Salt Lake City — the locale for SEEK25 (along with Washington, D.C.), the annual FOCUS conference being livestreamed on EWTN this week — is home to the only cathedral in the United States (and in the world) dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. 

The Cathedral of the Madeleine was constructed by Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, Salt Lake’s first bishop. If all the people present at its dedication on Aug. 15, 1909, were able to see the cathedral today, they would find the neo-Romanesque exterior practically the same, except for a few later-20th-century changes such as the tympanum added above the main entrance, a new roof and newer gargoyles.

But the neo-Gothic interior would hold several surprises for a number of early parishioners. Much of the extensive artwork that began being added to the plain inside in 1917 under Bishop Joseph Glass, the diocese’s second bishop, would still be familiar — but not the changes made especially during the major restoration and remodeling from 1991 to 1993. Several original aspects were conserved, but a symphony of color was added, in the restored murals and stained glass, plus marble additions and painted additions.

This magnificent cathedral is in the midst of the land the Mormons settled in the early 19th century and where they still predominate — but by the mid-19th century, Catholics were making their way to Utah and Salt Lake in particular. There was the promise of work as silver mines, and copper mines flourished.

In fact, when the cathedral was being considered for recognition on the National Register of Historic Places, the official papers stated that “much of the money used to build and furnish the Cathedral came from Utah mines, which also provided the first attraction for major Catholic emigration to Utah.”

Bishop Glass, who changed the name of the cathedral to the French version of the name after a European trip, had liturgical architect John Theodore Comes, the designer of several cathedrals and many churches and buildings, to transform the original plain interior into liturgical artistry. His inspiration of using the style of Spanish Gothic of the Middle Ages accounts for the cathedral’s colorful murals and the vivid and dramatic polychrome palette. Major highlights begin with the colorful murals in the sanctuary, and transepts were added at that time.

The colors are based on the interior of a church in France and selected by Bishop Glass.  The colors are a nod to Native American and Southwestern motifs.

Under a multi-ribbed dome of blue sky sprinkled with stars and heavenly bodies, a mural spans the whole apse. A tall Crucifixion scene brings together the Holy Trinity. God the Father is depicted standing behind the cross, holding it, while the Holy Spirit is shown looking on from above. Two angels are depicted standing below Jesus’ arms, filling chalices with the blood that drips from his sacred hands. To carry the message further, a pelican appears beneath the cross.

Two huge murals to either side of this Crucifixion scene form a triptych to present people looking upon Jesus. The left mural pictures several saints, including John the Baptist, Stephen, Joan of Arc, Vincent de Paul, Gregory, Agnes, Jerome and Helena. Similarly, the right mural captures Old Testament figures, including Adam and Eve, Moses, Melchizedek, David, Isaiah, Esther, Ruth, Anne and Judith. They are all part of the very colorful combinations of Spanish, Gothic and Byzantine styles found throughout. Liturgical artist Felix Lieftuchter designed and painted these in 1918.

Below the Crucifixion rendering, the ornate Gothic-inspired reredos acts as a frame for a painting of St. Mary Magdalene that one of the bishops brought back from Europe. The saint is shown holding her hands up in prayer and as if she’s looking at Jesus crucified.

On either side of this painting, the statues carved in the reredos were done by Johann Kirchmayer — born in Oberammergau, Bavaria, he emigrated, was based and worked in the Boston environs, and was then considered the best church woodcarver in this country — and represent founders of religious orders — Sts. Dominic, Claire Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of ávila and Francis of Assisi.

Renowned sculptors, including Kirchmayer, worked on wood carvings for this cathedral for the original 1917-18 decoration. 

Carved woodwork and statues abound, such as in the shrine dedicated to St. Joseph, with its wood statue of Jesus’ earthly father flanked by small, ornate statues of other saints, including James the Great, Martin, Dominic and Nicholas Tolentino. Two large colorfully painted angels flank the scene. Also, three carved Nativity scenes depict the announcement to the shepherds, Christ’s birth and the adoration of the Magi.

Above this shrine and similarly above the matching Lady Shrine on the other side of the sanctuary, there are expansive murals. One pictures a repentant Mary Magdalene washing and drying the feet of Jesus with her hair. The other represents the Risen Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene at the tomb as angels watch.

The Lady Chapel also has beautiful wood carvings, including scenes of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, finding of Jesus in the Temple, and an intricate carving of Jesus in the workshop with St. Joseph as Mary looks on. 

Statues of saints such as Lawrence, Bernard, Bonaventure, Bartholomew, John Vianney the Curé of Ars, and Blaise also appear.

Of course, Mary Magdalene is also venerated in other sections of her namesake cathedral.

Behind the sanctuary’s chancel screen, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel has a medieval-style sacrament tower that holds the brass tabernacle. Nearby is the tomb of Bishop Scanlan. In this chapel there also was a relic of Mary Magdalene in a reliquary in the shape of a fleur-de-lis. Sadly, on the morning of July 10, 2024, the relic was stolen. As of yet, it has not been recovered. (Incidentally, her first-class relics are in the one basilica named in her honor — the Basilica of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in France, where her tomb was discovered in the 13th century.)

Mary Magdalene also appears in the cathedral’s stained-glass windows, by Munich’s famed F.X. Zettler, that were installed in 1908 and fully restored in 1992. On one side they present the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The last mystery appears in the large transept window. One part has a scene of the Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet. Circling this scene are circular images of Sts. Gregory, Matthew, Jerome, Mark, Augustine, Luke, Luke, Ambrose and John. The lovely design of the transept windows, 35 feet high and 16 feet wide, is of circles within a huge circle.

On the opposite side, the matching nave windows, 40 feet high and 6 feet wide, portray the Glorious Mysteries. These windows with round rather than lancet tops are also distinct in the way they depict the mystery in the lower portion, while the larger upper portion is filled with the most ornate of designs.

The First Glorious Mystery, the Resurrection, begins in the transept, and as part of the elaborate scene, Christ is presented appearing to Mary Magdalene. Round medallions of saints also circle the main image. They include St. Francis de Sales, Agnes, Stephen, Ignatius, Francis of Assisi, Bernard, Vincent de Paul and Monica.

The late-20th-century renovations include a beautiful Carrara marble altar and similar large baptismal font and pool. Because the Stations of the Cross were seriously deteriorated, they were replaced by ones painted by late Utah artist Roger Sam Wilson. They are rather unusual, as they combine some traditional iconography with Native American and American Southwestern colorization, all using a postmodern style that includes even flowers and animals, all within the original 1918 carved frames. For instance, one station pictures Jesus carrying his cross and helped by Simon, while in back is a sister of the Missionaries of Charity and a woman who appears to be Veronica with the face of Jesus on her veil.

There is also a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in respect for the large Latino community.

In the Our Lady of Zion Chapel, there is a carving depicting St. Mary Magdalene that is more traditional in style, as is the tympanum over the main doors, by Pittsburgh sculptor Francis Aretz. Depicted in the center is Christ, crowned as high priest and king and standing atop the world, a book in his hand, with his right hand raised in blessing. Angels are seen at his sides, while the portrayals of the apostles — six kneeling and six standing within Romanesque arches — look upon him, as do renderings of Sts. Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory and Augustine and the Four Evangelists.

In 1993, with everything renewed, the edifice was rededicated. The two original bells of the cathedral’s quartet, named Joseph and Mary and in place since 1917, rang out, as usual, to call the generations to fill this spectacular cathedral dedicated to the Madeleine, who saw the Risen Christ and is a fitting patron of the newly opened Jubilee of Hope.

May we say with her, “Christ my hope is risen!”

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