Laying the Cathedral's Cornerstone
On May 31, 1955, the first celebration of the newly instituted feast of Mary Our Queen, at 3:00 p.m., Archbishop Keough presided at a simple but impressive ritual to lay the cornerstone of the Cathedral. Vested in a white cope and gold mitre, he blessed holy water and proceeded to the area where the main altar now stands. Pausing before a wooden cross marking the site, he read the prescribed prayers and then blessed the area.
At the conclusion of this part of the ritual, the archbishop was escorted in procession to the spot in the south wall where the cornerstone had been placed. After blessing the stone he took a trowel and, with the point, inscribed the Sign of the Cross on each side of the stone. A metal container was then inserted into the stone. Earlier in the day, the archbishop had sealed in the container documents and photographs pertaining to the Cathedral, copies of diocesan and secular newspapers and other memoranda of the time.
After the container was in place, a smaller stone was inserted and sealed with mortar.
During the ceremony, the archbishop prayed: "Bless, O Lord, this creature of stone and grant by the invocation of Thy Holy Name that all who with a pure mind shall lend aid to the building of this church may obtain soundness of body and the healing of their souls, through Christ our Lord, Amen."
Finally, to conclude the ceremony, the archbishop took his crosier and, with the end of it, again marked the Sign of the Cross upon the stone.
Assisting His Excellency were the Right Reverend George L. Hopkins, chancellor of the archdiocese and rector of the Basilica, and the Very Reverend Porter J. White, the archbishop's secretary.
Four years later, the Cathedral was ready to become a gate to heaven.
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