Old St Mary’s Cathedral

I love the interior and exterior of the church but when I had my religious items blessed (which I bought at St. Mary’s Cathedral gift shop) the priest just did a sign of the cross DONE! In other church the priest will say a small prayer over the religious items.

Wonderful beautiful church! Came here for my friends wedding and their son’s christening. Such history to be in the oldest church in California, other than the missions. Only drawback is they don’t have a public restroom, including for someone like me attending an event there!

Sermon was lacking… felt a bit errie, felt a bit like the lord himself was looking over my should, which you know, was a bit awkward really… don’t think ill be back.

They say that God knows the desires within one’s heart, and sometimes God answers prayers that we do not whisper aloud.
I believe this to be true in many aspects of my life. Whether it’s material, spiritual, financial, personal, etc.
I also believe that God has a sense of humor.
That said, God has just answered one of my secret desires, and that is for the relaunch of the X-​Files for 2016.
I still have an autographed photo of Gillian Anderson as agent Dana Scully pinned to the board by my desk at home, as well as a limited edition trading card.
Some may secretly want to win the lottery, others may want that discount big screen TV on black Friday.
Me, I just wanted the X-​Files back on Tv.
I like this church because it’s quiet with an old school feeling, and it’s one of several churches that my family has always liked, and felt comfortable going to.
And though I’ve come to this church to pray during lunchtime for strength and patience for my job, and for wisdom, I never once voiced how much I wanted this show back. But, God knows all.
So, I’m excited about next years relaunch of the X-​Files, and I’m excited about the peace I find in praying at this tranquil church.
And I know God has a sense of humor, since he created me.

I attended Palm Sunday here. We were visiting from out of town. Talk about nice people. A few of the ladies walked up to us and made us feel welcome. I can’t wait to try the classical music at 12:30 on Tuesdays!

Every Tuesday at 12:30 there is a live classical music performance. It is donation based but you can go and listen/​watch award winning musicians playing great music!
They have the upcoming performances on their website, and for me, it was a great escape from sitting behind a desk all day at work!
PS. The church is gorgeous!

I finally came here for the 12:30 Tuesday classical music — loved it! They have a full schedule of varying classical music, and I hope I can come back again soon. They had Russian violin and piano during my first experience and it was just magical. Make time to visit this beautiful church and the lovely musical performances every Tuesday.

Boy, this Old St. Mary’s Cathedral sure looks old, very old! If only the walls could talk…
Yup, I was born Roman Catholic. Altar boy, baptism, communion… The whole nine yards! Proud too! The history of the Catholic Church cannot be denied. From the mighty Crusades to world respected Pope Francis. From JFK to Joe Montana. From the schools with 100-​year-​old traditions to the charities the entire world can rely on. You can’t ignore the good.
I’m not here to argue or debate or even compare, like sadly many so-​called Christians do. I’m here to talk about the incredible Catholic Churches in our wonderful neighborhoods.
Old St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral is one such church in of all places… Chinatown, San Francisco. So, how old is St. Mary’s? How about the cornerstone was set in 1853, that’s well before the American Civil War, and get this… Catholics, Protestants and Jews also helped to build the Cathedral just years after the great San Francisco Gold Rush of 1849! That’s unity! And finally at Midnight Christmas mass of 1854 the Cathedral was finally dedicated to Catholics and the people of San Francisco!
When I lived in San Francisco I didn’t attend mass on a regular basis. In fact, I was Mr. Christmas & Mr. Easter. Typical former altar boy, I guess. Ironically, that changed when I took a test for the U.S. Census Bureau, yes a government test on Church grounds! I was impressed with the history and architecture of this old church and made an effort to find out more!
I later found out how much the church helped the immigrants and the poor in Chinatown 150 years before it became vogue to do so!
Old St Mary’s Cathedral somehow survived the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but sadly most of the interior and surrounding area destroyed in the massive fire a day later. Yet, amazingly the structure of the Cathedral held strong! TYJ!
A debate soon began over whether to tear-​down the remains of the church and relocate, or to rebuild. The first option was that of Archbishop Riordan, who wanted the church moved to a better neighborhood. The latter view was championed by Father Wyman, the Paulist Pastor, who saw the necessity for it to remain where it was, and to honor the people’s view of Old St. Mary’s Cathedral as a piece of irreplaceable history.
The idea of keeping Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in Chinatown won out! And here it still stands ’til today!
Oh btw, I passed the test with flying colors! Maybe I was blessed? Divine intervention? Hallelujah! Lastly, don’t ass-​u-​me or stereotype all Catholics as «a type». I believe in equal rights, science, UFO’s, a women’s right to choose, and not shoving theology down anyone’s throat! And if you do stereotype me… I’ll kick your ass to the Vatican;)
Amen. *Crusader flex*
OVERALL GRADE: 5.0-STARS!
Unilocal REVIEW #351

