Christ Church Cathedral

Just 650 m. from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is the gorgeous Christ Church Cathedral.  The second cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church of Canada, it is a daughter church of St. James’ Anglican Church.

Check out “Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary“

High rise buildings surround the cathedral

Set among high-rise buildings, Christ Church Cathedral is the Regimental Church of the Seaforth Highlanders and is in the process of being designated Regimental Church of the BC Regiment, Duke of Connaught’s Own. It is also the church at which the British royal family worships when in Vancouver.

Grace and Kyle

The author and Jandy

Here is the historical timeline of the cathedral:

• On December 23, 1888, the first service was held, without a church building, at 720 Granville Street.
• On February 14, 1889, a building committee was formed to collect the necessary funds for the erection of the church to be located on land bought from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). A key negotiator in acquiring the property is Henry John Cambie, chief engineer of CPR’s Pacific Division and people’s warden of the new church.
• By October 1889, Christ Church’s basement was built
• On October 6, 1889, the opening service was held for 52 parishioners.
• By 1891, the CPR objected to the unfinished building that had quickly been nicknamed the root house. It was viewed an “eyesore” and the parishioners feared they would lose their location due to lack of funds to complete the building.
• In 1892, the architect Robert Mackay Fripp submitted a proposal for completion of the church.
• On July 28, 1894, after a financing scheme was developed by a parishioner, the cornerstone was finally laid.
• On February 17, 1895, the church was dedicated.
• In 1905, a balcony, covering the narthex area and containing a wood railing in a Gothic pattern, was added
• By 1909, the first expansion was done.
• By 1911, the first organ, which used a human blower hired at $5 per month, had already worn out and was replaced by the new Robert Hope-Jones Organ manufactured by Wurlitzer.
• In 1920, electricity replaced candles for lighting.
• In 1929, the Archbishop of New Westminster constituted Christ Church as the Cathedral Church of the diocese replacing Holy Trinity Cathedral located in the City of New Westminster.
• In 1937, the bronze lanterns now in the church were installed at the nave.
• In 1949, after many building alterations, the $30,000 Casavant Freres organ, constructed partially of recycled wood, surplus war surplus parts and remnants of the Wurlitzer, was installed. It had more than 2,700 pipes and a 600 lb. motor.
• In 1971, the church membership voted to demolish the building and replace it with a hi-rise tower complex designed by Arthur Erickson. The redevelopment was opposed by the public.
• In 1976, after much lobbying, the cathedral was named a Class A Heritage building in the municipality of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia.
• In 1995, an eleven-year program of restoration and renewal was begun.
• During the spring and fall of 2004, the Kenneth Jones tracker organ was installed.
•  In 2004, the church was extensively upgraded and the original fir flooring, cedar tongue and groove ceiling and stained glass windows were restored.
• In November 2016, a bell tower was inaugurated.

The Gothic Revival style, sandstone facade

The church, built in the Gothic Revival style (with Romanesque and Tudor details), has a granite and sandstone façade and is laid out in the classic Latin Cross plan.

The cathedral’s stunning interior

Its stunning interior, circumnavigated by wood wainscoting with a quatrefoil cornice, has a beautiful and spectacular hammer beam truss (in the style of English halls and churches dating back to the 1300s) ceiling made of cedar planking and ceiling beams.

The spectacular hammer beam truss and ceiling

Its 32 beautiful stained glass windows depict Christ-centered themes, famous people and World War I.

Christ the King and other scenes (Clayton and Bell, Buckinghamshire, England)

The floor was constructed out of old growth Douglas fir.  Wood arches and tracery details separate the side aisles from the nave.

Tree of Life (Susan Pointe)

The modern, semi-abstract “Tree of Life,” spanning 5 stained glass windows (the tallest is 19 ft. high) at the back of the church, was created, in brown tones, by aboriginal Musqueam artist Susan Pointe, executed by Yves Trudeau (of Studio One Glass Art) and dedicated on April 5, 2009.  It depicts salmon (in 4 of the panels) and waters at the base, leaves and trees in the central portion and mountain and birds above.

