St Ignatius Parish

Early in April this year (2001), I was in the USA and I took the opportunity to renew my acquaintance with San Francisco. I was last there in 1969 at the height of the flower power movement. I was curious to see how the flower children had fared in the intervening period as they were looking rather wilted when I first saw them! As it turned out, they were all gone but San Francisco remains its charming old self. My first visit was in the winter and it was cold and wet and foggy but this time I went in the spring and the days were warm and sunny.

It was on such a lovely spring morning that I found myself on Nob Hill looking for the cable car museum. Who wants to go to art galleries and such like when there are big whirling wheels and thumping engines to see and the purr of whacking big cables spinning around their sheaves to listen to? Marvellous! Anyhow, at the top of Nob Hill, quite by accident, I came across a magnificent church facing onto a large open grassy square. It was Grace Cathedral, the Episcopalian (Anglican) cathedral for the San Francisco diocese. Being in an ecumenical sort of mood, I decided to investigate it and ended up having an enjoyable few hours learning about its history and the stories that it told in its stained glass windows and murals. Maybe those tourists who go to art galleries and such like are on to something after all!

The surrounding area was once covered with the mansions of San Francisco’s wealthiest families. Following the destruction of the great 1906 earthquake, the Crocker family donated the land formerly occupied by two of their mansions to the church. In the period from 1928 to 1964, the cathedral was built in two stages in the Spanish Gothic style. Unlike European Gothic cathedrals, this one is built using reinforced concrete instead of stone. Even cathedrals, it seems, are susceptible to the effects of earthquakes and the strictures of the building code. But earthquakes also have an up-side. The cathedral’s architect planned an impressive front facade with a great flight of stairs leading up to the main entrance of the cathedral. This could only be appreciated at a distance but it was not possible as there was a large block of old buildings in the way. The city would not permit the removal of these buildings but an earthquake in the 1960s so damaged them that they had to be removed. Now the cathedral can be admired from afar across a large grassy and tree filled square. Mysterious are the ways of God it would seem.

The cathedral’s main doors are copies of Ghiberti’s ‘Doors of Paradise’ made during the Renaissance for the baptistery in Florence Cathedral. Apparently Herman Goring took a fancy to them when the Germans occupied Italy and ordered them removed to his estate. Before this could happen, the Italians hid them in a railway tunnel. As a precaution against damage, they also arranged for casts to be made of the doors and after the war the first copy of the doors was presented to Grace cathedral. Right at eye level is a head of Ghiberti himself and next to it is one of his sons – no mention of Herman however! Sic transit gloria.

The interior walls of the cathedral are decorated with colourful murals, many depicting significant events in local history including Sir Frances Drake conducting the first English language religious service in North America. The clerestory windows celebrate great Americans of the 20th century, one of whom is John Glen. Over the entrance and facing east is a magnificent rose window called ‘Canticle to the Sun’. There is a superb statue of St Francis of Assisi and a great labyrinth walk copied directly from Chartres Cathedral in France. The labyrinth is a symbolic diagram of the pilgrim’s journey and was originally intended as a substitute for making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The idea is that a pilgrim or walker can follow the labyrinth’s single path to rediscover our shared spiritual journey. Unlike a maze, there are no dead ends or obstructions; the labyrinth’s path will eventually take you to the centre. Grace cathedral has two labyrinths. One is outside and is made from concrete and the other is inside and is a large tapestry. Apparently it is so popular that, on occasions, there is grid lock!

There's a song from the 1960s by the Mamas and the Papas that says ‘If you go to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair’. Do that by all means but there are plenty of other more exciting things to do. You can ride the cable cars of course, admire the Golden Gate, and go out to Alcatraz, just to name a few. But add to your busy and hectic itinerary a few hours for some calmness and reflection and visit Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill. You will not be disappointed.

Noel Sproles