By Cathy Tilzey

The Cathedral of St. Helena celebrated a major milestone on Saturday, Oct. 4 – the 100th anniversary of the cathedral’s cornerstone being laid and blessed.

Hundreds of people filled the church for the centennial, including descendants of A.O. Von Herbulis, the Washington, D.C., architect who designed the building; Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen, the sixth bishop of Helena; the current Bishop George Leo Thomas, families that go back four or more generations and many visitors.

The Von Herbulis grandchildren and one great-granddaughter – all from Florida – sat in the front row on one side of the nave. Across the aisle were parishioners. Together, the two groups carried the gifts to Bishop Thomas during the offertory.

Music for the Saturday evening Mass was appropriate for the occasion – “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” and “The Church’s One Foundation.” Another piece of music was the Sanctus from the Mass of Saint Cecilia, which was sung on the Cathedral’s golden jubilee Oct. 4, 1958.

Bishop Thomas told the story of the cornerstone’s initial blessing in his homily, and how excited the whole state of Montana seemed to be for the event on Sunday, Oct. 4, 1908. An estimated 5,000 people gathered, 2,000 of them marching through muddy streets along with brass bands from Butte, Anaconda and Helena.

Bishop John Patrick Carroll, the second bishop of Helena, was surrounded by seven visiting prelates, his clergy, civic officials and representatives from parishes across the state. He read a cablegram from Pope Pius X and a congratulatory letter from President Theodore Roosevelt.

The skies were cloudy and the air sodden in 1908, comparable to Oct. 4, 2008, Bishop Thomas noted. And the financial climate 100 years ago was “chillingly parallel” to the current one in 2008.

One hundred years ago, Bishop Carroll stood on a platform adjacent to the cornerstone, led by the cross and followed by the choir. He solemnly blessed the cornerstone, then took a silver trowel and placed mortar around a slab of granite inscribed with the date, AD 1908.

Speeches followed, containing high praise and accolades, mostly directed toward Bishop Carroll. He, in turn, recalled that the first bishop of Helena, John Baptiste Brondel, had the same dreams of a magnificent cathedral and diocesan priests.

For the cornerstone’s second blessing, Bishop Thomas stood near it, flanked by parishioners, priests and servers as he read a blessing, sprinkled the cornerstone with holy water and incensed it.

A reception and feast followed in the Cathedral’s social center, which was named for Bishop Brondel.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 24, No. 10, October 17, 2008.