By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald

Planning cathedral rededication

SUPERIOR -- When the restoration and enhancement of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior is completed, the building will be rededicated in a formal ceremony. A committee has been formed to prepare for the event. Prior to their meeting May 22, members of the rededication committee were given a tour of the progress made on the project.

Fr. Gabriel Baltes, OSB, diocesan director of the Office of Worship and co-chair of the restoration and enhancement project, explained that the event of rededication will contain a number of ceremonies and rites. "But the climax will be the liturgy of rededication, which includes the celebration of the Eucharist," Baltes said.

In addition to Baltes, the rededication committee includes Fr. Daniel Dahlberg, cathedral rector; Kathy Turba, director of the diocesan chorale; and cathedral parishioners Gene Bergren, Paul Birch, Joanne Gidley, Sr. Eileen Lang, FSPA, George Peterson, Louise Pope and Marge Tracy.

The committee was set up to offer advice on the rededication. They will help in the planning of the event and be responsible for many of the tasks required to see the event through to its successful completion.

The rededication has been a long time coming for many. To prove this point Dahlberg gestured toward an overflowing stack of folders and said, "That's two years worth of meetings."

In order to familiarize the committee with what the rededication ceremony entails, Baltes reviewed it with them. "It's important we know what it's about, its structure and its theology," he said.

The rite will begin the day before the main celebration with an evening prayer service. This service will consist of psalms, hymns, Scripture reading and a homily. "Punctuating that will be several blessings," Baltes said.

During the service, the baptismal font will be dedicated, along with the bishop's chair and ambo.

The main rededication liturgy will be the next day. Baltes compared this ceremony with a baptismal rite. "What we are going to do to that building is what each of us had done to ourselves -- we are going to initiate the place," he said.

Baltes said the building had been dedicated once before, "but, whenever you alter an altar or a place of worship as radically as we are doing it, it's customary to have it rededicated."

During this service the newly fabricated altar will be blessed. This rite will begin with an outdoor procession. The type of procession scheduled will depend on the cooperation of northern Wisconsin weather. "It is symbolically significant, but terribly impractical in Superior, Wis.," Baltes said. "It's a diocesan church and we intend to include members from each parish of the diocese."

Baltes explained that the rite builds on itself -- with no candles or incense used at the beginning. Also, there will be no veneration of the altar at the onset of this celebration -- because the altar has not been blessed.

The first action of the service will be the symbolic handing over of various key items to the bishop. That could include the rector giving the bishop the keys to the church, the architect handing over the plans and the liturgical consultant handing over records of the committee meetings. "These tangible items are symbolic of the effort that has gone into the project up to this point," Baltes said. "It's a symbolic rite that is powerful."

Following this, the bishop will bless the water in the baptismal font. Once the water is blessed the bishop and a number of priests will sprinkle the people and the cathedral walls. "It's not just about a place, but we are talking about the people, who are the living stones," Baltes said. "Everything that is done to the building, most of it gets done to the people, too."

After the sprinkling, a Lectionary will be presented to the bishop by the readers for the service. The bishop will then offer a brief prayer that the word of God will be heard in this place. "This will be the first Mass in which Scripture will be proclaimed in the newly restored facility," Baltes said.

The dedication rite will follow the liturgy of the word. The rite begins with singing of the Litany of Saints. At the completion of the litany, new relics will be entombed in the floor near the altar. These relics are of Pope Pius X, St. John Vianney, St. Frances Cabrini and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

Once the relics have been deposited, a consecration prayer will be recited by the bishop, asking for God's blessings on this place of worship. When this has been completed the altar will be anointed with sacred chrism. "It's the only oil that is used for church dedications, ordinations, confirmations and baptisms," Baltes said. "It's the most precious of the three oils."

Once the altar is blessed, 12 priests will anoint 12 spots on the church walls. "The altar is symbolic of Christ and the walls symbolize the people," Baltes said.

A large brazier will be on the altar and filled with incense. "There is a lot of smoke," Baltes said. "The people are also incensed, to honor them as the body of Christ."

Next, a cloth will be placed on the altar and a candle will be presented to the bishop, from which all the candles in the church will be lit. "Up until this time the lighting in the church is dim," Baltes said.

The altar will then be venerated for the first time by the bishop and concelebrants. This concludes the rite of dedication and the eucharistic celebration will begin. "This is what really dedicates it," Baltes said. "That's what makes the altar an altar -- the first time the sacrifice of the Mass is offered on it."

Following Communion, the bishop will inaugurate the Blessed Sacrament chapel by carrying the sacrament to it for the first time.

The date of the celebration will depend on whether the construction work is completed on time. Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004, the Feast of Christ the King, is one possible date. Baltes said that having it on a Sunday, however, might be impractical for a number of priests. A Saturday may be better, with the cathedral parish holding its celebration Sunday.

"We will know better in August," Dahlberg said. "The date is not etched in gold."

The church cannot be used until it is officially blessed. "That's the bishop's and church's desire," Dahlberg said.

Baltes added, "We don't want to dedicate an incomplete building."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004