Cathedral of Saint Louis King of France, A Minor Basilica established
as a Parish in 1720 in New Orleans, Louisiana
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The
Saint Louis Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Louis King of France, A Minor Basilica established as a Parish in 1720 in New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Early History - Chapter III - Major Events |
Shortly before the completion of the Cathedral, on April 25, 1793, the diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas was created by Pope Pius VI. Don Luis Ignacio Maria de Pefialver y Cardenas of Havana was appointed the first bishop.
He
arrived in state in New Orleans in July, 1795 to take formal possession of his See and
begin his episcopal duties.
In 1819 a New Orleans clockmaker, Jean Delachaux, was authorized by the trustees to obtain a suitable clock to be placed in the facade of the Cathedral.
As this was a project of general civic interest, the City Council agreed to the expense of buying the clock and its bell and also to share in the cost of erecting a central tower to house them. Delachaux brought the clock and bell with him from Paris and Latrobe records in his journal an incident which occurred when he was about to place the clock's bell in the tower:
When the new bell was ready to be put into the tower, I wrote him (Pere Antoine) a letter in Latin to apprise him of the circumstance, in order that, if the rites of the Church required any notice of it, he might avail himself of the occasion and do what he thought necessary. He thanked me, and I had the bell brought within the Church. After High Mass, he arranged a procession to the bell and regularly baptized her by the name of Victoire, the name embossed upon her by the founder.
This bell, which still rings out the hours from above the church's clock, is inscribed in French:
Braves Louisianais, cette cloche dont le nom est Victoire a ete fondue en memoire de Ia glorieuse joumee du 8 Janvier 1815.
Surmounting both inscriptions are American eagles and at the bottom of the bell an inscription reads:
Fondue a Paris pour M. Jn. Delachaux de Nouvelle Orleans. [Cast in Paris for Mr. John Delachaux of New Orleans.]
The central tower, which added grace and dignity to the Cathedral, was one of Latrobe's last projects, for he died in New Orleans of yellow fever on September 3,1820, before it was completed.
In 1829 an organ was imported and in 1825 Francisco Zapari, an Italian painter, was employed at a fee of $1,855 to decorate the interior of the church and its three altars.
On January 22, 1829, the well-beloved Pere Antoine was laid to rest in the church after a funeral service which was one of the largest ever seen in the city. For more than 40 years, this remarkable Capuchin priest had labored in New Orleans; he had been pastor of the Cathedral from 1785 to 1790 and again from 1795 to the time of his death at the age of 81. For three days after his passing, the body of Pere Antoine was laid out in the Cathedral rectory and thousands came to pay homage. On the day of the funeral, the firing of a cannon announced the beginning of the ceremonies. The coffin was carried on the shoulders of four young men who were surrounded by eight honorary pallbearers, all friends of the deceased.
On January 8, 1840, Andrew Jackson returned to the scene of his triumph against the British twenty-five years earlier. He went to the St. Louis Cathedral where an oration was given in his honor. After this ceremony, he conducted a military review in the Place d'Armes.
After a week
of continual entertainment, Jackson returned to the Plac d'Armes on January 14 to lay the
cornerstone of the monument which the square today. There was the usual parade and a large
crowd to watch the proceedings.
Bishop Antoine Blanc,in full pontifical, received the General.
Another joyful occasion in which the Cathedral played a part was the visit in December, 1847, of a hero of the Mexican War, Zachary Taylor, whose victory at Monterey would send him to the White House. After the service, the crowds cheered with joy as the old General rode his battle horse Old Whitey, through the city to the St. Charles Hotel.
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