The Chancel Window (N.T. Lyon Co. Toronto)

Another three stained glass windows, of three disciples of Jesus Christ, were designed by the famous William Morris of England, the most celebrated champion of 19^th century “Arts and Crafts” Movement.

The Crucifixion of Our Lord (John Bell and Sons, Bristol, England)

The open glass and steel bell tower, at the northeast side of the cathedral, has a zinc roof.  Its four church bells, cast in France, are rung daily at 8 AM and 6 PM and before church services.

The open glass and steel bell tower

The spire glass features a design by Canadian artist Sarah Hall.  A venue for musical performances, the church’s acoustics are phenomenal and the Choral Eucharist (10:30 AM) and Georgian Chant Services (9:30 PM) are performed every Sunday.

The author

The Celtic cross, which is found on both the cathedral’s exterior and interior, represents the roots of the Anglican Communion in the British Isles. The spindle whorl and the three salmon in the style of the Coast Salish Nation, represent the First People of Canada and the original inhabitants of the west coast.

The Celtic Cross

The Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P), in the center, are the initials of the words Christus Rex (Christ the King). The motto “I hold before you an open door” (Revelation 3:8) is the title of the first sermon preached by Rev. H. B. Hobson, the rector, in the cathedral on December 23, 1888.

The tracker organ designed by Kenneth Jones in Ireland

The beautiful and huge tracker organ, in the south gallery of the cathedral, was built in 2003 by Kenneth Jones in Bray, Ireland, and installed, over 10 days, in April 2004.  It is the first Christ Church Cathedral organ custom built to speak with optimum effect in the sanctuary. It comprises a three manual console and 2,500 pipes (1,700 salvaged from the Casavant Freres), wooden trackers and intricate parts sourced from all over Germany.

The fine, carved stone reredo, dedicated in 1923 as a World War I memorial, took almost two years to complete.  Depicted in this stone screen are St. Martin of Tours, St. Lawrence and St. John the Baptist.

Christ Church Cathedral: 690 Burrard Street , Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2L1, Canada. Tel: +1 604-682-3848.  E-mail: reception@thecathedral.ca.  Website: www.thecathedral.ca. Open Mondays to Fridays, 10 AM to 4 PM.  Admission is free but donations are welcomed.  Coordinates: 49°17′03″N 123°07′13″W.

How to Get There: the cathedral, located right across the Burrard Skytrain Station, is located on the northeast corner of West Georgia Street, directly across from the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in Downtown Vancouver.  It is also a 3-min walk from the Vancouver Art Gallery

Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Five days after our arrival in Vancouver, Grace, Jandy, Kyle and I had our first mass at the late 19th-century, 700-pax Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

Grace and Kyle making their way into the cathedral

Commonly known as Holy Rosary Cathedral, serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. Located in the downtown area of the city, it is listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register and is a legally protected building.

The cathedral’s French Gothic Revival style facade

Designed by architects Thomas Ennor Julian and H.J. Williams in the classic cruciform form (with narthex, nave, transepts and an apsidal chancel), it was constructed under the charge of R. P. Forshaw and Company and the church was completed in just 491 days. At the time it was finished, the building was praised as “the finest piece of architecture west of Toronto and north of San Francisco.”

The right side of the cathedral

The left side of the cathedral

Here’s the historical timeline of the cathedral:

