The Bishop and his Cathedra

Deacon John Johnson, chancellor of the diocese, delivered the new cathedra to Holy Family this morning. The Catholic Encyclopedia says that the cathedra is the "chair or throne of a bishop in his cathedral church, on which he presides at solemn functions." It is the presence of this chair that gives Holy Family Cathedral its name.

The new cathedra joins a long history of bishops' thrones in Holy Family. In 1931, the pope designated Holy Family a co-cathedral with Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City. The bishops of Oklahoma between Tulsa and Oklahoma City to preside in their co-cathedral churches.

In 1973, the pope split Oklahoma into two dioceses and chose Bernard J. Ganter to be the first bishop of Tulsa. Bishop Ganter was the former Vicar-General of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. He served Tulsa until 1977, when the pope moved him to be the first bishop of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas.

In the photo to the left, Bishop Ganter sits on his cathedra, a tufted leather chair that looked a bit out of place in a Gothic church.

An upholstered green chair soon replaced the leather cathedra. The green upholstery was a reminder of the episcopal green color associated with diocesan bishops. [The current green carpet under the cathedra is similar to episcopal green.]


By Christmas of 1983, the most recent cathedra was in place in the apse of the Cathedral. That chair and its twin had been retired during an earlier renovation. During Bishop Eucebius Beltran's time, both chairs were refinished. One was shortened and has become the current presider's chair - the chair where Monsignor Gier or any other presiding priest might sit. The cathedra was left tall and finished in gold paint to match the sanctuary tables.

The new cathedra is wide and quite tall. It complements a Gothic church nicely. The chair is in need of some work. Fabric and padding will fit in between the upright wooden slats.

Future blog posts will cover the refinishing of the new cathedra.

New Renovation Update with Msgr. Gier

Blinking 12:00, 12:00, 12:00 ...

Click on the image for a larger version.

These are the instructions for "The Care of a Tower Clock" from the E. Howard Clock Company. Our tower clock is original to the building, although it has been modified twice.

The clock had pulleys and weights that had to be reset once a week. The shafts for the weights still exist in the Cathedral's "attic." They were accessible by climbing up into the central tower. This task is fairly easy and comfortable in the Spring and Fall. In Summer, the temperature is at least 20 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature outdoors. Resetting the clock in winter sounds rather unpleasant.

At some point it was modified to run on electricity, rather than the weights. The electric motors were compatible with the 50 Hz electricity of the day. Later on, when the United States shifted to 60 Hz electricity, we found that our clocks ran fast - very fast. Our tower clock gained an extra 12 minutes every hour.

Another modification fixed that.

The clock mechanism is protected by a metal structure that shields it from anything that might fall from above.

Today, the clock is showing its age. John Dzurilla, one of our maintenance men, is repairing a gear that has come loose. The minute hand climbs to the :00 position, then promptly falls to the :20 position. The hands will be repaired and back in good running order soon.

Painting the walls behind St. Joseph's Altar

The painters are applying purple paint to the wall behind the altar of Saint Joseph. The color comes from the St. Joseph window high above the altar of St. Mary.

In the window, St. Joseph is holding an Easter Lily. The lily will appear as a stencil, or motif, over the purple paint. Among the fleurs-de-lis will be the tools of a carpenter: a hammer, nails, and a carpenter's square.


Update: The painting is almost done. Here is what the altar looks like with the new paint behind it and without the plastic covering over it.

Roofers continue to install copper

One side of the first spire is nearly complete. There is a long way to go, but it helps us to imagine what the spires will look like when they are done.

New Pews from an Old Friend

Most of the posts in this blog deal with the day-to-day changes to Holy Family Cathedral in the course of its restoration. Today, we will take a short look at the life of the priest who built our Cathedral.

Father John G. Heiring grew up in Davenport, Iowa, was ordained a priest, and found himself serving the Catholics in Indian Territory. Bishop Theophile Meerschaert assigned him to Holy Family Church in 1907. Fr. Heiring replaced two Belgian-born brothers who had built the original Holy Family church and school in 1899.

