LEWISTON -- The upper church of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is seen by many, but only a few get to see the treasures behind the closed doors of Maine's largest religious building.
Monsignor Marc Caron walks the steps up to a balcony that overlooks the upper church at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston.
Behind the high altar at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is the chapel where Dominican friars met to pray five times per day. Twenty-six friars lived in the Dominican house attached to the back of the church. Each friar had an assigned seat, called a choir stall. The chapel is now used only for special occasions, like good Friday and Holy Saturday, Monsignor Marc Caron said.
The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is the largest religious building in Maine, Monsignor Marc Caron said. It measures 300 feet from the front door to the back wall and 65 feet from floor to ceiling. This arch is seen from a balcony that is used today only by wedding photographers.
This is a marble statue of St. Catherine of Siena, the most famous female of the Dominican Order, Monsignor Marc Caron said.
This marble sculpture is of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican friars.
As immigrants from Canada settled in Lewiston, the number of parishioners quickly outgrew the lower church of Saints Peter and Paul. The upper church and towers that loom over the city were added in 1936.
As many as 15,000 people worshipped at Saints Peter and Paul back then and, as a result, the church is crooked, said Monsignor Marc Caron, pastor for the Prince of Peace Parish.
As the congregation grew, building plans kept changing. The upper church needed to be bigger than the basement to accommodate the number of parishioners and the center axis of the church had to be adjusted to keep the building off Bartlett Street.
When Caron stands in the Dominican choir chapel, he can see how crooked the church is. The space behind the high altar is a full football field away from the basilica's front door. The 26 Dominican friars who lived in the attached house would sing psalms as they prayed five times per day while standing in the red oak choir stalls.
The friars relinquished control of the church to the Diocese of Portland in 1986, and the choir chapel has seen little use since. "Maybe six times a year,"Caron said. Good Friday morning and Holy Saturday will be the next time the hidden area will be used.
"There is not any space like this in any Catholic church in Maine," Caron said.
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