• In June 1885, the parish was established with Father Patrick Fay, the chaplain to Canadian Pacific Railway(CPR) workers, chosen as pastor.
• In 1886, construction began for a wooden church
• In 1888, the wooden church was completed the following year and blessed.
• In 1890, the church was enlarged and a bell tower was added.
• On July 16, 1899, the cornerstone for the new church was laid by Archbishop Adélard Langevin of Saint Boniface.
• In the autumn of 1900, the cathedral’s pipe organ was inaugurated.
• On October 21, 1900, the church’s seven bells were blessed
• On December 8, 1900, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the new Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was opened and was blessed the day after by Archbishop Alexander Christie of Portland, Oregon.
• In 1906, eight bells were reinstalled in the cathedral
• In 1911, on Dominion Day, the church’s bells were rung, the first peal ever to be rung in Canada .
• In 1916, the church was elevated to the status of a cathedral.
• In February 1922, a funeral requiem mass was said at the cathedral for beloved local lifeguard and swim instructor Joe Fortes. The cathedral filled to capacity, with thousands of others braving the rain and cold weather to view the funeral procession on the streets of Vancouver.
• In 1927, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), which administered the parish since 1893, left after difficulties arose from the mortgage agreement that had helped pay for the construction of the cathedral. This was coupled with the “growing manpower shortage” caused by a declining number of members joining the order.
• In late 1932, the “tin scales” that covered spire of the taller steeple were cleaned and repaired, and the cross atop of it was repainted.
• In 1936, it hosted an archdiocesan-level Eucharistic Congress, the first congress ever to be celebrated in Western Canada.
• In 1939, a funeral requiem mass was said at the cathedral for Pope Pius XI.
• On October 7, 1952, the feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, a gunman entered the church and fired a round from his rifle at the altar. No one was hurt and he was arrested shortly after.
• In April 1959, a minor tilt in the bell tower of the cathedral was detected probably due to the drilling and blasting of a nearby tunnel.
• On October 3, 1953, the rite of consecration as a cathedral, officiated by the Archbishop of Vancouver William M. Duke, was held.  The subsequent solemn pontifical Mass was celebrated by Michael Harrington, the Bishop of Kamloops. Approximately 35 bishops from across Canada and the United States attended the event, which coincided with Duke’s golden and silver jubilees of his priestly ordination and consecration as a bishop, respectively.
• In 1961, a funeral requiem mass was said at the cathedral for former Vancouver police commissioner William Cameron Murphy.
• In the 1960s, after the Second Vatican Council, the reordering of the sanctuary took place.
• In 1967, an interfaith requiem was held at the cathedral for former Governor General of Canada Georges Vanier.
• In September 1981, a funeral requiem mass was said at the cathedral for internationally-acclaimed actor Chief Dan George of the Tsleil-Waututh
• On September 19, 1984, Pope John Paul II visited the church as part of his pastoral visit to Canada. Refurbishing took place prior to his visit.
• From 1995 to 1997, the cathedral was completely re-roofed, with zinc being utilized on the roof to resemble slate.
• In 1999, the organ was dismantled and transported to Casavant Frères in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec for a two-year restoration.
• In Easter of 2000, the rehabilitated pipe organ was blessed. That same year, an organ concert series was hosted at the cathedral for the first time.
• In late September 2001, the cathedral became the first place in Canada to host the relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux during her reliquary’s three-month-long tour of the country.
• In December 2002, some of the carpeting was removed and replaced with Italian ceramic tiles.
• From 2004 to 2006, the inside of the church was repainted.
• On April 1, 2005, a funeral requiem mass was said at the cathedral for Pope John Paul II.
• On March 23, 2008, during an Easter Sunday Mass at the cathedral, First Nations protesters disrupted the mass by demonstrating on the outside steps. They ordered the Church to “get off native land” and demanded that they disclose the burial locations of children who died in residential schools.
• On February 12, 2010, the cathedral’s bells were rung during the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
• On October 30, 2011, a splinter group from the Occupy Vancouver movement marched to the cathedral from the Vancouver Art Gallery, attempting to enter the cathedral and occupy it but were thwarted by Vancouver police officers and Knights of Columbus.
• In the spring of 2017, the copy of the bronze sculpture Homeless Jesus by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz was installed in front of the cathedral.
• In 2018, new light fixtures, pews and an upgraded sound system were added.
• On March 22, 2020, as a result of the Archdiocese suspending all public masses starting from March 21 onwards, in response to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, Sunday Mass was celebrated without a congregation for the first time in the cathedral’s history.
• In June 2020, public masses at the cathedral resumed with capacity reduced to 50 people per Mass in order to adhere to the physical distancing requirements set out by the provincial health authorities.

