Mass to mark St. John’s 150th anniversary

BANGOR – The Most Rev. Richard J. Malone, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at a Mass commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first Mass at St. John’s Catholic Church at 207 York St.

The Mass will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The Very Rev. Richard McLaughlin is the pastor.

The church, planned by Jesuit priest Father John Bapst, was designed by Patrick C. Keely of New York. The cornerstone was laid in 1855, and the church was dedicated to the glory and praise of God by Bishop David Bacon, the first bishop of Maine, on Oct. 12, 1856. The Bangor landmark was restored in the early 1990s.

The Mass will be followed by a dinner in the parish hall. Displays of archival material, historical vestments, religious articles and current programs and ministries will be a special feature of the evening. Displays will remain in place for viewing after the weekend Masses.

For information, call the parish office at 942-6941.

St. John’s Catholic Church, dedicated in 1856, is a church of the Gothic Revival period.

In the 1990s, the challenge was to restore the church so that it was historically correct in its decoration and appointment. The project of several phases, which cost more than $2 million, included the closing of the sanctuary during 1991 so that construction could be done.

The church was the first major commission of Patrick Keeley, the first American Roman Catholic architect of the Gothic Revival period. He also designed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Providence, R.I., and St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, D.C.

St. John’s, which seats 1,000 people, is 156 feet long, and 58 feet high through the nave. There actually have been several “restorations” of varying degrees through the years.

The E.&G.G. Hook organ was installed in 1860, and the steeple was built in 1873. The altars were added in the 1880s, as were the carved Stations of the Cross and the Tyrolean stained glass windows.

The onyx altar rail and the marble aisles were added by the Rev. Edward McSweeney in 1906. He served as pastor from 1874 to 1909.

The interior of the church was repainted several times – first in 1880 by the prominent Schumacher firm, and again in the 1930s, in 1953 and 1991.

The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1973.

Consultants during the most recent restoration included Robert Gasparri, a liturgical designer who oversaw the renovation of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City; and Dr. Phoebe Stanton, professor emerita of architecture at Johns Hopkins University.

The church’s paint and stenciling dated from the 1890s through 1953. The 1991 restoration sought to be faithful to the original period of the church, and included the repainting of stencils and murals in the ceiling. New pews were installed, and much of the altar rail was retained.