The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in the late 1800s. (HCH file photo)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The diocese will celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace with the blessing of the church’s renovated sanctuary at a 6 p.m. Mass, Aug. 16, celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva. The actual anniversary is a day earlier, Aug. 15. The church was dedicated in 1843.
Since January, workers have been drilling, digging, pounding and plastering behind a temporary 16-foot-high white wall that has blocked off the cathedral sanctuary from the rest of the church.
When the wall comes down, planned for Aug. 13, it will reveal an expanded sanctuary floor, restored stained glass windows, and a new burial vault for bishops.
The 175th anniversary Mass will include rituals calling attention to these changes.
Carried into the church in procession will be the cathedra, or bishop’s chair; the bishop’s coat of arms; and the tintinabulum and ombrellino, the bell and umbrella that are symbols of a basilica. All of these items will be put in their new designated places and blessed.
The bishop will also bless four restored stained glass windows, the renovated sanctuary area, and a new addition to the church, the bishops’ burial crypt.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace today. (HCH file photo)
The final restoration phases, three through six, will include the building of a St. Damien and St. Marianne reliquary chapel extending from the cathedral’s mauka side, renovations to the interior, new pews, a new tile floor, cleaning of the vaulted ceilings, restoration of the pipe organ, landscaping and more.
Among the goals of the $15 million project, according to the Cathedral Renewal Campaign website, is to “honor and invoke the 19th century time period of St. Damien and St. Marianne,” who both used the church, which is recognized officially as a historic building.
Emulating the 19th-century look will be new flooring tile, an octagonal ambo or pulpit, old-fashioned confessionals, oil lamp-style lighting fixtures and the remastering of the original oil-painted stations of the cross.
New additions will be a marble altar and matching marble baptismal font; also a new sound and video system.