Shrine
Shrine As A Spiritual Space
“The design of a house of worship is an expression of the human spirit. In a church practical considerations are important but not paramount; what is paramount is the quality and drama of the space it contains. Church architecture mirrors a civilization and its religious climate.”
St. Mary church has a quality and drama surrounding its worship space that reflects an inspired religious climate.
What Are The Roles Of A Shrine?
“Shrines are places in which believers not only revive their faith but also become clearly aware of the duties that derive from it in the social field.”
Three Roles Of A Shrine:
- Remind us of Gods powerful activity in history.
- Point to his constant presence and invitation to share in his love.
- Help us to discern the goal of our life-long pilgrimage.
Saint Mary – A Shrine
Because of its history, dignity and importance as a place of worship.
Shrine Plaque Ceremony
Why Now?
In year 2012 we will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Cardinal Gibbons, the first Cardinal in the United States, dedicated St. Mary in 1912.
The Petition To Bishop Gossman To Become A Shrine
Saint Mary Mother of God parish, the inherited successor of North Carolina’s earliest Catholic history, a parish which traces its birth to the organization of the Charleston Diocese in 1820 under Bishop John England, a parish which can count the first American Cardinal James Gibbons, as one of its earliest benefactors and latest American Saint, Katherine Drexel, as still another, a parish whose graceful church was dedicated and consecrated as a Pro-Cathedral in 1912, has petitioned Bishop Gossman to favor St. Mary as the first shrine in the Diocese of Raleigh.
St. Mary petitions not only because Saint Mary Church with its Spanish Baroque style architecture presents an impressive edifice to the Wilmington community. Or because the church with twin towers in its facade, its graceful dome at the center and its elegant worship space inside make this historic site a necessary stop on guided tours of the city. We make this petition not because this building was constructed without steel or wood beams, framing or nails.
We make this petition because for nearly a century this parish church has stood on the shoulders of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church and is the proud inheritor of two founders of missionary orders, Thomas Price of the Maryknollers and William Bishop of Glenmary Home Missioners.
Finally, we make this petition because in the year 2012, Saint Mary Parish Church will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
