Celebrating the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul On Sunday, Oct. 14, 1934, over 4,000 people crowded the intersection at Bartlett and Ash streets to watch the blessing of the cornerstone at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Priests and parishioners from all over Maine were present, as well as non-Catholic members of the […]
Celebrating the Basilica
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Incense: Creating the ‘ambiance of heaven’
Celebrating the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul To Catholics, incense is prayer in action. “It makes you more mindful of what’s going on,” said Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul sacrisant Mark Labonte as he swung an incense censer back and forth, filling the sacristy with rose-scented smoke. According to the General Instruction of […]
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Lewiston’s papal gifts
Celebrating the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul On Oct. 4, 2004, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, acting on behalf of the late Pope John Paul II, granted the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston the title of minor basilica. The word “basilica” can be traced […]
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Brass grills and the 13-year-old who helped make them
Celebrating the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul In 1936, Ray Legendre was a 13-year-old living in New Auburn, attending classes at St. Louis School and spending all of his free time after school and on Saturdays and holidays at Enterprise Foundry in Lewiston, which was owned by his father, Cyrille. “I was in there […]
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Chandeliers shed more than light
Celebrating the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Twelve bronze chandeliers — six on each side of the long nave — suspend on 30-foot-long chains from the double-barreled ceiling in the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, warmly illuminating the rich yellows and browns of its beautiful interior. Each chandelier weighs a half-ton, and together […]
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Where the ‘real presence of Christ’ resides at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
In the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, to the right of the high altar, is a red candle that stands on a tall, gilded candlestick. “Whenever you see the candle lit, that means the real presence of Christ is in the tabernacle,” sacristan Mark Labonte explains. Every Catholic church has a tabernacle, typically placed […]
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Why the once-pagan pelican seal graces the Basilica altar
On the front of the altar in the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is a mosaic seal with a striking image of a pelican feeding her young. It is an iconic Catholic symbol, one that is present in many pre-Vatican II churches. The message: “She’ll pierce her own breast to make sure her children […]
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Lewiston’s resplendent Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
Full of world-class architecture, craftsmanship, history and mystery, the 80-year-old ‘lunch pail’ church will be the focus of a yearlong look by the Sun Journal. For the last 80 years, the eight spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 122 Ash St., which soar 165 feet into the air, have dominated the […]