St. Mary's Cathedral (Amarillo, Texas) facts for kids

St. Mary’s Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral church located in Amarillo, Texas, United States. It is a very important church. It has been the main church for the Diocese of Amarillo since 2011. A diocese is an area managed by a bishop.

History of St. Mary's Cathedral

The land where St. Mary’s Cathedral stands was once St. Mary’s Academy. This school was started by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. They came from San Antonio. In 1944, another church, Sacred Heart Cathedral, bought this property.

A few years later, in 1947, a chapel was moved to the school. It came from an Air Force base. This chapel became a small church for the Sacred Heart Cathedral parish. In 1959, St. Mary’s Parish officially began at this location. A new church building was built for the parish in 1981. Sadly, this church was destroyed in a fire on February 26, 2007.

Bishop John Walter Yanta first thought about St. Mary’s becoming a cathedral. But he was close to retiring, so nothing happened then. His replacement, Bishop Patrick Zurek, asked the Holy See (the Pope's main office) to change the cathedral. He wanted St. Mary's to become the new cathedral instead of St. Laurence Cathedral. The current church building was officially opened on September 11, 2010. It was named the third cathedral of the Amarillo Diocese on March 25, 2011.

Architecture and Design

When the old Sacred Heart Cathedral downtown was being taken down, a priest named Msgr. Francis Smyer saved many items. He was the pastor of St. Mary’s for a long time, from 1970 to 2001. Most of the things he saved are now part of the new St. Mary’s Cathedral.

For example, the beautiful stained glass windows came from the old cathedral. They were made by Conrad Schmidt Studios in Milwaukee. The altar stone is also from the old cathedral. It is actually three altar stones from Sacred Heart’s three altars put together. Records show that these stones hold small pieces (relics) from important saints. These saints include St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Vianney, and St. Pius X.

In the Adoration Chapel, you can see two carved wooden angels. These angels were once on the side altars of Sacred Heart. The altar in the daily Mass chapel was also one of Sacred Heart's side altars. Behind the Tabernacle (a special box where the Eucharist is kept) is a reliquary. This reliquary holds 25 relics from saints who have been declared "blessed" or "canonized."

The cathedral also has new works of art. There are tapestries from Taos, New Mexico. A copper baptismal pool was made by an artist from South Texas. The large pipe organ has 1,200 pipes and trumpets. It is valued at $900,000. On the outside of the cathedral, there is a special carving in the brick. It is a bas relief of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. An artist from Nebraska created this carving.

See also

In Spanish: Catedral de Santa María (Amarillo) para niños

• List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States