Amanda Vessel, “The Earning of a Landmark: St. Anthony’s Cathedral, Beaumont, Texas,” Touchstone, vol. XIX (2000), 48-58.
This post explores the history and symbolic and cultural significance of St. Anthony’s Cathedral in Beaumont, Texas. Amanda Vessel asserts that this Catholic Church has distinctive meanings for their parishioners. St. Anthony’s physical physical appearance is quite symbolic. The flooring program is formed like a cross and the statues and other performs of art signify quite a few tenets of the Catholic faith.
Prior to 1897, and the coming of Father William Lee, the Catholic Church in Beaumont, St. Louis, was very compact and Spartan. In 1901, the discovery of oil led to an inflow of individuals and oil-similar businesses. As a consequence, St. Louis grew to become far too tiny to accommodate the escalating Catholic population, and Father Lee proposed building a new church. This church was developed in accordance to Father Lee’s structure, and it was committed in January 1907, in honor of St. Anthony of Padua. Future Father Lee commenced a new grammar college and the previous faculty was moved to be a convent for the nuns who taught at the schools. Father Lee did not are living to see the completion of the grammar college in September 1918 he died in July of that 12 months and was buried in St. Anthony’s at the foot of the altar.
Father E. A. Kelly, Father Lee’s successor, arrived in Beaumont though the city was nevertheless enduring the economic prosperity from the oil growth. He resolved to develop a new convent for the nuns at a price of $25,000. Much more constructing projects included a brick rectory in 1922, a large university in 1926, and an out of doors recreation location in 1928. In 1937, Father Kelly began restoring and decorating the interior of St. Anthony’s. Father Kelly extra oil paintings and stained glass home windows at a cost of $32,000. In 1953, a new grammar school was constructed to accommodate an rising college student enrollment. This university value $400,000 and is continue to in use now.
Monsignor Kelly retired from his placement as pastor of St. Anthony’s in August 1954, and he passed away 6 months afterwards. His successor, Reverend George Black, produced a new higher university and a new convent in 1961. In 1972, Father Marvin Enderle started restoration of the church’s interior, and he added a parking ton for the church in 1979. In 1995, below Father Beenie Patillo, St. Anthony’s had formulated a parish heart.
The evolution of St. Anthony’s from a Spartan church to the stunning construction that is an historic landmark in Beaumont included numerous diverse pastors and generations of the Catholic parishioners. St. Anthony’s is extra than a spot of worship the church is included in several aspects of its parishioners’ lives. Hence, St. Anthony’s is incredibly vital to the Catholics in Beaumont.
