Altar’s relics captivate fifth graders during tour
Published Mar 23, 2007
JOLIET—Since the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus is home base for the people of the Diocese of Joliet, its design is intended as a place of welcome. Father Thomas Paul, pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Naperville, likened the marble-coated narthex of the 1,200-seat church to the front porch of a simple family house.
During the 15th annual Cathedral Days tour March 15, Father Paul told youngsters that a home’s front porch is generally a casual place to meet and greet visitors; likewise, the narthex serves the same purpose—the faithful gather there to exchange greetings before entering the main part of their worship home.
The Office of Religious Education sponsors the morning-long event at the Raynor Street edifice in an attempt to familiarize Catholic school youngsters from throughout the diocese with the cathedral and to distinguish it from the parishes and missions that regularly serve the population. Children, ages 10 and 11, took an early field trip from nine parochial schools to participate in Cathedral Days. A total of 405 youngsters clad in a variety of plaid uniforms participated in the pilgrimage. Another 110 religious education students along with a class of fifth graders from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish School in Darien were expected to benefit from Father Paul’s March 17 presentation.
The pastor, whose interests lie in architectural design and history along with theological and philosophical realms of contemplation, described in a 12-page booklet the historical nuances of the cathedral’s design and meticulously elaborate on a yearlong renovation project begun in 1990.
From the 190-foot tall bell tower—which houses chimes named Catherine, after St. Catherine of Siena; Msgr. Hoover, after the pastor who guided the congregation when the church was first designated a cathedral; the monsignor’s brother Slim, who is also memorialized in a daily gong heard as far away as a mile; Nicholas, after St. Nicholas; and Francis, after St. Francis Xavier, the patron of the diocese—to the box of relics under the altar, containing bone chips from Saints Anthony, Raymond, Pius, Jucundus and Francis Xavier, Father Paul revealed a host of details.
Taken together, Father Paul’s description of the narrow stairwell that leads to the 70-foot-high catwalks buried in the “barrel-vaulted roof,” the reason behind the octagonal-shaped baptismal font and the significance of the wavy lines in the diocesan coat-of-arms are the stuff that stirs an imagination the likes of mystery novelist Agatha Christie.
For Spencer Miller of All Saints Catholic Academy in Naperville, his curiosity was piqued after hearing that the current tabernacle was placed on top of the old baptismal font—where Father Paul had literally added his 2 cents in the remodeling project. Meanwhile, Thomas Grady and pal Zachary Bregar of St. Dennis School in Lockport shared a particular interest in the details of the antique, not stained-glass, windows that depict the story of the Apostle’s Creed.
