Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli celebrated Low Mass on Tues, October 27, 1936 at the majestic Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. At that time he was the highest ranking Vatican prelate to ever visit the U.S. Catholic high school students were bused in for the Mass that was attended by 3,000 youth, including Catholic nurses and seminarians and clergy of the area. Several bishops were also present.
In the back of the church was a young high school student from De La Salle High School in Minneapolis, the future Monsignor Richard Schuler. Years later he met Cardinal Pacelli - Pope Pius XII - in the Vatican after his election to the throne of St. Peter.
Minnesota was the center of the Liturgical Movement in the United States. The Low Mass was a Missa Cantata, with no deacons, and a choir of men and boys. Per the usual custom, 4 priests served the Mass. With 4 lit candles. And the missal can be seen left open for the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar.
The Cardinal processed from the bishop’s manse across the street (built in 1887 and sadly torn down in 1959). He was regal looking in his red cardinalatial ferraiolo cape, a rare sight in the Upper Midwest.
The entrance hymn was ‘Ecce Sacerdos Magnus.’ There was no sermon, but the Cardinal spoke a few words in English from the pulpit before the start of Mass.
Following the Mass, the Cardinal left for nearby Holman Field, his motorcade driving through downtown St. Paul. He departed for San Francisco on his chartered United Airlines flight, aboard the UA Boeing 247, the first modern airline. Also with him was William Patterson, President of United Airlines.
Thus ended the Cardinal’s two-day visit to St. Paul. The evening before he dined with several visiting bishops at the bishop’s mansion.Within 3 years Cardinal Pacelli was Pope Pius XII.
Apparently when priests who were there met him in the Vatican and recalled his visit, he made mention of how much he remembered the smell in the air from the stock yards in South St. Paul (where cattle were harvested), a smell of blood that depending on the breeze that day, would carry the peculiar scent across the city.
During the National Eucharistic Congress held in St. Paul in 1941, the Holy Father gave a radio address to the crowd in which he recalled his visit 5 years before.
The altar remains the same today. However, in 1941 a small marble apparatus with a mini ciborium was added behind the tabernacle. In 1958 the church was consecrated and the sepulchre under the altar stone was added to at that time.
Many great ones have visited here, including Fulton Sheen many times (he lived in St. Paul for 2 years from 1917-1919). Cardinal Tisserant came in 1947. Mother Teresa came the first time in 1966. And even Cardinal Ratzinger visited in 1984.
This beautiful church is the National Shrine of St. Paul. Thousands visit here every year and it remains a significant pilgrimage destination. 10 years after the event, a bronze plaque was put up near the pulpit to commemorate the visit.
May St. Paul pray for us!
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