In a couple of hours, we’ll be headed to our hometown of Bernie, MO with the kids to celebrate Easter. It’s also known as “Noelle has stayed in Little Rock for Easter as many years in a row as she can without pissing relatives off”, but saying “celebrating Easter!” just sounds more jovial and is much shorter to type. Anyway, there are a couple people I haven’t seen in a while that I want to see & it’s a change of pace. Sometimes that’s good. Also, my dad bought me long johns from my favorite bakery. That’s the clincher.
Ryder is celebrating Easter with her friends this weekend, which in all honesty, will likely have nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ, Our Lord & Savior and more with sushi, burning gasoline & staying up til’ all hours. Hopefully it won’t consist of anything that I, her dad or Christ, Our Lord & Savior won’t want to know about. So, when she doesn’t appear in our Easter photos, you know why. We adore her. We just respect her independence.
I’ve been wanting to share some photos I took, of what I believe is perhaps the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever stepped inside in my life. Although ostentatious churches of today really annoy me, cathedrals of old just slay me with their beauty, attention to detail, art and lasting construction. Somehow, it’s just different. When I went to New Orleans with my dad, Norm & his wife, Debbie this January, we walked much of the French Quarter on foot and we stepped inside The Cathedral of St. Louis on Jackson Square, which is open to the public. Even to ME! I know, right???
My knowledge of Catholicism is somewhat limited. I have many great friends who are Catholic, including a college roommate and a high school friend who converted to Catholicism when they married. I know, unlike Presbyterians, there is no “transfer by letter”. It’s a serious commitment & major process to become one. (Perhaps other churches should learn from this.) I know you can attend mass on Saturday if you’re busy Sunday. I know they have confessional booths. I know a child’s First Communion can be very lucrative for a professional photographer such as myself. I know that Catholics will wear photographers OUT photographing a wedding, but they will reward us with a great reception. And I know they have a rich history & gorgeous cathedrals.
This has to be one of the prettiest in the United States. The organist was playing as we entered which only added to the experience and since I really have no words for how beautiful it is & I’m not sure I could ever convey how it felt, I’ll show you in pictures that I made via slideshow.
Construction began in 1789 and the Cathedral was completed in 1850. However, there has been a cathedral on the site since 1718 & the parish was established in 1720. (That’s another thing I know! They have parishes!)
The last photo in the slideshow is looking out at the statue of Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square from St. Louis Cathedral. This is one of few Catholic cathedrals in the US that actually faces a city square. You can read more about the history here in addition to the St. Louis Cathedral website. And if ever find yourself in New Orleans, you must step inside. And leave a contribution in the donation box. 😉
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Absolutely beautiful! I only saw it from the outside when we were in New Orleans in 2004. I so want to return someday ~ we were there a week, but that is not near enough time to see everything I wanted to see!