Almost immediately, Fr. Heiring began making plans to expand the original church which seated several dozen parishioners - and no more. The church was a typical wood frame building with a rectangular floor plan. Fr. Heiring and his parishioners tore down the rear wall, the wall where the altar stood. He built transepts and an apse, making the church a cruciform, a church built in the shape of a cross. He ordered new pews and stained glass windows to fill the additional space.

According to Father James White in his book Tulsa Catholics, Bishop Meerschaert traveled from Oklahoma City for the dedication of the newly expanded church. The bishop arrived but the new pews had not. To make matters worse, the windows had arrived, but all of them had broken in transit. The bishop dedicated the pew-less and window-less church.

In 1912, Father Heiring began planning to build the current Holy Family church at 8th & Boulder. That story will be retold later.

Bishop Meerschaert was pleased with Father Heiring's visionary planning and determination. The bishop asked him to found a church west of the Arkansas River. St. Catherine Church and School thrive to this day, named after Fr. Heiring's mother's patron saint. The bishop asked Father Heiring to build a hospital. St. John's Hospital is named at Fr. Heiring's patron.

During all this work, anyone would need a vacation. Fr. Heiring became friends with some German immigrants who settled in southeastern Oklahoma in the small town of Plunketville. They built St. Henry Catholic Church and a tiny house within walking distance of the church. The house was named "Heiring's Retreat."


Today, nearly 100 years later, the population of Plunketville, Oklahoma has dropped significantly. The little church of St. Henry is closed. Most former parishioners attend Mass in nearby Mena, Arkansas; however, most of them share fond memories of many Masses said, many sacraments celebrated, and many prayers offered.


Yesterday, Monsignor Gregory Gier, Deacon Millard Kizzia, Deacon Tom Gorman, and Mike Malcom traveled to Plunketville. We met Fr. Chet Archer, one of the wonderful Glenmary priests who staff the most rural parishes in our diocese. We also met the principal caretaker of the property.

We loaded the pews into a moving van so that we could bring them to Holy Family in Tulsa. It will take some time to refinish them. They will find their way into the Chapel of Peace in the basement of the Cathedral where they will replace the current dreadful chairs. Although it is sad to visit a closed church, there is comfort in knowing that the pews from that church will be knelt upon thirteen times a week at all the daily Masses at the Cathedral.

Father Heiring's greatest accomplishment may have been his "tri-spired gem," the cathedral in downtown Tulsa. We cannot forget the impact he had in Plunketville and to those Catholics who he prayed with and ministered to - even when he was on vacation.

Update: Imbrication

Removal of electric organ Speaker Cabinet

The speaker cabinet for the rarely used electric organ is gone. It had been described as somewhat unattractive, especially given its location.



Work continues in the southern aisle of the Cathedral's nave.

Inbrication: Let's try a different method

We are making a second effort to paint the detailed rectangular pattern on the walls.The first method of applying the imbrication did not yield crisp, straight lines. You will find the results of the new technique on the south aisle of the nave.

Details: Imbrication

Painters have begun applying the imbrication to the south transept wall. An imbrication is any overlapping pattern -in our case, it is a series of rectangles. The pattern is designed to give us a sense of scale.


Here is a rendering of the Cathedral with the imbrication completed. [Click on the image for a larger version.]

More Paint on the Vaults

The south aisle shines with bright white paint and gold ribs.



The central star receives some paint. The middle of the star was damaged during the installation of a previous sound system. The wood will be replaced and painted.

April "Cathedral News" focuses on paint in the Cathedral

The April edition of the parish newsletter, The Cathedral News, explores the inspiration for the new colors in the Cathedral. It also gives us a sneak preview of the stencils which will be applied on the walls behind the high altar and the side altars.

This newsletter will be available online for the month of April 2008.

Here is a link to it.

Note: Cathy Nelson should have received credit for her excellent photographs of the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph windows shown on page 3.

Copper shingles

There are enough copper shingles up now that we can get an idea of the overall pattern.

Copper Roof installation begins!

Brave men are riding a lift up to the soaring spires to begin the installation of the copper roof. First, they will apply a black material that will prevent galvanic action between the two types of metals. Then they will lay the copper.

