The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation in Cape Girardeau, better known as St. Mary’s, will hold Palm Sunday church services April 13, after being closed most of 2014 for a facelift.
Buddy Dick McClard, Class of ’66, sent an email saying he had just finished installing six 7-foot-tall windows facing Sprigg Street and wanted to know if I wanted a sneak peak at the inside of the church. St. Mary’s and St. Vincent’s have been on my list for a long time, so this sounded like a perfect excuse.
Rather than pretend I know much about the history of the church (even though Wife Lila and I were married there in 1969), I’ll point you to a blog by Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders.
The bells of St. Mary’s
I tried to shoot things that haven’t changed, things that have been uncovered and things that have been added. In addition, I climbed into the bell tower to capture parts of the structure that everyone in the neighborhood has heard, but few have seen. I felt comfortable doing that because Sharon had sent me a clip saying that the bells had been reinstalled in 1988 after it was feared the 2500-lbs bells might come crashing down into the church entrance. Indeed, the staircase leading to the bells was steep and narrow, but solidly built.
Photo gallery of Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation
Here is a link to a Christmas Novena I shot at the church in 1967. You can compare the front of the church to these photos I took Friday afternoon. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the gallery.
How interesting I worked at hirsch grocery and dry goods and had a lot of friends that went to st marys. I remember the bell ringing and brings back fond memories of my growing up in cape. Thanks for sharing. Judi. Class of 56
i remember when they built that newer building next door. there was a play ground there with a couple of swings and such. as neighbor kids we would play on them.until a priest came out and asked us not to. this wasn’t a public playground. but he said so kindly that i sort of understood. and never played on that lot again. and judi i used to love going to hirshys…there was a chain in st.louis call globe drug store..they had more stuff than carter had little liver pills..LOL..what was the big grocery store the block down? was it kroger? it became del farms
Grocery store on the corner was called “National,” I think, when I used to shop there in 1963….
So Ken, you’ve been to the top of both the old Trinity Lutheran and St. Mary’s. I know you don’t much like the new Trinity, but they seem to me like long lost sisters just a few blocks away from each other. I’ve always wondered–which one is taller? The Old Trinity’s steeple was surely much taller than St. Mary’s. Between the new Trinity steeple and the old St. Mary’s steeple, who wins the height battle?
Good question, Corey. I never gave it any thought. I’ll have to use the old Boy Scout method of determining the height of a tree in the distance to see if I can get a rough idea of the heights of each building when I get back to Cape.