The 49 m. (161 ft.) long, 32 m. (104 ft.) wide (across the transepts) and 19 m. (62 ft.) high (from floor to ceiling) cathedral, built in the French Gothic revival style, has been described as resembling the medieval Chartres Cathedral in France. Cruciform, in the shape of the Latin cross, it is 19 m. (62 ft.) across the nave and the aisles.

The taller bell tower

Its foundations were made of granite while its exterior walls were built from sandstone originating from Gabriola Island.  The cathedral’s “most prominent visual feature” is its two asymmetric bell towers. The taller, 66 m.  (217 ft.) high steeple was originally designed to have flying buttresses at the bottom.

The cathedral interior looking towards the main altar

The cathedral interior looking towards the choir loft

The nave arcades at the interior which, in turn support a Gothic tunnel vault, are supported by Norman columns made from highly polished, red Scagliola marble. Non-structural ribs decorate the vault, with simple molding accenting the intermediate ribs.

Left side aisle

Right side aisle

The cathedra, situated at the center of the sanctuary, is surrounded by a Gothic-style, oak altar-piece, with richly detailed gold foliage and angels set in relief, and two towers of reredos decked with delicately carved angels carrying torches, thuribles and sacred books.

Left transept

Right transept

The cathedral originally had seven bells (representing the sacraments) cast at the Fonderie Paccard in Annecy-le-Vieux, Savoy, France. However, when they were found to be out of tune, they were sent to a foundry near Bristol where eight bells were made to complete an entire octave when rung.

Baptismal Font

Two of the14 Stations of the Cross

Statue of the Pieta

Operating on change ringing, they are one of the few peal of bells hung in the English style found in North America, and one of three in British Columbia (the others are located at Westminster Abbey in Mission and Victoria‘s Christ Church Cathedral).

Grace and Kyle

The cathedral’s pipe organ, manufactured by the Karn–Warren Organ Company in Woodstock, Ontario, is the “oldest romantic-style organ” in the province “remaining in its original location.” An organ concert is held at the cathedral annually since 2000.  One of the most beautiful organs in the West Coast, it has three manuals, 4 divisions, 42 stops, 51 ranks and 2,899 pipes.

The cathedral’s pipe organ

Of the current 21 stained glass windows (documented by the Institute for Stained Glass in Canada) at the cathedral, the oldest is The Church Triumphant with the Risen Christ among Saints and Martyrs, on the east wall of the sanctuary, next to the shrine of the Blessed Virgin.

Stained glass depicting The Church Triumphant with the Risen Christ among Saints and Martyrs

The most renowned ones are the five windows made by Canadian artist Guido Nincheri whose work can be found in over 60 churches in North America.

Stained glass depicting Jesus with the Children (Guido Nincheri)

They depict Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, on the north side of the west transept; the Baptism of Our Lord (completed in January 1954), Jesus Healing the Sick, Jesus with the Children and the Assumption (completed and shipped out of the Nincheri studios in November 1953 and installed later that year). Started in 1941, it would take 13 years for the work on the stained glass to be completed.

Stained glass depicting The Assumption (Guido Nincheri)

The stained glass depicting Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was featured on Canada Post‘s annual Christmas stamp in 1997.

Stained glass depicting Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Guido Nincheri)

In front of the cathedral is a copy of the bronze sculpture Homeless Jesus by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz. Showing a life-size statue of a man with a long overcoat lying on a park bench, his face is hidden underneath a hood and his bare feet with stigmata.

The author beside the copy of the bronze sculpture of the Homeless Jesus by Candian artist Timothy Schmalz

According to Stanley Galvon (the rector at the time), the statue is intended to be “a catalyst to make people think about” the city’s homelessness crisis.

Jandy

Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary: 646 Richards cor. Dunsmuir St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3A3.  Tel: (604) 682-6774. Fax: (604) 331-8406.  E-mail: office@vancouvercathedral.org. Website: www.holyrosarycathedral.org. Sunday mass schedule: 8 AM, 9:30 AM, 11 AM, 12:30 PM, 5 PM.

How to Get There: by Metro, take the Expo Line to Granville Station or the Canada Line to Waterfront Station.  Both are a 5 minute walk away.