Name of Church St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Address 1716 NW Davis Street, Portland, Oregon 97209
Phone number (503) 228-4397
Website www.maryscathedral.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/cathedralpdx
Mass Schedule Saturday vigil, 5:30 p.m.Sundays, 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. (Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample regularly celebrates the 11 a.m. Mass.) Monday, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday, 7:30 a.m.
Confessions Mondays and Saturdays, 4 – 5:15 p.m. First Saturdays after 7:30 a.m. Mass or by appointment.
Names of priests Msgr. Gerard O’Connor, rector. Msgr. O’Connor is from England. He worked in the personal computer industry before attending seminary for the Diocese of Fall River, MA. He was ordained a priest in 2000. He was given to the Archdiocese on loan through 2023 to serve as the Director of the Office of Worship. In his previous assignments, he has emphasized Eucharistic adoration, quality liturgy and preaching. St. Mary’s is also the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Portland’s very fine archbishop, Alexander Sample, who came to Portland in 2013. He is orthodox, a good liturgist and preacher, and has done much to revive tradition in the Portland church. Listen to his weekly radio program The Voice of the Shepherd: http://materdeiradio.com/category/the-voice-of-the-shepherd/.
Special activities and groups Adoration Thursdays 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Evening prayer and benediction on Thursdays, 6 p.m., Young Adult Ministry, Knights of Columbus, Vocations Committee, Bible study, Scouts.
Music Depends on the Mass, congregational singing and choirs.
School Yes, K-8.
Parking Park in the parish lot.
Cry room No, but you can take noisy children into the vestibule.
Additional observations St. Mary’s Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Portland. It was built in 1926, and features many beautiful works of art (take a tour of the art on the parish website, http://www.maryscathedral.com/interior-photos) and a large pipe organ in the back. It’s located in an older neighborhood in Portland; nearby there are a number of other houses of worship, including an Episcopalian cathedral, Lutheran church and Jewish temple.
“Music depends on the Mass.” They sing OCP music. Kind of have to because the choir director is an OCP executive.
We can all agree OCP music is terrible. That’s one thing Archbishop Sample hasn’t fixed.
Although not a fan of OCP, their hymnal does have “Holy God, we Praise Thy Name,” “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” “Come Holy Ghost,” “Hail Holy Queen,” “Salve Regina,” “Crown Him with Many Crowns” and other traditional hymns. So, maybe that’s why it depends. If they use an OCP hymnal, they could choose the better songs.
Why OCP felt compelled to change “Sing with All the Sons of Glory” to “Sing with All the Saints in Glory” escapes me. It’s set to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and apparently is now in the public domain. But, it seems to possibly change the meaning from what the 19th century author of the lyrics intended. Is that ethical, when one uses his words and changes them slightly, but enough to change the meaning? All Christians, women and men, are “sons of God” in the Biblical sense. We’re adopted as heirs. And, we’re all, men and women, the Bride of Christ. It’s seems we’ve lost a sense of context, meaning and maybe even the poetic. The norms of 2022 (or the 1970’s) need not rule over us.
OCP publishes “Hallelujah Love Is Alive” which is my favorite Easter song. Oh besides “Open My Eyes Lord”. Love that one.