Ready for the Triduum

I took a photo of the church after we cleaned it. This photo will probably be the one I use for the cover of April's Cathedral News. The floors are swept, the carpet is vacuumed, the gold is polished, and the huge lift is covered in white sheets. The renovation is going to take a break as we begin to pray.

The Mass of the Lord's Supper is Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Stations of the Cross are on Friday at 3:00 p.m. The Good Friday Liturgy is at 5:30 p.m.

The Great Vigil of Easter is Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

Easter Sunday Masses are at 8:00, 10:00, Noon, and 5:00

A Look Back...

Here are four photos of the sanctuary showing the changes the church has gone through.

The first one shows the church c. 1930.



This photo was taken after the 1948 renovation.




This is the church as it was from 1974-2007.



Here is the present view. Note: the renovation is not complete.

The Scaffolding is Gone

The scaffolding is gone. Workers are removing the wood and drop cloths that protected the marble floor. These photos are our first chance to see the newly painted rondels (plaster air conditioner ducts) and the restored vine painted in the vaulted ceiling over the high altar.

Video: Renovation Update for March 2008

This is a Renovation Update for the month of March 2008. It focuses on the work in the spires and on the new paint in the church.

Watch it here.

Background Paint applied to Blessed Virgin's Altar

I am working on a new "Renovation Update" video. I will be focusing on the work in the spires. I hope to post it on Thursday. Here is one of the older videos.




Inside the Cathedral, we can see the beautiful blue paint behind the Blessed Virgin's altar. Remember that a stencil will be applied over it. The vaults over this altar are white with gold ribbing. [Click on the photo to see a large version.]



The vaults in the South Transept are approaching completion. Painters will put a second or third coat of yellow paint on the walls. The rondells, the round plaster disks hiding the air conditioning ducts, have yet to be painted in the transept. The capitals of the columns, and the walls surround the lower half of the Resurrection window remain to be painted.

Update: Painting the Apse

Everyone who attended Mass at the Cathedral last weekend saw the scaffolding in the apse of the church. The construction workers spent last week building the structure. The painters will paint the walls this week.

The scaffolding restricts the usable liturgical space in the sanctuary. There is barely room for a celebrant and a few servers. Bishop Slattery has decided to move next week's Chrism Mass to the Church of Saint Mary.


These photos show the deep red color painted on the walls behind the high altar. The goal of putting a rich color behind the altar is to make the altar more prominent by increasing the contrast between the faux-marble altar and the wall. Our eyes are drawn to the altar and we are reminded of the Blessed Sacrament present in the tabernacle in this altar. (N.B. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the Chapel's tabernacle during the work week.)





The walls behind the Blessed Virgin's altar and Saint Joseph's altar will be painted too. In the above photo, we see a mock-up of the blue color to be painted on the wall behind the Blessed Virgin's altar. It is "Marian blue" with a rose and rose petal stenciled over it.

The wall behind Saint Joseph's altar will be painted purple as seen below. The stencil over the purple is a fleur-de-lis, a stylized Easter lily, and also the tools of a carpenter: a hammer, nails, and a carpenter's square.


Finally, work continues on the central tower. The old wood and aluminum roof is being replaced with new metal decking. The new copper roof will follow soon.

Here is an old photo from c. 1913 showing the installation of the original roof.

Preparing the Apse for Painting

Painters are working on repairing any imperfections in the plaster on the columns and the walls of the apse. Other workers are beginning to repair the hole in the star in the center of the cruciform.

As I took these photos, I saw a man peeking out of the ceiling - 76 feet up!

Update: Yes, More Scaffolding

Caution: Wet Paint!

A painter put a sign on a door that read, "Caution: Wet Paint!" There is a lot of wet paint in the Cathedral, and there is a lot of activity too. The scaffolding in the apse continues to grow. The painter on the crane is completing the details on the transept's vaulted ceiling.

More Painting and Scaffolding

This photo shows the progress of the men who are building the scaffolding. Meanwhile, painters continue to work on the vaults in the south transept.


Another painter is applying paint to the base of the columns. The "battleship gray" paint is merely primer. He is covering the primer with a beautiful red.