This Church is so amazing. It is so historic and has an amazing story to it. The various decorations and statues are spectacular. I loved to come here and pray for a while and see everything about the cathedral.

I miss this church.
For 8 yrs working in the financial dist, I visited this Mother Mary’s solemn and humble church periodically, in good times and bad times to say my prayers.
If not all, most of my prayers were heard and granted.
I continue to visit along with my whole family when we are in the area, one would feel at home here, sit in and pray your heart out for guidance.
You’ll be coming back from time and time again.

The Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception is a proto-​Cathedral and Parish that serves of the Chinatown and Nob Hill communities. Old St. Mary’s Church was built in 1854 as San Francisco’s First Cathedral, and is a California Historical Landmark. It has been served by the Paulist Fathers since 1901. It’s not the huge successor Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption on Geary (AKA Our Lady of the Laundromat), and that’s good. I love how the inner peace and humility that this First Church effects this very spiritual non-​Catholic.
Under the clock face of Old St. Mary’s appears the words: «Son, Observe the Time and Fly from Evil» (Ecclesiasticus 4:23). This sentiment was aimed at the men who frequented the surrounding brothels in the 1850s and still presents a modern message. It was in front of Old St. Mary’s that Emperor Norton I collapsed in 1880, on his way to a lecture at the California Academy of Sciences. Old St. Mary’s survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, only to be gutted a day later by the fires. The flames were so hot that they melted the church bells and marble altar. All that was left was the exterior brick walls and the bell tower. The renovation of the church was completed in 1909. The church further expanded and built an auditorium, a library and a lecture room and used that space in the future to host events for the servicemen and women of World War II.

This review is actually for the marriage preparatory class they offer and not for the church services. When we were looking into it, I couldn’t find any reviews for the marriage prep classes so I thought this might be useful for other engaged couples out there too!
Called Saturday for the Engaged (used to be called pre-​cana)
, Old St. Mary’s offers an all day premarital counseling session for those about to embark on the life-​long commitment that is marriage!
Initially my fiancé and I were looking into having a Catholic priest marry us outside and so this was one of the requirements. We soon ran into many stumbling blocks with that and nixed the idea, going with just a normal officiant. However, we had already signed up for this and both agreed that pre-​marital counseling could only do us both some good in getting us to talk about some of the long term life goals marriage might bring to the table that we may not have talked about already.
As with anything like this, you get out of it what you put into it. We both went into it not really knowing what to expect and not being overly religious and wanting more of the holistic experience and not religious experience.
It was fabulous and we both got a lot out of it and would recommend it to any other couples about to get married! We consider us a strong couple but it in the furor of planning a wedding it was nice to be able to take a day to focus on the marriage which is the whole rest of your life, instead of just the wedding which is just one day.
Broken up into multiple sessions, you each fill out his and her worksheets and then discuss such topics as ‘feelings’, ‘communications’, ‘spirituality in marriage’, ‘budgets’, and ‘children’.
Like I said, well worth our time and I think we are a better couple now as a result of having attended.

The oldest cathedral in California, and one of the older churches in America, dates back to 1854. It’s quite humble for being such a historic structure, but it’s definitely worth checking out.
Even if you’re not religious, you’re going to find it peaceful and quiet, and that’s worth something in the hustle and bustle of the city.

Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral, built in 1854, is a California landmark and the first cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. You may be wondering, «what’s the difference between a church and a cathedral?» Well, a cathedral is home to a bishop or archbishop, while a church is home to a pastor or monsignor.
It’s a decent size and there are plenty of icons throughout the cathedral. I was happy to see a statue of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (first Filipino saint), and I paid homage. I was glad that the church was open for visitors. It may not be as busy as Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC, but it’s still an important part of Catholic history in the United States.
If you’re Catholic, then you should make a pilgrimage.
If you’re not, the doors are still open…

Great history, lovely church, and they have the chronology of how the church has evolved over the last 150+ years — worth checking out.

