eucharistic sacrifice. The sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood is the central focus of our worship. Making the altar the central focus of worship tells us that there is something great and divine going on there and that is what we ought to contemplate.

Symbolic Resonance, Aesthetic Impact, and Mosaics, Oh My!

Perhaps the most remarkable, prominent, and memorable feature the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is its rich mosaics. The beauty and depth of symbolism in the mosaics is a big part of why the cathedral was named a basilica. In the narthex, the mosaics depict the life of the patron of both the city and the cathedral, St. Louis IX, King of France. In the nave, the mosaics depict saints, blesseds, and venerables from the United States as well as prominent figures from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, for example, Joseph Cardinal Ritter who served as Archbishop and worked extensively to desegregate the city.

Under the main dome, there are four arches. The one coming from the nave is the arch of judgment, depicting the Last Judgment at the end of time. The arches from the west transept and over the chancel depict saints, most likely doctors of the Church since more doctors are seen in the dome over the baldachin. The arch from the east transept is the arch of creation that depicts the seven days of creation. I think this is very well placed because the dome over the east transept (which also houses the baptismal font) depicts the resurrection of Christ and includes other resurrection imagery such as Jonah and the whale. All of this imagery is appropriate to baptism since we are made a new creation when we die and rise with Christ through the waters of baptism.

The dome of the west transept depicts Pentecost as well as other instances of the appearances of the Holy Spirit such as Jesus' baptism, the Transfiguration, and the Apostles preaching throughout the world. In addition to the doctors of the Church, the dome over the baldachin also depicts Eucharistic imagery such as vines and deer, a lamb, the sacrifice of Isaac, and the wedding feast at Cana. The pendentives around the main dome feature angels on gold backgrounds and as you look higher into the dome, you begin to see more images of Heaven for example, Elijah being taken up in a fiery chariot, God the Father holding Jesus crucified in a Pieta pose, more angels, the woman from Revelation 12, and Ezekiel's vision of God. The background goes from the gold of the pendentives, to blue on the surround behind more angels, to orange in the dome itself giving a sense of the brightness of Heavenly glory until you are staring directly into a skylight at the very top of the dome.

In addition to all this more specific imagery, plant and garden images create the borders around the arches and domes, reminding us once again of restored Paradise. So, while all these things are quite beautiful, what exactly do they reveal to us? Aside from calling to mind Scripture stories and the lives of the saints, as I explained with the east transept, placement is important. Depicting saints in the nave (where the faithful are) is no accident and neither is depicting Eucharistic imagery in the chancel dome (where the altar is). The faithful as they enter the church are meant to be inspired by the stories of the saints, average people like themselves who attained holiness and are worshipping with them in the liturgy. They are literally surrounded on all sides by their brothers and sisters in Christ. Eucharistic imagery over the altar again calls to mind the reality of what is taking place there. The sacrament is Christ's sacrifice, nourishing food for the faithful that brings us to salvation.

The images of Heaven in the highest dome is no accident either. Again, we are meant to contemplate Heaven and how here in the liturgy, in the Eucharist, "things of Heaven are wed to those of earth." We engage with the Heavenly mysteries here on earth every time we worship. Finally, the west dome of Pentecost reminds us of the Church's mission to go out to all the world and preach the Gospel. The fire of the Holy Spirit is also appropriately connected to the Shrine of the Sacred Heart since the Holy Spirit is often described as the Love of God and Jesus' Sacred Heart is described as "burning with love" with for us. The beauty of these mosaics draws us in to contemplate the mysteries they are depicting and invite us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the liturgy, which is at the heart of it all.

Conclusion and a Recommendation

The cathedral's website quotes one of its archbishops as stating that each new generation should "offer [its] gifts to the Lord and to assist in the spiritual growth of the faithful through sacred works of art and architecture". The Sacred Heart shrine was added in 2007 due to an increase of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Churches are living spaces that interpret and pass on the Christian tradition through their art and architecture. In this spirit, I would like to offer a recommendation to enhance the cathedral for the next generation. If I were the architect, I would add a larger baptismal font in the east transept.

While, there is certainly nothing wrong with the current font, it is a rather small pedestal font that is dwarfed by the grand space around it. The baptismal imagery found in the east transept is rich and I would like to draw it out by adding a larger, eight-sided pool font that would fit the drama of the space and really call the imagery there to attention. Baptism is the way by which we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and it seems odd that a space that seems very aware of this fact would have a font that does not proportionally fit the space in which it resides.

We can learn a lot about what we believe from the places where we worship. Ask yourself next time you are at your own home parish, what is the space like? Where is the focus? What is beautiful and how does it draw me in to prayer? Why are things placed where they are? And then, use those insights to enter more deeply into prayer during the liturgy. You might find that you have been dwelling in beauty all along.

Appendix: Images From My Visit

I had the great pleasure of visiting the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis twice and these are photos from my second visit if you'd like to see a few different angles you can't see in the virtual tour.