My husband and I were married at this cathedral in September. It was so lovely!
I am Catholic, but my husband was not, and the priest we met with when we signed up to do our ceremony there (no longer there) was very friendly. The church was also very flexible with our attending Marriage Prep outside of the San Francisco Diocese and bringing our own Reverend from outside of the Diocese.
The cathedral is the first cathedral in California so it made for a nice historic context even for those who were not as interested in the religion. The soloist, Satoko, was a pleasure to work with in coming up with the music for the ceremony. Her voice was so beautiful, as many of the guests commented. The pianist was also quite good. On the day of the wedding, a couple of people were helping at the church that I did not have the pleasure of speaking to at length — but they were super friendly and helped everything to go along as smoothly as it did.
The cathedral was beautiful inside and really did not need much in the way of décor. See the pictures!
Outside of the church is the financial district and Chinatown, which adds to the character of an Old St. Mary’s wedding. Highly recommended for a San Francisco Catholic or interfaith wedding! And the best part… wedding bells ringing as we exited the church! Classic!

The Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception is more commonly referred to as Old St. Mary’s Cathedral. It stands at the corner of California Street and Grant Ave in Chinatown. Built in 1854, it is a historic landmark, California’s first Catholic cathedral, and one of the oldest church buildings still standing in California. It was for decades the seat of the Archdiocese of San Francisco until the new St. Mary’s Cathedral was constructed further west on Geary Blvd. Now, Old St. Mary’s is a parish catering to the Chinese-​American community and downtown workers. They have early morning and mid-​day masses on weekdays in addition to Sunday worship. If you happen to be in Chinatown, stop by and visit.
Website:

A man plays a Chinese instrument next to the church. A woman walked to the chapel then reflected on the stations of the cross. I didn’t want to disturb the peace by taking photographs. I like having a place for contemplation and resting my feet as I walk uphill through Chinatown. I sat inside for half an hour until they turned the lights on.
It doesn’t look like the oldest cathedral in the state.
The basin of holy water is a fountain made out of a vase. The bench I was sitting on didn’t have a thing to kneel on. The connected Paulist store down Grant is good for cards and figurines. There are photographs showing this building before the hill was paved! You can still hear the cable car from inside.

Traditions are meant to be kept. As a creature of habit, this is my annual ritual for Christmas… attending the Midnight Mass.
With the church wonderfully decorated with a large Christmas tree by the altar, a nativity scene to the front right of the church, and the choir and musicians to the front left of the church, it was about 75 to 80% full on this cool evening. There’s just something about singing Christmas songs in a mostly full church with the choir, a piano, violin, trumpet, and timpani drum going. It almost seems like something out of a public television show. With a mix of young families, couples young and old, and regular parishioners, it was truly a diverse crowd. From young children running up and down the aisle to people simply reflecting on what they have to be thankful for, there is something for everyone here. It’s probably not as glamorous as the other larger churches in the city (Grace or St. Mary’s on Gough), but it certainly is a nice spot to feel the Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas everyone.

I had my wedding at Old St. Mary’s in August this year. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t my first choice of Catholic churches in the City. However, I really believe it was meant to be, and Old St. Mary’s kind of chose me in the end.
This church is so meaningful because of its history and its people. I asked Father Peter Shea to hold our ceremony for us. My husband is not Catholic and I am, but Father Shea made the whole process simple for the two of us. He is truly one of the most kind, genuine priests I have ever met. Laid back and so funny. We were so happy to work with him.
I was worried because the church does not provide a wedding coordinator. The music coordinator Satoko does do the coordinator’s jobs on the wedding day, helps with entry of of the bridal party. In the end, the ceremony went very smoothly.
The music was fabulous. The pianist did the most absolute perfect version of the wedding march that I had requested. As I walked down the aisle, I heard the music as was just so darn happy. Satoko is an amazing vocalist! Amazing.
Side notes — There is a $ 1500 charge to use the church for your wedding. It includes services of the church priest, cantor and pianist. Other musicians are available for an additional fee.
If you’re looking for a Catholic church to hold your ceremony, this really is the perfect place. The church isn’t too big or too small. It has so much historical value, and the people are a delight to work with.